I’m thinking about adding a foot brace to my
Mohawk Royalex Odyssey and would like some feedback if it sounds like a good idea. I have one on my Champlain and really like the added comfort. I’m thinking I’ll be able to sit more rather than kneel in a little chop.
Is using pop rivets in the hull of the Royalex going to give me trouble. I have Cliff Jacobson’s book and he says to fiberglass a wood block to the hull so you won’t shear the rivets on a rock. I think that would look crappy especially how I fiberglass and don’t think shearing the pins a great risk. Thanks.
I would without a doubt
I love footbraces. They give me more power and control and are less fatiguing. If you order one from Wenonah, tell them you want the rivets for Royalex. They are a lot bigger than the ones for composites.
Lots of people are hooked on rivets
– Last Updated: Jan-05-06 2:51 PM EST –
I don't believe that pop rivets are always the best hardware for attaching stuff to the hull. You probably could tear the head off a pop rivet if you scraped a rock. Pop rivets are very soft. So far I've put a foot brace in just one of my canoes, but I used stainless steel bolts (perhaps 3/32-inch diameter; I can't remember for sure offhand). The bolts have round heads, and the compression against the hull is distributed through one-inch stainless steel washers (much more surface area than you get with any pop rivet).
I suppose a really hard scraping impact with a rock COULD snag that smooth-surfaced little bolt head and pull it sideways along the side of the hull and tear the hole, but the chances seem pretty slim. Glueing a wood block inside might be a better method if you expect to scrape hard on a lot of rocks, but but otherwise I'd try bolts and washers.
I have been experimenting
with the polyurethane waterproof glues (Gorilla and the Elmers brand)and I have found that so far they work pretty well inside canoes. I am planning on gluing a piece of 1" hardwood on each side and then attaching the foot brace with short screws.
Where do you??
Find these the only thing I’ve saw is the glue down foam. I assume these are for use with saddles and this tread is about a diffent purpose brace…???
Just wondering if that Vyna bond
would work on wood? A while back I talked to Mohawk which said that using contact cement is OK for knee pads, etc, but not strong enough for D rings, etc. Mohawk warned about letting the contact cement dry before placeing the item to be glued on or it would melt the plastic.
I went to a hardware store and got all the things need to make a foot brace now all I have to do is figure out to use pop rivets or glue. I’ll have to find a source for Vyna bond and perhaps give it a try. On my Kevlar Champlain everything is pop riveted and I haven’t had any problems.
Vyna Bond and wood
Vyna bond will not bond thick wood. Thin vineer, yes, blocks no. Thats why I was trying the Gorilla glue.
Installation ???
Looks simple enuff. Dowel rod, maybe a piece of closet rod ect. ect. or worst case 30 bucks for one… but at what height is it typically installed and is there an entrapment concern? foot caught underneath?? I can see the plus of having it what is the down side of having one???