planked spruce restoration ?

Hello-
posted this on finishes- maybe here better ?
new to this site. I have a spruce planked 13.5' flat bottomed, v shaped boat that was originally finished with oakum under life caulk (as best as I can tell), then was epoxy painted (?) with no glass, then enamel painted. Galvenized screw fastners.
I have spent the weekend torch scraping to bare wood (with some goo still their) and belt sanding next.

I am unsure why their is Oakum under life caulk.
Can I just use life caulk and skip the oakum (biggest gap's is @3/16") ?

Can you use epoxy with no glass to get a low maint clear fiinish (is their such a thing)
Maybe just a enamal boat finish is best
Boat has a Johnson 6 and is trailer, only inwater with use- so can't be left too long to expand to seal -if ya get my drift
(a bit wordy for a first post ??)

 

Oakum (the actual caulking) is used in the seams between the planks, which acts as a adjustable gasket. It adapts to the rise and decline of the moisture content in the planking and this action is what keeps the seams sealed tight enough to prevent leaks. The pliable top coat of boatlife (seam compound) is used to protect the caulk from the beasties in the water eating it or other types of damage like UV. The caulk (oakum) is pounded (literally) into the seam using an iron and mallet, then the compound is applied over this, which also helps smooth out the seam.

Pounding caulk is a job you can do, but requires practice to do correctly without damaging the seams, planks or fasteners. I'd strongly recommend you have an experienced "corker" (as they're called in your neck of the woods) look over your seams and if necessary make the repairs. A boat this size will have light weight planking, which will not tolerate the abuses of you learning the "feel" for the iron. The results may be cupped planks, hardened seams and a host of other ills, you don't want to have to fix.

Epoxy over anything, without reinforcement (cloth and/or fillers) doesn't do much except act as a fine, but expensive primer/sealer. Painting is one of the best things you can do for a trailer boat. It's easy to repair when it gets dinged, isn't terribly costly and is within the skills of the average person to do well.

Do not sheath this boat with epoxy or polyester and cloth. Carvel construction (that's the term for your planking method) doesn't like thin plastic reinforced cloth skins, goo'd to their flanks. Do not use epoxy as a coating on the planking, you'll never keep all of it out of the seams and these areas will not swell like the rest of the seams and it'll leak. In fact, the best thing you can do is stick with the traditional methods and techniques used in carvel building. These would include re-caulking, paying the seams with compound, priming and the finish of your choice (varnish, urethane or paint) Stick with the oil based (traditional) or poly based paints (new age stuff) and leave the fancy two part stuff for the noses on aircraft.

Clear finishes require the most maintenance and there isn't a coating that is low maintenance over wood. Epoxy as a clear finish will die quickly without an additional top coat of a several layers of varnish or urethane, to protect it from UV damage. Epoxy has it's uses, but in this type of construction it's limited to CPES on certain replacement pieces and localized rot repairs. Coating with this stuff should be avoided because of the swelling requirements needed to insure the planks get tight.

 

Excellent help!

I have done a bit of caulking on my Garvey when I was back east (was 30 years ago- I maybe aging) using a roller type thing, not an iron-
It look's like the stuff I removed was applied correctly- the LifeCaulk like stuff was taped neatly etc-
So I have 2 questions-
Should I shelter the boat and dry it before oakum caulking ? (which would increase the size of the seams to maximum)
Should I go with an iron and the heavier oakum for the big seams (I remember their were 2 types- the thread like stuff I used with a roller for small seams, and the fiberglass like stuff that you used with an iron for bigger seams?)

