Arkansas Traveler Rivets

[vtflatlander]

Hi All It's been a while but life gets in the way. I am getting ready to resume working on my AT. Got a couple questions hope someone here can help me. I am replacing the wood gunnels on my boat. The original ones were all rotted. My problem is the rivets. What size are the rivets that are used to sandwich the aluminum between the oak wood. Originally the wood was done in3 layers of 1/2' thickness each. 2 outside and one inside. I am replacing them with white oak but only 2 pieces of 3/4". One inside and one outside. I believe the rivets were Brazier style 3/16's" by 2" long. My problem is I can't find any such rivets. The longest 3/16" rivets I find are only 1-1 1/4". Am I looking for the right size rivets and where can I buy them. I could drill out the holes and used larger rivets but still can not find the length. All help is well appreciated.
Thank You.
Fred

 

[LDUBS]

You will be notching out one section of the 3/4 oak to accept the aluminum thickness. So you need a rivet length of just over 1.5".

Could you use 3/16" aluminum rods cut to just over 1 1/2" then sanded smooth after they are bucked. Kind of like the rivets used for a wood handle on a knife.

 

[Tin Man]

DaleH shared this site with the forum a few years back......Great site for rivets and such

https://www.rivetsonline.com/a187b2000a/a187b2000a

 

[LDUBS]

Bingo!

 

[vtflatlander]

You will be notching out one section of the 3/4 oak to accept the aluminum thickness. So you need a rivet length of just over 1.5".

Could you use 3/16" aluminum rods cut to just over 1 1/2" then sanded smooth after they are bucked. Kind of like the rivets used for a wood handle on a knife.

No I didn't have any way to groove the 3/4" oak. Besides the thickness of the metal is less than a 1/16" thick so that would not make much difference in the length of the rivets. I was not the one who took off all the wood and rivets but to my knowledge the original wood was not grooved either. If I had taken off the wood I would have kept a rivet for size and length. As far as the rod goes, I never gave that a thought. I guess it could be done just much more work. But then where would I be able to buy that size rod. Thanks for your help

 

[LDUBS]

3/16" aluminum rod is readily available. But it is kind of doesn't matter. Post #3 addresses your issue.

How are you bending the two lengths of 3/4 oak? Personally I might go with 1/2 or even 3/16. However I might be misunderstanding this assembly (got a pic?).

BTW, I recall a thread from some time ago where a guy used composite board for his gunnel. It was like that 1x4 composite landscape bender board. He cut a saw kerf in the narrow edge to fit over the aluminum edge. It was a pretty cool approach. And of course, that stuff bends easily.

 

[vtflatlander]

3/16" aluminum rod is readily available. But it is kind of doesn't matter. Post #3 addresses your issue.

How are you bending the two lengths of 3/4 oak? Personally I might go with 1/2 or even 3/16. However I might be misunderstanding this assembly (got a pic?).

BTW, I recall a thread from some time ago where a guy used composite board for his gunnel. It was like that 1x4 composite landscape bender board. He cut a saw kerf in the narrow edge to fit over the aluminum edge. It was a pretty cool approach. And of course, that stuff bends easily.

I steamed the 3/4 strips and bent them a little at a time and kept clamping as I went along. I did one strip at a time. as I got one fitted, I drilled the holes and put some 3/16 bolts in to hold it in place. After about a few days I did the same again with the next strip.
It took a while and a lot of thinking about how to do it. I have both strips on each side right now held in place by all 3/16 bolts and nuts. The boat has been sitting since last summer so the strips should hold the bent shape when I take them off to paint and varnish them and the boat and put them back on with the rivets.

 

[vtflatlander]

DaleH shared this site with the forum a few years back......Great site for rivets and such

https://www.rivetsonline.com/a187b2000a/a187b2000a

Thanks for the site I was on that site last summer but couldn't find the right rivets. I must have missed them. Anyway thanks and I will check them out again.

 

[vtflatlander]

Thank You All for your help and Knowledge.

 

[Steve.H]

Hi Vt...I think we are working on the same boat. Mine is a UT-14, serial # 16098, HP limit 17.2.

Just curious why you decided to do a 2x3/4 instead of the original 3x1/2? Does that cause an issue with the inner piece being too fat for the bow cover?

Thanks!