It is not at all uncommon for one of the two dowels to break. This can occur when someone of considerable mass sits on the seat (names withheld to protect the guilty) but can also occur if the seats are redone using webbing. When I use webbing to replace the seating surface of a caned seat, I moisten the webbing first so that I can easily achieve a nice taut surface. But nylon webbing especially lengthens considerably when wet and shortens as it dries. I have overdone this a time or two stretching the damp webbing too taut so that as it dried it put enough tension on the outside edges of the short frame elements to twist them sufficiently to break one of the dowels.
I broke one dowel in a seat frame while installing the webbing. 20 years ago, doing one of my first rebuilds, I was webbing the still sound seats on an old Explorer I had regunwaled. The seats had taken a slight contour bend from the previous owner’s bulk.
For some reason I decided to clamp the seats to the workbench, maybe while sanding or pulling webbing taut. As I clamped it flat I heard a distinct CRACK, but the seat frame showed no visible damage, so I proceeded to web the seat and install it in the canoe.
First daytrip with that boat, paddling it bow backwards solo, there were some shenanigans amongst the group. For my part I had surreptitiously removed the drain plug from a friends kayak and was incrementally pouring water into his boat. When his soggy butt finally caught me I attempted to sprint away from his paybacks, digging in with power strokes.
That was when the other dowel broke, dumping me arse over tea kettle onto my back with my legs waggling in the air. My soggy arsed friend caught me, grabbed my bailer and thoroughly saturated me while I flailed helplessly about on my back. Paybacks are heck.
Worse I paddled the last couple miles to the take out solo from the stern seat /.
I would be suspicious of the rest of the dowels on any seat that had taken a Chip-like twist, even if only on one corner of the frame. The remaining dowels must have been exposed to additional stress, and if one was old enough to let go. . . . .
The seat was held together by the twin dowel method, and by the nylon straps. Guess I'd just need some glue, replacement dowels, webbing and staples. Mike mentioned ss staples. The staples I removed are corroded. Does that mean they are not ss, or, given enough time, does stainless corrode? Stapling into hardwood should be fun--any tips?
Stainless steel staples will eventually corrode or at least discolor a bit, especially if you do much salt water paddling, but nothing like regular steel staples. A friend has a canoe with seats I webbed 20 years ago using stainless steel staples. He does paddle some tidal waters and those seats are still going strong
The webbing straps will help hold together a failing seat frame to some degree. Until it fails catastrophically at some inopportune moment.
My webbing technique may be imperfect, but it works for me. I once used a combination of brads and staples, but now use only stainless staples for ease of installation (tapping in the little brads was a PITA with my fat fingers).
I take a cloth tape measure the length of webbing necessary to wrap around the seat frame, including across the bottom and against the vertical seat frame edge underneath, with the webbing on vertical edge ends doubled over to hide the (hot putty knife) cut end inside the fold.
Cut one length of webbing to that cloth tape length and do a test wrap, first doubling over the webbing on that goes against the vertical edge of the seat frame. Staple the doubled over end on the inner seat frame (one SS staple) and staple the horizontal webbing (two SS staples) under the seat frame on that side. One side is now well anchored.
Then pull the (unwetted) webbing taut and double staple the horizontal bottom on the other side while pulled tight. The extra inch of webbing that gets folded over and stapled on the other vertical edge provides some webbing to grasp and pull tight for the two staples the bottom. Once the webbing has been stretched taut and stapled on the bottom it is easy to fold over the webbing tab and staple the vertical side.
I usually have to re-size/re-cut the first piece of webbing since in situ, unlike the cloth tape measure, the webbing will stretch a little when pulled taut, but once that 1[SUP]st[/SUP] piece has been trimmed to length I can cut all of the others running in that orientation at exactly the right length and staple them in place.
One full run of webbing in either orientation, then do the over/under weave in the other orientation and cut to length.
For funsies I just pulled out a couple of manufactured webbed seat, likely from Ed’s Canoe or Essex. The webbing is attached with four peculiar ¼” wide staples at each end of the webbing, two staples (offset) on the horizontal bottom, two staples in-line on the vertical inner edge.
I presume there is a reason for the offset and will do the same when I web these seats, at least on the wider bottom side where there is room for two staples.
The ends of the webbing on those seats are not folded over, the cuts are uneven sloppy and the webbing ends on some old used seats are beginning to fray. The fold-over only takes another 1 ½” of webbing length per strap, seems worthwhile to me.
FWIW the stainless steel staples I use are T50 3/8” (10mm). Once everything is stapled I give each one a couple hammer taps to make sure they are fully seated and embedded in the webbing and not leg scrape-able when kneeling.
Not to belabor the obvious, but if you hammer tap the staples on the inner vertical edge of the short part of the seat frame (Conk’s “struts”), where the frame can’t be laid flat on the bench, it helps to build a raised platform of scrap 2x4 pieces so you aren’t hammering that edge of the seat frame into an unsupported area below.
Which should have been obvious to me the first time I webbed a seat. Oops.
I toyed with calling the short bits "stiles" but in the business of cabinet making stiles are usually longer then rails and I thought that would cause confusion.
I love learning things here, and have to ask. Conk, in cabinetry what are stiles?
Get froze or get bit!
