Clinker repairs: bedding compound / copper nails

[andrewbodenham]

So I'm renewing a lot of ribs in my 20' clinker halfdecker, and also needing to scarph in a couple of new planks. Recommendations please for a good, non-setting bedding compound to use between mating parts? I'm inclined to try Arbokol one-part polysulphide which I have used on exterior joinery projects - anybody used it on a boat? Of course, I'm after something cheap, effective and readily obtainable!

That reminds me of a joke:
Q: what's brown and sticky
A: a stick

And who's got a good source for copper nails & roves?
Clench over, or rivet over roves? Discuss. Boat has a mixture of both already.

 

[Peterduck]

While you could use a bedding compound on the faying surfaces of a scarph, why not glue them with epoxy resin? The mating surfaces of the planks are supposed to be sealed by the swelling of the timber on immersion. Slathering goo on these surfaces will inhibit this swelling, and be counter-productive.
Peter.

 

[ccscott49]

Nails and roves is my prefered method, neater in my opinion. Clenched always seemed a cheap/quick way of doing things.
But agree with peterduck, epoxy the scarphs, dont bed the plank seams with anything.

 

[jhughes]

If your talking about the lap betweeen planks I am using a mixture of Plumbers mait, red lead powder, linseed oil and grease to make a thin paste which I fill an empty mastic cartridge with and gun a thin bead onto the faying (touching) surfaces. It helps if you paint a thinned layer of varnish on the overlap and let it dry before apply the goo. Most of it squeezes out when you fix the planks in place and can be scraped off.
Small quantities of nails can be got on Ebay (make sure you buy the square nails and not the round ones and be careful as I bought one lot that looked as if some-one had tried to hammer or press round nails into square!)
Cheapest place I found for nails and roves after extensive research was Anglia Stainless, cheapest by far and an excellent service.
I will try and post a photo of the clamp I made up to enable single handed riveting of the nails and roves.
I have an 18' Mahogony on Oak gaff clinker that I am rebuilding, I've replaced all 76 ribs with new and I am now part way through replacing all the Mahogony planks with new Iroko ones (I know it might have been quicker to build a boat from scratch but I find it easier to take them apart and rebuild).

 

[Keith 66]

The best and one of the cheapest mastics for use on wooden boats generaly and one i have often used with success on clinker repairs is EVOMASTIC it is a non setting oil based product it is available from Jewsons, and it smells nice!
Regarding clenching versus riveting with roves, Planking would always be roved, timbers either clenched or roved.
Clenched timbers were often used on beach boats on the south coast as a heavy landing would tend to pull the nail with less damage than if it was roved thus allowing for faster repairs on the beach