Avoiding damage to the surrounding wood is truly the hardest part of mastering the technique.

The main tricks in my mind are 1. Drive the nails into the roves so you don’t need another set of hands. 2. Nip the nail off not much more than 1/2 the nail thickness beyond the rove. Too much length is hard to peen down. 3. Use nippers with that leave a squared off nail end if possible. If your nippers leave a chisel end, a cross peen hammer will do a better job of getting the peening started. 4. Use a light touch on the hardening up strikes. Letting the iron jump a little on the strikes helps it set better than being a brute.

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for the kind words George. I was under the impression that I kind of flubbed this one. I had to rush it out the door to coincide with something I was doing on my instagram feed.

Thanks for the kind words George. I was under the impression that I kind of flubbed this one. I had to rush it out the door to coincide with something I was doing on my instagram feed.

You’re binging hard there Mike. Don’t forget to eat and sleep once in a while.

@@Nomadboatbuilding now I need the video to remove them

I'll consider that. Thanks for the suggestion.

That's interesting. I've never seen that variation. I must try it. I imagine it could be harder to get the peening going in that concave surface but that would depend on the hammer. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for the idea.

BigFiveJack my boat building mentor would allow exactly 7 strikes per rivet. 5 for peening and two to set it tight. I like a nicer finish than 7 will allow though and I'm confident my rivets are going to hold better and longer so if it takes me 100 strikes, so be it.

That's a great idea. I'll put that suggestion in the hopper.

Riverbendlongbows Outdoors never leave the ranch without packing some heat.

That's perfect. I am totally using that expression from now on!

DSCRAFT sure thing. It works pretty well. Hard to make the results invisible. Sometimes a slight discolouration in clear finishes shows.

That is a really good question John and I wish I had a definitive answer for you. The choice is so contextual and may be limited by availability of sizes. I suppose you could say you choose the size that is as reasonably large as possible without compromising the thing you are trying to fasten. For 3/8 lapstrake planks that usually have a 3/4" lap I would use 12ga. For fastening the gunnel structure I go up to maybe 10ga or even 8ga. The lighter sizes of say 14ga and smaller would get used for lighter craft like canoes and such. There are some charts available. "Nevin's scantling rules for wooden yachts" makes mention of some screw fastening sizes based on plank thickness but nothing regarding rivets. In very rough terms you could say the fastener body cross section should be 1/3 the thickness of your planking stock but I wouldn't say that is a hard number. I hate to say it but tis is one of those times that you only know by doing. Usually the plank to plank and the plank to frame fasteners are the same gauge.

Not in light planking. And putty will rarely hold for long. I have heard of a concoction made with gum arabic mixed with maybe pine tar that will hang on. Possibly some of the epoxy putties like TotalFair might work. In heavy planking you could countersink and putty or plug.

They are pretty hard to find. I had mine made by a machinist. There is a set of four offered by Traditional Boat Supplies in the UK for about £98, but in my experience you mostly only need one shaped somewhat like mine. My sugestion is that you lean on the hobby machinist world to make one for you. I'm sure you will find someone eager to do a "little job" for $50. Try postting an inquiry on one of the many forums. I can supply you with a drawing if you like.

One supplier I know of is Jamestown Distributers. I have been unable to find a source for square rivets lately.

That’s a tough one. Bronze is certainly harder to move around than copper. It’s possible but if those screws are corroded such that they are no good as screws anymore, I wouldn’t use them as rivets either.

Thanks 👍

It’s been a good number of years since I've need to buy any but you can probably get them from the Wooden Boat Foundation store or Admiral Marine in Port Townsend or you could try Jamestown Distributers.

You could but copper rivets offer a lot of advantages. A minimal hole. Ease of replacement. High strength and flexibility.

@@Nomadboatbuilding alright

Well that requires a third hand to hold it there. You certainly can iron the whole boat but usually just a mop down with hot water takes care of 90% of any dents that might have occurred.

In the British/European tradition, which is prevalent in Canada, the washer is dished and we call it a rove, while the American version is a flat washer and is referred to as a burr. So dished: rove, flat: burr.