Galvanized Screws

[ShelbyBoats]

Hello everyone, looking for some advice for a source of HDG wood screws for a build I am doing. I know that silicon bronze is the go-to when it comes to fasteners in wooden boats, but I am trying to follow the plans as exactly as I can. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

[cstevens]

Admiral Ship Supply in Port Townsend carries high quality HDG wood screws and they ship.

http://admiralshipsupply.com/

[J.Madison]

Standard fastenings is reputed to be very high quality if you need a large order. I dont think they do retail quantities.

[Garret]

Opinion Warning!

Having owned an old boat originally put together with galvanized fastenings, I will never, ever put a galvanized screw in a boat. OK - maybe some beat up old rowboat that's going to fall apart in 5 years anyway, but the hours of removing rusted screws & the damage to the wood around them, nope - not on anything I care about.

End of opinion

[johngsandusky]

When I built my Glen-L Topper in '87, I think I bought the galvanized screws from them. That boat lasted decades outside.

[sp_clark]

I know that silicon bronze is the go-to when it comes to fasteners in wooden boats....

Fresh water usage or salty? Not intended to be afloat for days, weeks, just for a few hours?

Depending on how many and of what sizes, is there much of a cost savings with HDG over SB fasteners?

[UCanoe_2]

What are you building, Shelby?

Some older plans do specify galvanized fasteners, but your boat will last longer if you upgrade. You can't avoid chipping the galvanizing when you drive the screws, and that will provide a place for rust to begin. If you are interested in saving money, stainless steel is less expensive than bronze. You could use bronze below the waterline and stainless above.

[hawkeye54]

Anecdotal information - when I was in 7th grade ( late 1950's ) I built a table lamp from oak glued to cherry, the base was attached to the top of the lamp with 4 galvanized flathead wood screws . That lamp followed me around for the past 60 years, never exposed to the weather, and I started to rebuild it last year ( needed a small project ) - I was quite surprised to have the screws just about drop out, and discovered considerable rust on the screws and lots of 'iron sickness' in the oak.



Rick

[pcford]

Yes to the above problems with galvy screws. Add to that the issue that you cannot get galvy in square drive.

[wizbang 13]

One does not KNOW if the galvanizing is any good until 40 years later.
mine seem fine after 39 years

[ShelbyBoats]

I am building a 1950's style rowboat and I am trying to follow the plans as closely as possible. The boat will never live in the water and will always be kept in my barn, its my first attempt at building a boat and for what it is I don't expect it to be show quality. I am not opposed to using SB, I am just can't believe how expensive they are, I just feel there has to be some other option.

[pcford]

I am building a 1950's style rowboat and I am trying to follow the plans as closely as possible. The boat will never live in the water and will always be kept in my barn, its my first attempt at building a boat and for what it is I don't expect it to be show quality. I am not opposed to using SB, I am just can't believe how expensive they are, I just feel there has to be some other option.

For this use I think stainless would be ok. You can get stainless in square drive.

[Garret]

For this use I think stainless would be ok. You can get stainless in square drive.

But period correct out be slotted!

Let's rehash that debate, shall we?

Just kidding - I agree stainless would be the way to go for this.

[wizbang 13]

i recon good galv is better than cheap ss

[John Meachen]

I suppose the same forty year test applies.....

[ulav8r]

I doubt most currently available galvanized screws are as high quality as screws galvanized 40 years ago were.

This advice not worth what you paid for it.

[willin woodworks]

How much money are we talking about in a rowboat? A few bucks....

Buy bronze screws.

[ShelbyBoats]

So I have read a lot of bad things about stainless steel anywhere below the waterline so I wasn't sure about going that route. I know it's more old school but I see Jamestown Distributors sells a wide arrange of brass screws, has anyone here used these on their project?

[wizbang 13]

No yer goin backward now…. No brass.
Stainless is not all the same. In general, SS from home depot is 304, SS from a marine store is 316.

[Garret]

No yer goin backward now…. No brass.
Stainless is not all the same. In general, SS from home depot is 304, SS from a marine store is 316.

Yep on both - brass is really weak & will probably last a shorter time than cheap stainless.

[chas]

I think you have the right idea in your original post. Fine home building practise has many requirements for quality hot-dipped galvanized fasteners and I expect they should be available close to you as well. Good luck with your project. / Jim

[wizbang 13]

treat every single one carefully during driving,a dab of wet paint or a dip in lanolin.
yes it is messy and time consuming...the boats that get rusty after a few decades did not get this love.
And..yer in Ohio...any salt water near there?

[BillP]

Galvanized is fine for that project. I built an 11'r similar to the OPs when I was about 14 yrs old. Used exterior ply, water based weldwood glue and galv roof nails...the ones with big heads. No countersinking, no nothing except paint over them. The boat was used frequently in brackish water and pulled up on shore for storage behind our house. The nails bled and I painted it every yr but the boat lasted about 20 yrs before succumbing to rot from letting it sit with water in it. A trailer skiff with limited use and stored under roof should have no problems...but I would probably epoxy glue it and not worry about fastener material now.

Fast fwd a coupole decades and I pulled a few garboard fasteners on a 42' cutter for survey. They were slot head galvanized and reported to be 15-20 yrs old from a rebuild. I knew the owner and could verify at least 15 yrs. They looked slightly tarnished but close to how they came new out of a box. I've pulled above water galv fasteners that showed much worse.

Galvanized any day over brass.

[ShelbyBoats]

Alright, so brass is off the table. I contacted Hillman and they said that all of their screws are hot dipped so I am going to go with that brand. I was originally planning on using either varnish or shellac to coat the pilot holes and then coat each screw in either beeswax or something similar, I remember reading somewhere some guys even use toilet wax rings to dip screws into. I did have a question about prepping board ends for screwing into the transom frame and the stem. I have been reading that its wise to coat the ends with either shellac or varnish as well and then bed the ends in something such as dolphinite.

[wizbang 13]

this is a good screw dip.

[Garret]

It's also good on dried, cracked skin.

[johngsandusky]

I've been dipping screws in boiled linseed oil.

[ShelbyBoats]

So you use bag balm to dip your screws in? And I think I actually have some linseed oil out in the barn. What about bedding the ends of the chines and clamps into the stem and transom?

[wizbang 13]

bag balm is better for the wood grain that it soaks into, keeping water out of the screw hole
it is a fifth the price of a jar of "lanocote", marine lanolin
it will protect the galv better than wax or blo
i bed a few things with it, but the bedding you use for your boat depends of how the rest of the boat is built.
i tend to epoxy boats together, and using epoxy is an "all or nothing " game, so i bed wood in epoxy.Using just a little of it is daft.
I only use "bedding compound" for semi permanant mounting a non wood fitting. cleat/winch/trim
be careful with linseed oil, some feel it is food for rot.

[ShelbyBoats]

Yea my plan is to only use epoxy on the scarf joints, it's not terrible stuff to work with, but I just don't like it. Would much rather use more traditional methods, at least for this project.