Have the materials cut and fitted to replace the decks and top gunwale on a BN Morris 17' Torpedo.. Would like to know what was used originally by the factory to adhere the outer edges of the 24" mahogany decks, the center cover strip on the decks, the coaming, and the mahogany top gunwale. One unit in our museum shows flat head brass screws for all of these apps, whereas I've seen pictures of what appear to be oval headed brass escutcheon pins and yet another using slotted brass cap screws. Can anyone advise? Harold
BN Morris Restoration
- Thread starter HEBlumer
- Start date
Paul Miller
Canoe Nut
Hi Harold,
Sorry I'm a bit late in reply.
Attached are a few pics, the first is the deck minus the king plank but with the caps over the decking. The caps are attached with the typical escutcheons.
The next picture shows the combing and deck before the king plank. The decking is attached with fine finishing nails or brads.
I can dig up a picture of the king plank if you need it. I don't have a picture of how it was attached, but it might have been with finishing nails and not the escutcheons. I'll check.
Paul
Sorry I'm a bit late in reply.
Attached are a few pics, the first is the deck minus the king plank but with the caps over the decking. The caps are attached with the typical escutcheons.
The next picture shows the combing and deck before the king plank. The decking is attached with fine finishing nails or brads.
I can dig up a picture of the king plank if you need it. I don't have a picture of how it was attached, but it might have been with finishing nails and not the escutcheons. I'll check.
Paul
Attachments
Paul... Thank you! From what I can see I haven't yet used the wrong fasteners. The pictures are great and very helpful.
I find it interesting that the decks on my unit extend all the way to the edge and overlap slightly the outer gunwale and there is no top gunwale going all the way to the bow stem; my top gunwale stops where it meets the deck and the deck and top gunwale are at the same level. The top gunwales on your unit extend on top of the elongated decks to the bow. There is a picture on page 98 of Kathy Klos' book which illustrates my deck construction. I also found that the outer gunwale on mine is like shown in Kathy's book on page 83, figure 3 as a special gunwale. That was attached with flat head brass screws and there was no evidence of nail holes indicating that my outer gunwales were not original.
The use of flat head screws to attach the coaming in your pics answers one of my questions. I believe I will use escutcheon pins entirely for the top gunwales and extend their use on the deck edge all the way to the bow stem; I believe your pics give support to that idea. I'm planning to use excutcheon pins to attache the king plank as well.
I'm going to cheat a bit and use a flexible glue called Goop to glue down the edges of the new decks... that glue remains flexible and in fact can be cut without destroying the wood if the decks ever need to be removed. I will also use escutcheon pins on the edges but more for cosmetic reasons than strength. I believe the decks will look better using pins along the edge in the same pattern and frequency as the top gunwales.
I'm well aware of the other forum discussions regarding the fasteners but felt I needed more info... such as your pictures. I really appreciate your response.
Thank you again. Harold
I find it interesting that the decks on my unit extend all the way to the edge and overlap slightly the outer gunwale and there is no top gunwale going all the way to the bow stem; my top gunwale stops where it meets the deck and the deck and top gunwale are at the same level. The top gunwales on your unit extend on top of the elongated decks to the bow. There is a picture on page 98 of Kathy Klos' book which illustrates my deck construction. I also found that the outer gunwale on mine is like shown in Kathy's book on page 83, figure 3 as a special gunwale. That was attached with flat head brass screws and there was no evidence of nail holes indicating that my outer gunwales were not original.
The use of flat head screws to attach the coaming in your pics answers one of my questions. I believe I will use escutcheon pins entirely for the top gunwales and extend their use on the deck edge all the way to the bow stem; I believe your pics give support to that idea. I'm planning to use excutcheon pins to attache the king plank as well.
I'm going to cheat a bit and use a flexible glue called Goop to glue down the edges of the new decks... that glue remains flexible and in fact can be cut without destroying the wood if the decks ever need to be removed. I will also use escutcheon pins on the edges but more for cosmetic reasons than strength. I believe the decks will look better using pins along the edge in the same pattern and frequency as the top gunwales.
I'm well aware of the other forum discussions regarding the fasteners but felt I needed more info... such as your pictures. I really appreciate your response.
Thank you again. Harold
