How to build a cleat from wood?

[Jim Wellman]

A simple enough task I'm sure, especially when compared to whole project of building the boat. But, I still have questions.

Building a Penobscot 14. Arch Davis provided a good profile for various cleats, so getting a rough cutout is easy enough. My question is primarily about the amount of rounding I should do along the edges. I used 3/4" thick stock, white oak, to cut out the profile. So how much rounding, what tools are best suited for this, and is oak a good material?

All suggestions welcome!

[Ian McColgin]

I favor the blank being made with a radius under the horns just a bit larger than the intended line, and the radius around the base of the cleat making a nice semi-circle at each end.

[cs]

Here is my take on cleats. You need a half round bastard, a scroll saw, & sandpaper. Optional items are a drill and a moto-tool.

Use the scroll saw to cut out the rough outline. You can use a drill to drill out the round part underneath the horn and the slot where the bitter end goes. Once you have the rough shape cut with the scroll saw it is only a matter of rounding all the corners and sharp edges with a half round bastard. You can use a moto-tool with a sanding drum to do some final shaping. Than it is just a matter of sanding it smooth and finishing.

http://a0.cpimg.com/image/B2/89/12908210-6ba1-02000155-.jpg

This is one of the cleats that I have made myself. I think that once you make your first one you will see how easy and relaxing it can be.

Chad

[Jim Wellman]

Is oak a good material?

Do you attach the cleat using stainless steel wood screws, countersunk of course? This is what I thought would work the best.

[Bill Perkins]

Here's a pattern from L.F. Herreshoff that shows some of the shape . Pretty much what Ian was talking about . This is from the specs for the H-28 , wherein he suggests wood cleats as an option ,except for the mooring cleat .

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid23/p68394616eaeeb0869a816c77310ead77/fda1ecad.gif

[ 09-18-2002, 07:23 AM: Message edited by: Bill Perkins ]

[Meerkat]

Given the labor involved, is it cost-effective to make cleats compared to buying?

This isn't a critique, it's a question.

[Bayboat]

Jim: White oak is fine. Just about any hard, dense wood will do, if you're careful about the grain direction. Among the best are lignum vitae, ironbark and hornbeam.
Meerkat: No. But cost-effectiveness doesn't enter into it, unless you only pay yourself about $1.00 per hour. You make wood cleats because they look good on your boat.

[ 09-17-2002, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Bayboat ]

[holzbt]

"The Marlinspike Sailor" by Hervey Garret Smith has an excellent chapter about making wooden cleats. You should be able to find some locust in most firewood piles. Locust makes about as good a cleat as you can get.

[Dave Fleming]

I'm with Holzbt on the Garrett Smith design.
Made a bunch out of winter cut White Oak well soaked in my 'special sauce', they came out fine and are still in use after about 25 years.
I expanded the size for some and shrunk it for others but all told must have been around 20 of them. Made some others for myself out of Osage Orange, they too turned out well but were a bitch to make! That stuff be hard, or so says I.

[Paul Scheuer]

WB had an article several years ago. I didn't do the search, but I remember that the plan was to lay out several interlocking cleat patrerns in the stock, with strategic holes drilled that became the important radii when you cut the pieces apart.

As far as labor cost goes. I work real cheap when I'm the buyer, that way I get a better deal. On the labor side, even at the pittifuly low price, it's a better deal that hiring a prefessional therapist.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Check your email, Jim.

If these are to be mooring cleats, I'd definitely recommend you make Martin pattern ones, with the toe of the base extending past each horn. Although not to my mind as attractive as the traditional pattern, this design allows for another fastener to be placed at each end, making for a much stronger fitting.

http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au./horncleat2.jpg

Chad's construction method is about the way we do it. It's important to properly round everything, but especially the re-entrant curves under each horn.

Because the labour content represents such a large slice of the cost, doing it yourself (assuming you don't charge for your own labour) is a better economic proposition than buying.

[ 09-18-2002, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: Wooden Boat Fittings ]

[PugetSound]

Round off the appropriate edges so as to prevent fraying of the line . . . Naturally, larger radii will stress the line much less than smaller radii. The design of the cleat will pretty well govern how much you can round the edges.

The thing to remember here is that wood has a grain direction and that at some point that cleat is going to be stressed in more than one direction - one of those directions will inevitably be across the grain (weak). Result is that the beautiful wood cleat can split right along the grain.

