How to "tighten" snaps?

[Dave Diefenderfer]

When I made my dodger for the sneakbox, I ordered my SS snaps form Sailrite.com. When I installed them it took a rubber mallet to snap them, which is fine. Ordered more for Rufus' Kalash spray curtain and installed them the other night. With just a very slight upward pull, they easily come apart? This will not do. These need to be tight, even hard to remove would be ideal. Anyone know a trick to making the snaps tight? I am thinking if I removed the male end and set it in a vice, maybe crush it some so it expands? I have a note into Sailrite to see if they have any suggestions... otherwise we are removing the snaps and screwing or tacking the spray curtain down. It must be tight and mostly watertight!

TIA, Dave

 

[John L]

Have you thought about using twist fasteners instead of snaps.

 

[Dave Diefenderfer]

John, had not thought of the twist fasteners.... already had the snap tool. Hate to drill out all these snaps! Like 50 of them around the curtain! Leaning toward some SS finish washers and SS screws and eliminating the snaps. Would address our issue with the pleats too at the corners. Since the screws are into Azek, they are not hull perforations and not a leak/rot concern.

Unless we can tighten the snaps, we will switch to plan B!

Dave

 

[Chris S.]

Dave,
what if you took the female part and squeezed them with pliers and made it kinda oblong that might hold tighter

 

[John L]

Dave,

If your looking for water tight check out how I fasten my dodger to my boat.
I used flexible awning track rail and it is completely water / wind proof. I can take waves crashing up over the bow and rolling up onto the dodger and it holds it all back without a drop coming in. I moved the track well forward of the cockpit coaming and can use this area for additional dry storage.
It is a bit more work but well worth the extra effort.

 

[Dave Diefenderfer]

John, very nice set-up.... would be a really big job on a layout boat spray curtain! Originally the canvas was glued and stapled to the plywood. As I tend to over engineer everything... I installed a mahogany cockpit coaming to finish and strengthen the edges of the cockpit as we will be lift ourselves by pushing on the sides... and none of us are little guys! I then installed a Azek coaming out board of the mahogany so we had a place to attach the spray curtain. The new curtain is a heavy vinyl/canvas of some kind. I have sewn 2 inch webbing into the hem to support the snaps. It makes the hem bulky, and since this makes a complete oval we have some pleats fore and aft to deal with. If we could tighten the snaps sufficiently, then we will pull the pleats and "sew" them with waxed line tight. If we go the screw route, then we can fold them over and screw them tight.

 

[Bob B]

Dave,
how was the original attached?

I would go with a real water tight seal. I would not want to need that shield and have it be splash proof only. If you had a tender problem and the gunner was required to wait in the layout he would want all the freeboard he could get.


Bob

 

[tod osier]

I think it woudl eb fairly straightforward to make a tapered tool from a punch or steel stock to try to open the lip. The snap material may be too hard, but I have tightened snaps before. I just smacked them with a hammer, but if I had a bunch to do I'd go with a tool.

 

[gcs]

I put my new old style dodger on the Barnaget with SS screws and washers directly into the deck.
Maybe not as elegant, but it ain't coming off, and is as waterproof as any other method.
I'm not a canvas guy and snaps and tracks seemed a PITA to me, so I went old school. just replacing the tacks with screws.

 

[Mike, B]

I think it would be fairly straightforward to make a tapered tool from a punch or steel stock to try to open the lip. The snap material may be too hard, but I have tightened snaps before. I just smacked them with a hammer, but if I had a bunch to do I'd go with a tool.

 

[Larry J]

Dave,

make sure the inside of female end is free of unnecessary metal from cripping on the cap. the prongs on some caps can be too long if you're working with thin canvas. if it's clogged with metal, then a slight squeeze of the female part should do the trick, of even the male part for that matter.