Wooden Plugs Over Screws????

[dougd]

Can anybody explain to me why in the heck wooden plugs are put over the screws for deck plates? On top of that the screw heads were stripped when I went to take them out, I'm guessing a drill was used! I had to do my hacksaw blade trick to cut them off to get the deck off of this rebuild. Granted it's a 21 year old hull but dang, that is just wrong! Anyone run into this before? Spent an hour hacking those off.

dougd

 

[Alan Gage]

Never figured out why anyone would want to put a plug over a screw head. Besides the obvious I don't think it looks good either.

Alan

 

[Cruiser]

+2 for why do it .. given screws tendency to get looser over time, this seems like just creating future problems, using a fastener then hiding it ... really hiding it. I do feel that dowels have a place, just not covering screws.

Sometimes I will use screws as a clamping device for gluing, then back them out, drill and dowel the piece ... it is good for alignment and such.


Brian

 

[lowangle al]

I bought a stripper that was a low budget build, and the screws in the gunnels were counter sunk and some kind of filler was used to plug the holes. I don't know why he did it but I assume it was because he didn't have screws that were rust proof and wanted to keep them dry..

 

[Chip]

To answer the question, the screws are covered for cosmetic reasons. Don't you think it is more pleasing to the eye to look at a dowel-end than a screw top? Here are a couple I put in my firewood caddy:


I think I would have tried drilling the dowels down to the screw top and then busting out the remaining wood to get to the screws. Tedious, but probably easier than the hack-saw-blade method.

 

[Guest]

Can anybody explain to me why in the heck wooden plugs are put over the screws for deck plates? On top of that the screw heads were stripped when I went to take them out, I'm guessing a drill was used! I had to do my hacksaw blade trick to cut them off to get the deck off of this rebuild.

Wood plugs over stripped screws is adding insult to injury, even if, count your blessings, only at the deck plates.

I admit I considered plugs on one set of wood gunwales. I made over wide bullnosed wales for the Independence, and the screws are countersunk rather deep.

I thought about plugging them with button topped wood plugs, thinking that if lightly glued on I could pop them off to remove the screws and oil the undersides. Just the three on each side at the outwale stems.

http://www.widgetco.com/button-top-wood-plugs

Those button plugs might have been a slightly more aesthetically pleasing touch at the stems, but I never did.

 

[alsg]

I cut maple plugs and inserted them in my sapele gunnels. I like the color contrast. Plus, I built it and I'll repair it.

 

[deerfly]

agree in this context its not very practical to cover the screws, but my guess the notion to plug the holes was probably a carry over from cabinet and furniture making. Plus, what alsg said, builder may have planned to always be the guy fixing and would know what he did anyway. Unless of course there are some canoe building laws that were broken, needs to be zero tolerance for those...

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah - furniture and cabinets call for plugged screws (if you even use screws). But there is a long tradition in boat building of leaving brass fasteners visible. Personally - I think the exposed brass fastener is a classy look - like modest earrings or a tie tack. My thought is that if you're going to glue in a wood plug, you might as well use all-wood joinery to begin with. And if you're going to make the screw impossible to remove, you might as well use an air nailer with coated fasteners. As an aside - brass fasteners are the only place I think the Phillips head should still be allowed. All else should be tech-heads IMO.

Doug - I feel your pain. BTDT.

 

[Paddlinhal]

I'm about to fill the screw holes in the gunwales of my rowboat. Strictly because when I radius the edges with my router, the bearing will hit the hole and make a dimple. Thought about some sort of mini-fence attached to the router base, but then nah...

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Hal, what about running the router bearing along the top?