Nailing Proud Tacks Through Canvas?

[PaddlingSteve]

I have recently purchased a 80% finished wood canvas canoe and am starting on the work still to be done. It has canvas stretched, attached, and filled, and gunwales installed - no other finishing work has been done.

I am wanting to start on painting above the waterline & shellacking below, but I'm now noticing there are a few tacks that were left proud before installing the canvas. I wonder if it's possible to do anything about these? The look like pimples sticking up through the canvas, and I'm wondering if it's a problem to paint over them, or if I should try hammering them through the canvas, or if there are any other ways to help this problem?

I've read through dozens of threads trying to find an answer, but haven't found more than "make sure the tacks are flush before stretching canvas"...

 

[Andy Hutyera]

I suspect the answer is you just have to live with it. Anything you do will likely cause more harm to the canvas and filler than the tack will ever cause. As a builder, it seems that no matter how careful I am, there's always a tack or two that manages to pop up its ugly head after the canvas is on. Hence the advice you quote in the last paragraph of your post. Remember they won't show a bit when you are paddling! So concentrate on doing a beautiful varnish job on the interior that you can enjoy while paddling.

 

[PaddlingSteve]

Thanks for the advice Andy! I will keep them as is and not worry about them. I'm hoping I can build up a good layer of shellac on the bottom to protect the canvas from inevitable encounters with hidden rocks,

 

[PaddlingSteve]

I'm now crossing my fingers that varnishing/oiling the interior doesn't soak through to the canvas. I'm thinking I should do my exterior shellacking and painting first, then build my interior oil layers lightly to avoid the soaking through to the canvas.

I'll be using Le Tonkinois Linseed + Tung oil instead of varnish - in an effort to use less chemical-laden materials. Also thinking of using linseed oil paint for above the waterline. I haven't heard of many people doing this, but I'm very intrigued by linseed paint's longevity and the fact that it doesn't peel.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Hi, STEVE I would bet you could use a finer nail-set tool and see if you can slip it between the warp and weft, right over the tack head and have at it if you can have a wife to hold the clinching iron on the inside.
I have hammered through the canvas and done no damage to anything. Try it gently at first. As I recall I have done this as well , when the filler had completely cured and had good success.
Have fun. Dave

 

[PaddlingSteve]

Hi, STEVE I would bet you could use a finer nail-set tool and see if you can slip it between the warp and weft, right over the tack head and have at it if you can have a wife to hold the clinching iron on the inside.
I have hammered through the canvas and done no damage to anything. Try it gently at first. As I recall I have done this as well , when the filler had completely cured and had good success.
Have fun. Dave

Thanks for the input Dave. Good to know you've tried something similar. Since the filler is already cured, I wouldn't be able to slip a tool in. Good to keep in mind if I run into this problem on another project before filling.

Perhaps I will test by hammering one tack through the canvas & see what happens. I guess worst case I will need to make a small patch if I puncture the canvas in the process.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Oh, I wouldn't do that. You will never get that head covered ( maybe with a flat headed tack ) and be happy with the patch and fastening through the canvas. You could go through the filled canvas. Just sand some off to the weave and use an awl to find the opening and then go for it and refill the spot. Have fun, Dave

 

[Dave Osborn]

I do all of my varnishing before canvas. I had a couple issues where you could see plank lines in the filler from varnish seeping through. So that how I do it now.
If I gave a proud tack head I try to reclinch it. Usually goes away. Not sure if it actually clinches or if it just crushes down the filler and canvas. Either way, it’s gone.
I do like the idea of a nail set and clinching iron. The little divot has left can be easily filled in.

 

[Rod Tait (Orca Boats)]

I too have found tacks that show through on older boats. Even though I thoroughly go over all the tacks, it seems they like to work loose after the canvas goes on. I have had some luck by pressing firmly with a large hammer head (sledge) on the outside and then hitting the tack and rib from the inside with a good size hammer. The wood may dent a bit, but you can soak that out with hot water. The bounce of the large hammer on the outside sometimes does the trick.

 

[Dan Miller]

I'll hit the proud tacks with a wide-faced cobbler's hammer, bucked by the standard clinching iron, both before and after filling if I find any. If the tack head sets, Bob's your uncle. If not, then the clinch is probably broken and naught you can do except not sand through the canvas at the tack head while doing the finish work.

 

[Karen Saunders]

Hi all! So excited about this - my first post. I'm in the final stages of a lengthy restoration of a 14' cedar canvas canoe of unknown origin that I purchased at a yard sale for $100 over six years ago. I've had many folks help me along the way and now that I've got the new gunwales on and taken it for its maiden voyage (used it as a dinghy equivalent on an eight day sailing trip on Lake Superior), I have sprung a leak. I had a feeling this might happen but was told along the way that it may not be a problem. The problem is that like PaddlingSteve, I have plank tacks that lie proud of the planks. I was told at the canvasing stage that they were not significant enough to worry about. As such I knew they were there and was careful sanding around them; I always wished they were not there.