The solution (and this also applies to wood oarlock risers) here is to either place increased dependence upon those fasteners (longer and thicker than with metal cleats)to hold the cleat together in the across-grain direction (i.e. to take the strain in that direction) or to drill out the center of the cleat and insert a dowel so that you effectively have wood grain going in both directions. You can also, of course, use a combination of the two reinforcing methods. If you go with just the fasteners,

[Cedarhill Boatworks]

what HOLZBT said, use locust

[Jim Wellman]

Thanks for all of the great input.

One more question. What is the best finish to apply? This is a small boat that will live on a trailer when not in the water, and will likely have a canvas cover to keep the sun away.

[Walcheren]

CS posts a lovely picture of a cleat. Could you tell us a bit about dimensions. I have read as much as I could find in W.B., Chapelle etc. These postings are excellent. Before I cut into my precious piece of locust I hate to start without having some sense of size, 8" or 9" total?, length of base? The Martin pattern looks attractive too with the extra fastenings. I realise size also depends on size of line used, 3/8" or 1/2" etc.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Check your email, Walcheren. (Did you ever own a Sonata, by the way?)

[NormMessinger]

From Tom's wood pile to my shop via Mike's design:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/p1770c5e550d33e883edf005a79643e78/fda6bd88.jpg

Based on discusssions at the time I wonder if the bolt holes are not a bit far apart and one reader made a very strong case for having no opening in the cleat between the bolts, but after the deed was done. Now I have to get around to mounting them on Prairie Islander in such a way as to justify the massive cleat. The idea atthe time I made them was to be able to lift the entire boat from the four cleats. I have no idea why.

--Norm

[ 09-19-2002, 02:53 PM: Message edited by: NormMessinger ]

[skuthorp]

Iv'e made a set of cleats, blocks and sheaves for a small boat from Aussie woods known as Mulga and Jarrah. Some time ago there was a stream on this subject with cleats made from Lignum Vitae and lots of good information.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

I remembered I had something to contribute to this thread. I made four of these for Sonja a few years ago. Patterned after the originals, they were meant as jam cleats for jib sheets. They're teak and about 6 1/2" long x 1 3/8" wide, and will take 3/8" to 5/8" size sheets. Please pardon the dust.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid33/pbabc87b47f8f95ea4692ac7fb7841b57/fd4050c0.jpg

Rich

[Carlsboats]

Locust yes. Oak? Not the best, unless you plan to paint the cleats. Left raw, the oak will blacken. Varnished, the varnish will get worn off and, again, blackening.
My preference is for teak, because you can leave it raw. But teak is pretty soft, so the lines could chew it up. The way I get around that is to laminate my cleats -- the base is teak; the mid-section (where all the wear occurs) is ebony, and the long top piece is teak. They look great, and the only thing that could blacken- the ebony layer -- is already black. It is so hard that it
never seems to wear, and it needs no finish. I put them together with epoxy; so far so good. No delamination over time. The bolts holding the cleat down keep the laminates from trying to come apart.
Where can you get ebony? I get mine from rare wood dealers who sell to cabinet makers and instrument makers. One such dealer has a scrap
box he lets customers pick through. Pieces too small for him to sell are plenty big enough for cleats (and they're free).

[dadadata]

Wow! Numerous nice cleats.

See my Cheap Pages for many cleat patterns.

One pattern includes a chart for figuring size based on rope diameter.

Larger is better ("fatter") I should say. Don't make them too narrow. Well-rounded is good. Friction against the line is your riend where cleats are concerned. Those narrow plastic things are the worst, and especially so with modern slippery line.

Any hard wood is fine but I've also seen workboat cleats here in the Chesapeake made of what must be 2x6 framing lumber.

I find that rasps and files are best for rounding-out cleats, especially those in hard woods like Osage.

Several cleat-making items have appeared in Boatbuilder mag in the past couple years.

[Randy Sweet]

WOuld Mahogany work ?

[cs]

Randy I made mine from Mahogany and ain't had no problems yet. But than again mine ain't under a lot of stress.

Chad

[Bill Dodson]

Here's a nice looking set of instructions/drawings from Practical Sailor: Sketch Book: Cleats (http://204.220.138.252/newspics/charts/888sketchbook.pdf)