Attaching Varnished Keel to Painted hull
- Thread starter Splinter
- Start date
Dave Wermuth
Who hid my paddle?
I would just put strings around it and attach it to the rafters until I decided I could not live without drilling holes in the bottom of a perfectly good canoe.
First, I drill through the perfectly good canvas using the existing keel holes so I know where it was in the beginning.
I like to lay it on the canoe and eyeball it. I use straps to hold it in place and then pre-drill the holes in the new keel(through the perfectly good canoe), but I assume you've already done that. I would then just butter it up with bedding compound and line up the holes and reattach by hand with a good screw driver. I have not had good luck with cordless drills on a varnish hull. i HAVE USED A oops, caps lock. I have used a chalk line but the holes thru canvas are the best line to follow.
First, I drill through the perfectly good canvas using the existing keel holes so I know where it was in the beginning.
I like to lay it on the canoe and eyeball it. I use straps to hold it in place and then pre-drill the holes in the new keel(through the perfectly good canoe), but I assume you've already done that. I would then just butter it up with bedding compound and line up the holes and reattach by hand with a good screw driver. I have not had good luck with cordless drills on a varnish hull. i HAVE USED A oops, caps lock. I have used a chalk line but the holes thru canvas are the best line to follow.
Dave Wermuth
Who hid my paddle?
wait a minute. If the keel is pre-drilled, don't the holes already match up to the holes in the canoe?
OP
OP
Splinter
Wood Girl #1186
Hi Dave, thanks for the good advice. The original holes do line up, we'll use them. My question, proposed from my son, was kind of confusing and didn't make a lot of sense, sorry.
Here's his concern/question:
Most of the keels I see are painted over, with the same final coat of paint covering the rest of the the hull. This creates a smooth fillet in both corners of the keel & hull, and a continuous surface that seals the bedding compound in between. But if we have a painted hull, and attach a varnished keel with a bead of bedding compound in between, then those fillets are gone, and the continuous surface is broken, potentially opening a gap, letting water between the varnished keel and painted hull, eroding the bedding compound out, and either getting moldy, causing rot, or eventually leaking.
So I'm wondering if:
1. There's a better way that more experienced people do this.
2. Screwing the keel down creates enough deformation of the soft varnish and painted canvas to effectively seal it.
3. I'm just overthinking this, & getting slightly paranoid that I'll find a way to screw this up yet as the end of this project draws nearer.
Thanks!
Pete
If all goes well, it'll be done in time for the wcha event in Spooner, Wi on the 25th.
...in the snow.
Here's his concern/question:
Most of the keels I see are painted over, with the same final coat of paint covering the rest of the the hull. This creates a smooth fillet in both corners of the keel & hull, and a continuous surface that seals the bedding compound in between. But if we have a painted hull, and attach a varnished keel with a bead of bedding compound in between, then those fillets are gone, and the continuous surface is broken, potentially opening a gap, letting water between the varnished keel and painted hull, eroding the bedding compound out, and either getting moldy, causing rot, or eventually leaking.
So I'm wondering if:
1. There's a better way that more experienced people do this.
2. Screwing the keel down creates enough deformation of the soft varnish and painted canvas to effectively seal it.
3. I'm just overthinking this, & getting slightly paranoid that I'll find a way to screw this up yet as the end of this project draws nearer.
Thanks!
Pete
If all goes well, it'll be done in time for the wcha event in Spooner, Wi on the 25th.
...in the snow.
Last edited:
Dave Wermuth
Who hid my paddle?
Hi Margaret. I have one varnished keel, done by Brian Baker of Baker Custom Canoes. The sealer he used is working since '97. But it wasn't Dolfinite. i think it was a latex marine caulk. You can also varnish that joint after install. I also have a cherry keel on a Walter Dean all wood and used dolfinite with coats of varnish over it. It's not paranoid if they're really coming for you.
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