Hanging seats

[Jim Dodd]

In my early years of mounting seat in my strippers. It was a hit or miss endeavor, if my holes were angled left or right, fore or aft, as I drilled for the hanger bolts.
It wasn't long before I discovered this secret that greatly improved my hole drilling.

This long bit, with light and steady pressure, has greatly improved the alignment. I drill my gunnels, hanger brackets, and seat frame all at the same time.

Try one you will like it !

Jim

 

[Boatman53]

I have long used a long bit to help get straight holes. Since I mostly work alone I use a scissor jack to firmly hold the seat in place so I can have two hands to guide the drill.

Jim

 

[Muskrat]

Excellent. I'll do that next time. It's always a pain to get everything lined up, and at least one of the bolts seems to always be forced.

 

[latremorej]

Thanks! I'll try it next time. I usually get one out of 4 lined up properly!

Jason

 

[snapper]

Great tip on the use of that jack! Again, a simple fix that I never would have thought of. My mind just never seems to work that way so I appreciate learning these things from all you folks.

Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[Jim Dodd]

I have long used a long bit to help get straight holes. Since I mostly work alone I use a scissor jack to firmly hold the seat in place so I can have two hands to guide the drill.

Jim

Interesting method ! There are a lot of ways of doing things, all with the same results !

Jim

 

[wingnut]

Nice looking hanger brackets. Long drops are tough to get a straight hole through. The last ones I did were 4" long on a Magic where the truss brackets were only 1/2" thick. Has anyone tried cross dowel nuts before? I'm looking at using them on my solo's sliding seat to get away from long holes and long bolts. I'd like to get the seat low for stability so I'm looking at 5 1/2" drops. Thinking of using two cross dowels per leg with a 2" bolt on top and another for the bottom.I haven't been able to find them in SS so I'm going to have to use Zinc plated.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Cross Dowels ? New to me. Can you show a pic ?

Jim

 

[wingnut]

https://www.amazon.com/eBoot-Barrel...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6QJ0MP2J46QWTHXW5RVC

 

[Guest]

I drill oversized holes through the drops first, then I do as pictured drilling rails and seat together.
Turtle

 

[Boatman53]

I used to do it the way you show Jim but I never seemed to have enough hands between holding the seat,and clamp in the right place not to mention tightening the clamp. Plus I whacked myself it the head with that clamp sticking up when I bent over to see where the hole came through.
Jim

The local lumber yard has barrel bolts or cross dowels in those little hardware drawers I might have seen some brass ones but I'm not sure. If what you find works I could make some from brass if they can't be found.

 

[wingnut]

I'll have to do a google for brass. I was so set on SS, I didn't think of brass.

 

[snubber]

Cross Dowels ? New to me. Can you show a pic ?

Jim

I didn't get it until I found this.

http://www.woodpeck.com/media/caption_crossdowel.jpg

 

[wingnut]

Thanks for the offer Boatman. Finding them made of brass isn't easy either.

 

[Boatman53]

I found some in google images that were from Rockler, but when I went to their website all they listed was steel.
Jim

 

[Cruiser]

I tried to drill the drops by hand with a long drill initially, got frustrated because i just didn't seem to get the holes consistently centered. Sometimes the wood grain pulled the bit around, sometimes I was off a bit on the entry angle.

I ended up just cutting the drop pieces to half width, then router a 1/8" radius down the center and gluing the sections together.

With perfectly centered drops, the alignment and final holes are a lot easier. I do a few 3' sections while the equipment is setup, then just chop up whatever drops I want. If I want to change the drop height, I have extra to just change it up on the fly.


Brian

 

[Guest]

I drill the drops on a drill press first.

 

[cflcanoe]

Have wasted a bit of ash trying to make longer or shorter Bell style seat drops. Even the drill press dose not always equal success. Going to try for another set of seat drops for a Wlidfire next weekend. They will be 5/8" longer than the originals. The last set the drill some how went a little sideways in a drill press.

 

[sweeper]

I drill the drops on a drill press first.

We have a DP a work that has a least a 6" throw when I get to that point.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I tried to drill the drops by hand with a long drill initially, got frustrated because i just didn't seem to get the holes consistently centered. Sometimes the wood grain pulled the bit around, sometimes I was off a bit on the entry angle.

I ended up just cutting the drop pieces to half width, then router a 1/8" radius down the center and gluing the sections together.

With perfectly centered drops, the alignment and final holes are a lot easier. I do a few 3' sections while the equipment is setup, then just chop up whatever drops I want. If I want to change the drop height, I have extra to just change it up on the fly.


Brian

Good method ! I'll have to try it myself !

Jim