Hi there been lurking for a while and thought it was time to say hello . I have managed to aquire a TLD Deluxe boat seat and was wondering is there a place you could purchase thwart boards or is it easier just to buy wood and make one , If the latter what type of wood would suffice and where to purchase it .

James.

Welcome to the forum.
Now to your question of seat boards! If you can get hold of some hardwood planks of 10" x 2" oak, elm, aroka, you would have a seat for life treated and varnished, but failing that a good quality pine like you would use in stairs again treated and varnished will do the same and if you feel its a little weak brace in under with some marine ply or angle (alloy)
make sure they are fixed well! even a bit of apoxy resin will help this.
As for the proper seat try the maker of the boat or local boat yard.

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I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,9 bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee.

Mike, ecuse my ignorance but what are thwart boards? Can you give me some advice about yon boat of mine?
Saw a great idea for floor planking. Remove the timber and replace it with the matting animals stand on in the byre. Can be got in different thicknesses and does not float all around the boat.
Am going to put that in this year as well as an electric bilge pump. The matting can be cut to the exact size of the bottom of the boat.

A thwart board in Cornwall would be your plank seat.
The electric bilge pump is OK but remember you will need a battery which will need charging. They are better for boats with a cabin and an engine that can charge the battery!! for your open boat a manual pump would be more apt.
Just my opinion.

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I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,9 bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee.

Michael just checked out my paperwork and looked up the matting! As you know I do a lot of work on farms for NFU insurance among others, but enough about that. As I first thought the matting you are on about weighs quite heavy so think about that side of it, a 2m x 1m 12mm thick piece will be 60lbs a 17mm thick piece weighs near 100lbs so a lot more for your engine to push and making your boat lower in the water.
just thinking this over your original boards would weigh a good proportion of the matting so not so bad ratio to worry about.

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I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,9 bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee.

Hi James.

MM is spot on with the thwart board description/advise.

An easy option for making one requires a 1" x 9" by 6 foot length of parana pine softwood , used for window boards and is already machined (planed,so that you don't have any problems with spinters) , usually has a rounded edge on one side and a tongue on the other.
You need to trim off the tongue and form a similar round (to the other) edge , round off the front and back (so it looks like a lollipop stick) which stops your flyline getting caught .
Screw a couple of 1" x 3" pieces on the underside of the board , to stop it slipping off the gunnell , and that's it .

Parana pine has hardly any knots , just a few tiny ones , therefore is less prone to breakage , is lighter and has more "give" than hardwoods.
If you opt for normal softwood , available in most stores , you may need to increase thickness to 1.5" , which makes it heavy.
You should find Parana pine window board at a timber merchant , it's worth while phoning around.

I've had a couple now for 20 odd years , use them as spares , and are as good as new , even having my 16 plus stone on there!

Regards

Jeff

I made one a few years ago for about £5. It consisted of 2 planks from a palatte that was knocking about. One plank is the main board, sanded down to make smooth. The second plank was cut to make a back rest.

The back rest was hinged to the main boarb so it folds down and a hinge at the top of the back rest which keeps it up. you will need a bit of wood across the width of the board to keep the back rest up. so you have the board and the backrest on top in an inverted V shape. Underneath the main board i screwed on a piece of wood either end of the board to stop it sliding off the side of the boat.

I found some foam from an old sofa to make a padded seat area and for the backrest. I bought some off cut vynil from an upholsterer to cover the foam to make waterproof.

All i had to buy was the Hinges and vynil. Varnished or paint and varnish the lot and there you have it, it wasn't difficult and it is still going strong.

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A wise man can learn from a fool but a fool can't learn from a wise man.

MM and Jeff thanks for your replys looks like the timber yard will get a visit this weekend , Dont mind a bit of cutting and varnishing

James

I've done similar - generally any substantial plank of about 6' long should cover most boat widths - scaffold board is good and solid if you can get it. I then fix a small block of wood, say 1" square to the underside of each end so that when placed across the boat gunwhales it won't slip off. For the seat I have a chunky vinyl padded office chair base which has done the job admirably for a quite a few years now. I used to fix that on with a bolt, but to be honest last time I had to make a new board I just strapped the seat to the plant with a couple of good tight bungee cords and it worked well enough that I never bother fixing it permanently - also now easier to stow in the car as the seat can be removed. The only other addition worth adding to the plank is a carrying strap/handle so that the whole think can be carried to the boat a bit more easily, job done

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