Strake question....

tod osier

tod osier

Well-known member
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I've been talking to the metal yard and I can't get exactly what I want in stainless, so I have two options. All is 304 SS in 3/16. I have a diagram below. To recap, the biggest "mistake" I made on my snowgoose was how I did my strakes, both the material facing them and the shape of the wood part. The way I made them I used larger wood then most (2 and 3" x 3/4") on Sam's suggestion (and I had the wood anyway). I ripped the pieces and rounded over the corners with a 1/4" roundover bit (see drawing "now"). the rounded area and sides get quite a bit of wear and the oak is pretty beat up, so obviously that design didn't work perfectly (they did look nice, if that counts). Given the metal I can get I have 2 options: A). would require some grinding of the strake, B would require some building up in the blue area with epoxy. In A). the metal is 1/4" narrower than the strake on both sides and in B) the metal is the same width. Either one is needed since the strakes are scabbed up. If option "A", does anyone have a suggestion on how to accomplish? I'd rather not do it freehand and I haven't found a router bit with the proper profile (and I'm not getting one made).

T

strakess.jpg

 
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Todd,

I'd go B. My keelsons are 1" stock aluminum strips on top of 1" wide Doug fir, and the squareness keeps the dings and wear on the strips, not the wood. Plus, B is easy to do (I'm waiting to see if someone has some "slick" way of doing A). My boat just saw salt water this summer, so time will tell if I regret attaching w/ss screws. At any rate, I can sure tell broken barnicles and other salt water crap is much more abbrasive than Mississippi bottom mud.....

-Bill
 
I'm not sure about your question Tod. Are you going to replace the metal? Why? Other than cosmetic, are the keelsons failing? If you could get the metal you want, what would it be? If the wood portion of the keelson is beat up why not just brush some more epoxy on it and be done with it in an hour?
 
I'd just use a straight router bit and make a wooden wedge-shaped piece to attach to the router's base plate to tilt it up to the angle you want, or if I knew the keelsons were just glued on, I'd cut them flat again with an electric hand plane. Three sixteenth inch SS should make up for any loss of depth, if that's a concern for handling.

Cheers,
Bob
 
If it was me Todd I would go with B

I just purchased a chimney cap out of stainless. I looked on the net for prices for stainless. I purchased locally it was less. The price of stainless has dropped. Still not cheap. I went to a couple of mechanical contractors for bids. In this area the contractors do piping and sheet metal and have shops to cut any size you want. They are more reasonable than just metal shops. The difference between the shops was still $80. It pays to shop around.
 
Todd,

I'd go B. My keelsons are 1" stock aluminum strips on top of 1" wide Doug fir, and the squareness keeps the dings and wear on the strips, not the wood. Plus, B is easy to do (I'm waiting to see if someone has some "slick" way of doing A). My boat just saw salt water this summer, so time will tell if I regret attaching w/ss screws. At any rate, I can sure tell broken barnicles and other salt water crap is much more abbrasive than Mississippi bottom mud.....

-Bill
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Bill,

Thanks, that was what I was leaning towards "B" but hadn't thought about using a router on a wedge as suggested below. That saltwater and its associates are nasty... if you haven't been following my story, my strake faces (AL) have corroded behind and released them from the 5200, crepping crevace corrosion as it is called. Not that it isn't fine to just have them attached mechanically. Nasty stuff all around.

T
 
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I'm not sure about your question Tod. Are you going to replace the metal? Why? Other than cosmetic, are the keelsons failing? If you could get the metal you want, what would it be? If the wood portion of the keelson is beat up why not just brush some more epoxy on it and be done with it in an hour?
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Pete,

I got the boat rolled over for a re-fit before I start the tolman. I've fixed it a number of times as you suggested, but I got sick of it and at some point resealing is more trouble than it is worth because you are just sealing water in there to rot. I've got the strips torn off and I'm going to order stainless anyway, so I was looking for suggestions.

Thanks,

T
 
I'd just use a straight router bit and make a wooden wedge-shaped piece to attach to the router's base plate to tilt it up to the angle you want, or if I knew the keelsons were just glued on, I'd cut them flat again with an electric hand plane. Three sixteenth inch SS should make up for any loss of depth, if that's a concern for handling.

Cheers,
Bob
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Bob, just the answer I was looking for, something I didn't think of. I could use a short template bit with a top mounted guide. Add a shim and buzz right down there. Thanks, very good option, it makes "A" viable. Now I have to make a decision.

T
 
Understood, looks like it's time. I had forgotten that your Al was corroding. If not 304, what would your preference be and what profile?
 
