Steel fasteners on my OT

[ticonderoga]

I just started my next restoration project which is a 1912/13 HW Old Town. As I began to take it apart to see just what it needs, I noticed steel nails were used throughout the construction of the sponsons and steel bolts were used for the recessed holes in the gunwale for the seats, thwarts and carry thwarts. Needless to say they were all rusted and made removal quite a chore. I thought that steel was only used during the war times in the 40's, did thet use it at other times as well and if so, why would they? The canoe has had some repairs to it but the sponsons and the gunwales are original. The rest of the fasteners are brass. Serial # 24659 16 Thanks

 

[Gil Cramer]

Steel bolts with "ears" were standard for OT whenever the bolts were recessed and plugged. Nut removal is difficult, but it sometimes helps to oil the threads and screw on another nut below the one to be removed. For sponsons, since they should never encounter water, steel was also commonly used to nail the longitudinal planking to the cedar blocks.

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

I find that almost all of the well known canoe manufacturers used steel fasteners where ever a screw, nail or bolt was hidden from view. I don't know how many pennies they saved or what their profit margins were, but they were not afraid of saving a few cents if they could!

 

[ticonderoga]

Saving pennies

They may have saved a few pennies but they sure made it harder to repair later.It lasted that way for 100 years so I guess it was a good method of construction, and why worry to much about a guy restoring the canoe 100 years later! What is a good substitute for the seat/thwart bolts? Should I just use a silicon bronze bolt with a small enough head to fit the recess? Thanks for the info

I find that almost all of the well known canoe manufacturers used steel fasteners where ever a screw, nail or bolt was hidden from view. I don't know how many pennies they saved or what their profit margins were, but they were not afraid of saving a few cents if they could!

 

[Dave Osborn]

Get the 10-24 silicon bronze carraige bolts to replace the seat bolts. You can sand or grind down the heads to fit the recess if needed.