My gut tells me to only keep some screws in where there are stress points, bends etc...critical areas.
Has anyone regretted leaving in screws (i.e. hard to glass over without noticing or screw movement after a few years)....
...or regretted removing screws (delamination, separation etc..).????
Let the horror stories begin...
I've always kept the screws in. My thinking has been that the glue is only attaching the surface veneers and that the screws act as a "through-bolt" adding extra security.
Very good point. I had not thought of it that way. I still would like to hear from others whether they had problems with screws showing through the glass. I as planning on countersinking and adding some glue to any screws I keep in.
Nope, leave them in. At the end of the boats service life you burn her and rake the ashes for the screws to build another.
I would only remove screws that cannot be countersunk, or are in bad places, such as the radius of the hull chine. The screws are not necessarily going to help hold the boat together once the glue dries and the fiberglass and epoxy harden, but they won't hurt anything.
Remember, you are building a wooden boat. You will have identifying marks regardless of what you do to disguise it. Plus, they are scars of distinction. You will not find these marks on clorox bottle boats. It seperates your boat from the fleet.
I'm gonna have bunches of 'em!!!
I took screws that held a seat top to a reinforcing stringer out. Unfortunately, a thin layer of wood on the stringer broke off still attached to the plywood and I had joint failure. As Andrew said, screws help hold together more than the surface layer of wood.
When you get caught on the lake in 25 knot winds and you're pounding through the waves you'll be glad you left the screws in.
:lol: I've experienced that "sinking feeling" when you are dropping down off a wave and you wonder about your construction technique and are thinking, "OH CRAP! I hope everything holds together"
hock:
hock:
Thankfully, ol Fat Chance bobs right back up and we ride up the face of the next one and come pounding back down, and I think "OH CRAP.....
Any port in a storm. :o