Board Spacing

[CanoeRat]

Hi boys,

I have a Chestnut Playmate that was made in the 90's in Ontario new on the old form.
I need to revarnish it. I noticed that some of the planks are very far apart, I can get a dime in some of them. I don't think it was built this way, I don't remember.

Do I just fill the cracks with varnish or do I swell the boards?

Any ideas on how to do either?

Thanks

 

[pklonowski]

In previous posts, folks who know better than I have indicated those don't matter... you'll be canvassing over the planks, and it's the canvas that gets sealed, so gaps between planks are pretty much irrelevant. If you think they're to big, you can also cut very thin strips of wood to fill them, but I think that was suggested for missing pieces of planking...

 

[Lazy Jack]

You don't do either. You ignore them.

The planks will take up tighter again when they obtain the same moisture content they had when the boat was planked to begin with. The moisture content will flux with the ambient conditions - dry in the winter, moist in the summer.

The open seams are of no consequence unless you fill the boat with sand.

So, don't fill your boat with sand.

 

[CanoeRat]

OK, so I won't fill my boat with sand. That was going to be my next question.




You don't do either. You ignore them.

The planks will take up tighter again when they obtain the same moisture content they had when the boat was planked to begin with. The moisture content will flux with the ambient conditions - dry in the winter, moist in the summer.

The open seams are of no consequence unless you fill the boat with sand.

So, don't fill your boat with sand.