halo tacks

[jwil]

Greetings all I am currently working on, and very grateful for the assistance from Bob Bassett, an old Penobscott which had been glassed, it is by far the most involved project, #4, to date 12 ribs, decks, rails, stem bands and numerous planks to go. I will be replacing the existing tacks as it seems the canoe saw some salt water at some point in it's long life. My question is about the old brass tacks and specifically about the clinched ends which remain after many of the the tack heads have broken when pulled. How do they get removed from the ribs which are not being replaced without unnecessary scarring, or, do they need to be removed? My concern is the sharp ends may poke their little ends through canvas and filler as the canoe flexes or will filler be thick enough? I have searched all of the halo and salt water links but have not, yet, found any reference to this.
Thanks as always for the help!

 

[Mark Adams]

Hello,

I don't think it will be a problem. The chances of a tack working its way out, against the clench are pretty non-existent. The same with them working out into the interior of the boat. This would be working against the taper of the tack. (larger at the head, working towards the smaller size of the tip and clench).

Seems to me you are pretty safe. I had a boat (an OT dinghy) that I did for the owner of Far Niente Vineyards, that I had to completely refasten. I simply left the old tacks in place, and tacked in the mirror image of the original tack pattern. It too had seen salt water use, but ALL the tacks were corroded. It turned out very well.

HTH,

 

[jwil]

thanks Mark

 

[Gil Cramer]

As Mark indicated, the curled tip portions of the tacks will stay in place. Any problems will be created by the broken tack heads, so pull all of them that are loose, and re-tack the planking with new tacks. Varnishing the exterior of the planks before canvassing will help to seal any missed loose tack heads in place. Ace Hardware sells a cheap( $12/qt) spar varnish that works very well for this. You can apply more than one coat which will also cut down on water absorption--- on short trips at least.

 

[Ed Moses]

I had a customer's 13' OT 50 pound model that due to a bad case of "salt water disease", dezincified brass tacks, most of the tack heads were popping off in some areas of the hull with the smallest amount of pressure applied to the planking interior. I retacked the entire canoe using the original tack pattern as Mark has recommended but taking special effort to use the new tack heads to clench down the old tack heads. Many of the old tack heads broke away and fell off in this hammering process. The ones that did not fall off were well fastened and depressed into the planking. As Gil has recommended, I also gave the outside of the hull varnish coats, something I do with old cedar before recanvassing . Where the tack heads are so thin, few that might manage to escape after varnishing & renailing would pose little or no "bump under the canvas" aesthetic problem after canvas has been applied.