: It's time to make my hardware list and order or buy what I need to hang my
: seats, thwart, yoke, and carrying thwarts but I haven't got a clue as to
: what I need.

: Geez, I'm helpless. What would I do without you folks? I don't want to think
: about it.

: I guess I'll use stainless. Do I want carriage bolts or a different type of
: bolt? I'm not going to do anything fancy like hide the hardware under a
: wood plug. I saw somewhere that you can use finish washers but I assume
: you don't use those with carriage bolts, just a regular machine screw?

: I know I need a nut on the very bottom. Woohoo! Smart, huh? Should I get a
: locking nut so there's less danger of it working loose over time? And I
: assume you want some kind of washer both on the top and the bottom. Do you
: also put a washer between the gunnel and the thwart or is that just asking
: water to get in there rather than preventing it. Help!!!!!!!

: From cruising around the net, it looks like maybe 3/16" x 2" bolts
: for the thwarts and yoke and 3/16" x 4 or 6" for the seats? I'm
: going to try to make my own seat hangers out of ash.

Patsy,

If you want to stay fairly traditional, you might want to visit Rollin Thurlow's Northwoods Canoe Company website. He offers 3/16" silicon bronze carriage bolts. They are more than adequate to the task.

If you use a single 1/4" or greater bolt on the center thwart (or yoke) you may not have sufficient strength there. Using *two* 3/16" carriage bolts at each end of the yoke is much more durable.

You might also check out a copy of "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok for lots of ideas on canoe construction. While Jerry builds wood and canvas canoes, lots of the stuff in there is applicable to any wooden canoe.

I'd stay away from wing nuts. While most canoes don't vibrate a lot in use, they may vibrate quite a bit during cartop transport!

Use hardwood dowel pieces as spacers. Ash is quite traditional, but if the canoe is at all 'fancy', you could use a prettier wood. Note that on traditional wood canoes spacers are generally *not* used on the stern crosspiece of the stern seat.

Ed King