T&T: Teak Deck Repair

[Alec McLocklin (amclockl)]

I recently purchased a wood GB that was shed kept for 15 years. The
decks look perfect, for now. Is it wise to pop the plugs and replace the
fasteners on a regular basis even if the plugs are all in good shape?

Alec
GB-49 Alaskan
Long Island NY





-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Faure, Marin
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 2:04 PM
To: TrawlerList TrawlerList
Subject: T&T: Teak Deck Repair

The shipwright we use taught me to remove plugs (teak deck or otherwise)
by drilling out the center and then breaking the sides of the plug into
the hole.  This has worked quite well for the many hundreds of plugs we
have replaced over the past few years, but every now and then the drill
bit will "wander" over to the edge of a plug and damage the surrounding
wood.

Most of the plugs in our boat are 3/8," so I have tried using a 3/8"
Forstner bit to remove them.  This works well in terms of getting a
nice, smooth-sided hole with no damage to the surrounding wood but it
requires exactly centering the Forstner bit on the plug.  If you don't,
there is a risk that the bit of the plug that's left will break or fall
out, and now the hole will be too large for the same size plug.

So I've now combined the drill bit and Forstner bit processes.  The
smallest size Forstner bit I've found in places like Home Depot, Lowes,
etc. is 3/8."  But in a well-stocked, real hardware store, I've found
Forstner bits as small as 1/8."  So I now use a 1/4" Forstner bit to
core out the center of a plug and then I break the sides of the plug
into the center hole.  This eliminates both the risk of damaging the
surrounding wood and the need to exactly center the Forstner bit on the
plug.  There is also no risk of damaging the screw head underneath the
plug since the end of a Forstner bit is not shaped to cut into the
metal.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington
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