Stainless steel bands on mold?

[Niels Vaillant]

Does anyone know if it's a problem to use stainless steel bands on a mold.
Don't know if it's hard enough for the nails, But it's easier to get scrap sheet material at metal dump yard(don't know the word) Old kitchen plates have about the right thickness and i've seen a lot of them last time I visited.

 

[bill w]

Hello Niels Stainles steel bands would work great along with ss screws to fasten them to the mold and you would never have to worry about rust, that could stain your wood ribs. I don't think that the kitchen plates would work as you need a full continous smooth length metal band on the form. Shorter pieces would leave dent marks on the wood ribs where they join. and be more difficult to work with putting them on the mold. Galvinized is mostly used because it is rust resistent and cheaper than stainless. It would also be best to have your bands cut to width at a shop that has a metal shear to get clean accurate cuts. cut them to length your self as needed. Hope this helps. Bill

 

[Dylan Schoelzel]

Stainless would work fine. Most people use galvanize because of its’ lower cost. Keep in mind that galvanized is not really rust proof. It’s just a coating and if that coating wears off, the under lying metal/steel will rust. Having said that, a lot of forms have been built with galvanized bands that have produced a lot of canoes with no rust stains.

Also, a word of caution when working with galvanized material. It’s basically a big no-no to heat it up. The smoke from heating the galvanized coating is very toxic and in some cases can kill you if enough is inhaled so be careful when countersinking for screws. If you are using a drill press for repetitive countersinking use a low speed or something like liquid dish soap to keep the metal cool and smoke free.

 

[Canoez]

Stainless will work, but be careful with the alloy selection. I tried some (IIRC 303 or 304 alloy) and it was relatively soft and there were little dents from the clenching. Was 12 Ga sheet stock.

 

[Niels Vaillant]

Thanks, the kitchen plates I saw there the last time where from a profesional kitchen and where prety big 60x150 and 60x200 (in cm), I didn´t think clearly. That`s a maximum of 27 bands and i need more Hard to find a matching pair, but who knows. When it´s going to be galvanised I'll let it cut, but stainless steel isn't that hard to cut with a jigsaw and when you sand it afterwards it can be prety smooth.
Problem is I just don't like galvanised steel because of the toxidy and more important it's ugly and remembers me of the fences from my first school.