If it was me Todd I would go with B

I just purchased a chimney cap out of stainless. I looked on the net for prices for stainless. I purchased locally it was less. The price of stainless has dropped. Still not cheap. I went to a couple of mechanical contractors for bids. In this area the contractors do piping and sheet metal and have shops to cut any size you want. They are more reasonable than just metal shops. The difference between the shops was still $80. It pays to shop around.
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Pete,

SS is down in price - I can get 3" x 3/16" x 12' in 304 for $83. Given the price of the aluminum strips when I bought them (that I'm recycling since they corroded off), $300 to do it over in SS doesn't seem that bad. We have a great SS distributor here and the prices seem pretty good.

I think B is probably the way to go (but see bob's suggestion), dry fit and cover teh strip with some sort of release (packing tape) and run a fillet fo thickened epoxy to fill in the radius. That woudl fix the dings and get rid of the radius. My only concern with B is that if I didn't fill the radius that a rock woudl snag it (our rocks are mean here and sharp). That was the worry that ended me with how I did it the first time anyway.

T
 
Understood, looks like it's time. I had forgotten that your Al was corroding. If not 304, what would your preference be and what profile?
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What I wanted to start is 1 3/4" and 2 3/4", so I could do option "A" and not have to grind much off. I can get 1 1/2" and 2 1/2", so if I went with "A", I'd just have to grind slightly more strake off making them more angled. Not a big deal, I can work in 1/2" increments.

This is only the center, the sides don't have any wear to speak of, the center is raw wood for several feet.
 
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It's only money!

I've always thought SS Channel would be the ideal way to go.



Scott
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Wouldn't that be sweet. I can't get a channel that fits, I can get 2 and 3" wide x 1/4", but the ears are too long, so I could buy some sort of 2 ton tool to remove them. Or I could buy square tube and cut channels out of it, think I could use a hacksaw to cut a straight enough line in 1/8" 304 SS x 12'? Wanna help? I'll do the first inch and you can finish. :). I would really pursue it, but you woudl have to make relief cuts in the ears to get it to take the bend, and that isn't very satisfying.
 
Scott,

That would be worth thinking about! I have yet to build but it would seem that a channel would be the best option for side impacts. It would also reduce the stress transfered to the screws under a side impact.
 
Tod,

If you used square tube and cut it down the middle,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what you would have left would already be bowed to fit. (due to the stress in it) Only trouble is,,,,,,,,,,, the "bow" would be going the wrong way, away from the ears rather than into them. Any good machine shop would be able to roll the bend for you (to match the hull). That is, if you could find the right size required.
 
Tod,

If you used square tube and cut it down the middle,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what you would have left would already be bowed to fit. (due to the stress in it) Only trouble is,,,,,,,,,,, the "bow" would be going the wrong way, away from the ears rather than into them. Any good machine shop would be able to roll the bend for you (to match the hull). That is, if you could find the right size required.
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A piece of square tube would be super spendy too. If I was starting from zero, I would think about it and custom make the wood part to fit some sort of extrusion, but at this point a piece of flat bar will do. I'd also consider something with UHMW, but I don't what to add the tickness I'd need/want.

Dave, Look over my second question for me would ya?

Thanks,

T
 
Re-read this thread, and I'm still up in the air on whether to add metal to the runners on my Hybrid build.

So far they're just covered with a layer of epoxy impregnated fiberglass. It's not looking too durable.

Apparently, strips of brass are available around here for reasonable cost. Does it make sense to screw brass onto the runners (over a bed of 5200 marine sealant)?

If so, what thickness of brass, makes sense, and does it make sense to go with tempered brass? Also, if I go the brass route, do I stick it right on top of the existing epoxied fiberglass, or should I sand that back to raw wood?

Thanks for any input.
 
Re-read this thread, and I'm still up in the air on whether to add metal to the runners on my Hybrid build.

So far they're just covered with a layer of epoxy impregnated fiberglass. It's not looking too durable.

Apparently, strips of brass are available around here for reasonable cost. Does it make sense to screw brass onto the runners (over a bed of 5200 marine sealant)?

If so, what thickness of brass, makes sense, and does it make sense to go with tempered brass? Also, if I go the brass route, do I stick it right on top of the existing epoxied fiberglass, or should I sand that back to raw wood?

Thanks for any input.
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I would not sand sealed wood to apply 5200, I would bed in 5200 on top of epoxy, 5200 sticks real well to epoxy (and everything else). Brass is not a traditional marine metal, and may not have the properties to hold up in a marine environment (if that matters), bronze fastened with bronze screws is traditional, SS with SS screws is very corrosion proof as well. I woudl think Stainless would be less expensive than bronze half rounds, for sure if you get flat bar from a place like Yarde metals.
 
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My wife and I own a commercial glass/glazing company that she runs here in Michigan and use a lot of aluminum. If anyone needs aluminum stock, lets at least talk and see if its economical to supply you with what you need (considering shipping and all). You might be surprised
 
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We can supply any other stock too from our metal suppliers... just don't use it daily in house. Let us know.
 
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