So while paddling last week, I scraped the bottom of the canoe gently on a rock (oops) and it has made a tiny hole in the canvas where one of the tacks is - enough to let water into the boat. There are probably about a half dozen tacks that are just as likely to cause this same issue in the future. I'm hoping for advice on what to do with them. I'm now obviously not so concerned about the aesthetics as I am about the functionality of my boat.

I'm tempted to try to hammer them in somehow (realizing that I will likely damage the canvas). (I do have 3/4 tube of Ambroid glue left that I could use to help with any minor issues I cause. A good modern replacement for Ambroid would be another question for another day).

Help appreciated.
Thanks!
Karen.

 

[MGC]

Dan's post that suggests giving proud tacks a what even through the filler is probably akin to what you ought to consider doing if the tacks are in fact proud enough to catch on something through the canvas. Ideally these tacks get reseated before the canvas is installed...but that ship has sailed.
The tear (how bad is it?) might require a small patch placed between the planking and the canvas, Ambroid and then some touch up paint. Perhaps you can post a picture of the tear.
I carry duct tape for emergency repairs. A small piece can save the day.

 

[Karen Saunders]

Thanks MGC. I have added (hopefully) a photo of the tear (canoe hole). (I wouldn't even really call it a tear; it's so tiny that it's surprising that water's even coming in, but it is). I'm going to try to tackle it tonight so I suppose I'll attempt the wacking. I don't have a clinching iron so I'll have to get creative with that. I'll try on the leaking one and if all goes well I'll try to tackle the others that aren't yet leaking but that are scraped and likely to end up the same way over time (see second photo - canoe scrape). I'll let you know how it goes. And I'll bring duct tape with me this weekend just in case!

 

[Karen Saunders]

Update! The boyfriend and I went at the canoe last night with a hammer and crimping iron equivalent. We started with the worst of the tacks (the one that caused the hole) and it went so smoothly that we proceeded to hammer all of the tacks that were the least bit proud. I'm now going to squirt a tiny bit of ambroid into any area with noticeable canvas abrasion then tonight I will VERY lightly sand the entire boat and give it the final coat of paint I was always intending to give it. Then I cross my fingers and paddle off into the sunset. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[MGC]

That's great! It does not take much to set the tacks, just a couple whacks. It's probably a good that you did the rest of them before they also cause trouble. Ambroid does a a good job of fixing relatively benign scratches and it is really good for securing patches. I'm not sure that it is really the best thing for closing a hole. I'd be inclined to try and make a small amount of "paste" with epoxy and some canvas dust. You probably have some canvas scraps that you saved? Use a sander on it and make a bit of powder to fill that hole. You'll be able to lightly sand it before you paint.

 

[Dan Miller]

I'm never the one to suggest going against Mike's (MGC) advice, but in this case I think your plan is sound. Take a little Gorilla tape with you just in case (duct tape is an acceptable second choice).

If it leaks, dig around your fabric bin for any scrap (a piece of that paisley you've been saving for when the seventies roll around again is perfect). Make a small X over the hole with a sharp hobby knife, work the scrap under it, and seal it up with your ambroid and some paint. Then, as they say, Bob will be your Uncle.

 

[MGC]

No worries.... Whatever floats your boat.....
I've not had much use for Gorilla products since my fletchings fell off of my arrows after a couple shots. But I've not tried the tape. If you are suggesting it I'll give it a try.
I'm holding firm on my canvas dust though.. it could get mixed with the ambroid....

 

[Karen Saunders]

Thanks guys. It's too late anyways because I already ambroided the hole (and any other scrapes for good measure) at lunchtime today. Then after work I gave it all a quick light sand (220) and I just finished putting a last coat of paint on it. (I think I have one coat of primer on there and three coats of paint. Or maybe just three coats of paint. This is what happens when you take five years to do a canoe - you can't remember anything you did). My aim is to paddle on Saturday so my timeline is tight; that's the last coat of paint for now. I want to throw one more coat of varnish on the gunwales/planks/ribs before I leave (that will make three total) so hopefully the canoe is dry enough to flip it over tomorrow night. I MAY have time to get stem bands on but probably not. I'll just go barefoot for the weekend and step into the water when I have to get the boat out. Then when I get back I'll give it one more coat of varnish and hopefully call it a day. If I accidentally hit anything, I will consider all of your advice. (I'm playing an important role as sherpa on an all-girls overnight stand-up paddle board adventure).