(damn I miss that 24 foot Garvey- partial tunnel , nice little cabin, 289 interceptor, 12 bilge pumps)

 

Personally, I've never caulked a dry boat, though I'd think, if it was done lightly it could be. This is the experience thing I was talking about. A corker that's been banking the stuff for years would know how firm to stuff the seams, depending on the moisture content in the planks. If the seams are over pounded or filled with caulk when dry, it'll cause a world of hurt to the planks and related stuff when everything swells back up. Yes, you'd typically use more material in the seams (I just loop in some extra) in areas where the seam is wider. I've always used string and an iron, I've seen the roller thingie, but have never seen it used. Caulking is one of those truly traditional techniques that requires experience to do well. They go by sound, the thump made as the mallet contacts the iron. When it's right it has a sound to it, that they key in on, so they know if it needs more pounding, caulk or if they should pull some out, because it's too much. Maybe someone who's banged a few tens of thousand feet of seam can chime in with some advise.

 

caulk

thanks- I'll see if I can find someone around here , though may need to trailer to Port Townsend (their's some wood boat types their)

 

caulking issues

Garvey Guy, What are your boat's planking dimensions ? For a boat of relatively small size, I doubt that they are more than 3/4 - 1" . If you have seam gaps that are up to 3/16" in some areas, then I would assume that you have some movement .You might consider checking those galvanised fastenings. Look to see if the planking seams adjacent to the one with the large gap are really tight. Also look at the inside surface to see if the seam gap is close to the same as the outside.That could indicate a blown out caulking seam. That comes from trying to put too much caulking in or beetling too hard. If that is the case, then you will have to consider replacing the plank or installing a spline depending on the extent of the damage. Personally, I prefer the former as opposed to the latter.I have had the opportunity to perform many recaulks in the past and have seen many spline jobs that have held up. I feel, however, that there is excessive reliance on glues/adhesives to allow myself to put my name on such a repair method. As concerns recoating the hull, I agree with Par, epoxy or glass merely prevents the planking from expanding which enables the caulking to do it's job. It seems that carvel built boats still like enamel paint better than most other coatings. If you can post photos or offer more detail to your problems I would be happy to offer an opinion.

 

pic's

Here are pic's of the boat and the largest seam-
It measures 1/4" at outboard (as seen) inboard maybe 1/8 (I didn't crawl under to measure but could)
on board here is maybe 1/16 to 1/8 away from board below- the worst on the boat- most are close
Their were no leaks before I started project- but paint was blistering as I think was painted over epoxy and wasn't a good bond (though lasted 4 or 5 years OK )

 

I don't have a caliper but would guess it is @ 3/4" -1" planking
all the fastenings (galv screw's) seem ok (not loose with pounding on wood, not rot)
to spline do you route a 3/16 deep or so dado (? correct term), then glue a flat piece of same thinkness to but against the adjacent plank ? (I always thought a spline would be in a groove between to boards, not suface ?)

 

Spines are okay on trailered boats that don't stay in the water for long, because you actually have a chance of keeping her reasonably dry. A moored boat could have it's topsides spined, but I'd not want to do the underwater areas this way.

Spines typically are tapered sections of the same lumber. The seams are recut with a custom ground blade to provide the tapered "V" shaped groove, the wedges are similarly shaped, coated with adhesive then pounded into the seams, left slightly proud to be knocked down fair after all is cured. It forms a very tight hull but can also cause issues on boats that have a dramatic wet/dry cycling. A trailered boat will not get very wet if the paint and maintenance is kept up so it would be okay. I'd be afraid of doing this with those wide planks, just too much movement potential.

This planking material is not very good at holding fasteners and the fasteners are one of the cheapest available, so it's probably got areas the framing isn't attached to the planking. Pull the screws in the surrounding area of the biggest gap and have a look see. You'll also be able to examine the condition of the holes in the framing. I'm guessing the planking will have egged out holes and the frames pretty much the same in those areas. Iron sickness can cleave right through a screw and leave a pretty head to fool you. You'll probably rip the head off the first screw that has any grip so get a small bolt extractor ready. Drilling the head and using a bolt extractor (Easy-Out) is the safe way to remove a questionable fastener without doing a lot of damage to the lumber. I know you'll try the screw driver first, but trust me, I've removed tens of thousands of fasteners and I don't even try any more, I just drill them out. It's a *****, but you get the hang of it pretty quick, just be grateful it's not a 25' boat with narrow planks.