: I'm working on a "traditional" Greenland SOF following
: the Cunningham and Starr books. Progress is tracked on
:
: http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=383370&ck=

: I'm getting close to tying the deck together and the 2 books differ
: on methods.
: - Starr recommends lashing
: - Cunningham recommends a peg driven through the top of the gunwale
: and tenon.

: Does anyone have a strong opinion on either of these methods? why?

: Thanks

Hi Tim,
Not strong opinion but I'll throw a few thoughts out.
Both will work fine though I think that lashing would leave a stronger frame. The locking peg would need a hole drilled through the gunwale top and through the tenon of the deckbeam, that would mean less timber in the tenon.
Occassionally a peg may work itself out of the gunwale through wet/cry cycling and frame movement from use. Lashings, if the gunwale is notched to take them, won't leave a bump in the skin even if it works loose.

There's also wedging a tenon, open or hidden. An open one would have the tenon going completely through the gunwale, with the tenon cut vertically for the wedge to be driven. A hidden wedge is similar but the wedge is put into the slotted tenon before it goes into the mortise in the gunwale, which doesn't go all the way through. The base of the mortise drives the wedge into the tennon slot. That can make it hard to do any adjustments afterwards, though.

Hope that doesn't confuse,
Mike Savage
South West Cork