Wayne.B wrote:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 20:44:58 -0400, Sunny wrote:

Hmmm... very interesting (and economical) idea, but did you mount your
2x4 on the horizontal or vertical surface?

I'm thinking mounting on the horizontal surface would not be very
attractive, while vertical might damage boats if they slam up or down
against it due to wave action - and either way mooring lines might slide
along the 2x4 and allow boats to hit rocks.

This is all a bit difficult to visualize, so I've posted a couple of
pictures - one of the completed dock, and one of the (partially) built
frame so you can see what's underneath for mounting. Beams are 8x12 and
all decking and trim is 6x2:

http://tipperlinne.com/dock


===================================

Great looking dock (and property). You can mount the 2x4s either
vertically on the front edge of the dock, or horizontally on the top
edge. Either way it's best to counterbore/recess the washer and bolt
assembly to avoid protruding hardware. My 2x4s are mounted
horizontally on the top edge of the dock and appearance is not really
an issue. Vertical should work OK also as long as you throughbolt
with a backing washer. My 2x4s are lagged into the concrete with zinc
plugs. Different docks, different fasteners. Line slippage is a
minor issue since the spacer blocks will catch it. If you tie the
line next to a spacer block, and oriented with the direction of
strain, there will be no slippage at all. It is an economical
approach compared to stainless or bronze cleats, and you have more
flexibility with positioning your lines since the whole edge of the
dock essentially becomes one large cleat.

Thanks - the positive feedback is appreciated given how hard I worked to
build that dock!

The more I think about this approach, the more I want to try it to see
how well it works - another advantage that comes to mind is the "cleat
rail" could also be used as a grab handle and step for kids pulling
themselves out of the water onto the dock.

I'm thinking I'll rout all 4 edges of the 2x4 with a 3/4" round-over
bit, and mount it on the vertical face of the dock using 8"x3/8 lag
screws set into the gap between the two face boards with short lengths
of 3/4" galvanised steel pipe as spacers - I could even cut and glue
wood plugs to cover the recessed lag screw heads and improve appearance.

I can do this using tools and materials already on-site, but if it
doesn't work well it could be removed and the mounting holes plugged so
all would be as before the experiment, on the other hand if lag screws
prove inadequate they could be replaced with long bolts right through
the beams for permanence.

Unless someone comes up with a better idea (or a good reason it won't
work), I think I'll try it this weekend :-)

Thanks again,

Sunny