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Since Glen-L carries such a wide variety of materials to build your own boat, sometimes I forget to really spell out some of the great values that we also have.

Glen-L has had fastenings for longer than I can remember. And, after doing a little research, I discovered we also have some of the best prices around. And, we have “Fastening Kits” for most all of our designs which provide all the nails and screws (plus a Frearson driver bit) you need to build your Glen-L boat. If you purchase a fastening kit, you’ll save even more–usually about 5% – 10% from the cost of purchasing the fastenings individually.

Our Silicon Bronze Screws are Frearson drive which are also know as Reed & Prince. You can use a Philips driver, but we also provide the Frearson bits in a pack of 3 on our site. One advantage of Frearson over the Phillips drive is that one driver or bit fits all screw sizes. The tool recess is a perfect, sharp cross, allowing for higher applied torque, unlike the rounded, tapered Phillips head, which was designed to cam out at high torque. It was developed by an English inventor named Frearson in the 19th century and produced from the late 1930s to the mid-1970s. The Reed & Prince Mfg. Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, was put into bankruptcy in 1987 and liquidated in 1990.

I believe that Woodenboat Magazine recently had an article comparing the various screw drives and for the life of me, I can’t find it. But, I did find a 1988 Woodenboat issue (yes, we have archives!), with an article comparing drive heads by George Cadwalader. He said, “Slotted heads are most common, followed by the star-cut Phillips head, which gives you a better grip on the screw. Even more effective than the Phillips head, to my mind, is the no-longer-produced (at that time) Reed and Prince head with a square-shouldered (rather than tapered) star-cut driving recess that, when matched with a Reed and Prince screwdriver is about as close to slip-proof as any screw head can be.. maybe someone will start making them again.”

Well, lucky for us, they are being made again and Glen-L has them on our website here.

Silicon bronze fastenings are the gold standard for wood boat building. Not only are they best in terms of standing up to a marine environment, but will also provide better resale value should you at some time choose to sell your boat. As excerpted from our book, Boatbuilding with Plywood:

Bronze and Monel fastenings are superior fastenings, especially for use below the waterline in boats that will remain in salt or brackish waters. There are many different grades of bronze, however the silicon-type is probably best suited for fastenings. Of course, bronze and Monel fastenings are expensive, but as a total percentage of the cost of the boat, the price is only a small fraction. One must consider also that the extra cost of bronze fastenings will probably be more than repaid by the higher resale value of a bronze fastened boat when it is sold.

So, I do hope you’ll consider purchasing your fastenings or other supplies from Glen-L for your boat building project or whatever else may come up. We do appreciate your business!

See the Glen-L online store for fastenings, epoxies, fiberglass material, deck hardware, underwater inboard hardware, steering, sealants, fillers, books, DVD’s and of course, plans, patterns and kits to build your own boat:

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