I just picked up an old hurricane with the old iako-ama system which uses stainless steel snap buttons located in the iako to secure the iako to the ama and to the canoe. The problem that I have is that there is so much clearance at the connection point that the iakos rattles at the connection points in both the canoe and ama. I've had some success at reducing the clearance on the iako-canoe connection by tightly winding upholstery thread around one end of the iako and by coating it with epoxy resin just like they do with the eyelets on fishing poles but am wondering if there's a better or easier way. It takes forever to wind the thread around those little suckers and if you mess it up......well.. I'm wondering whether I should try some sort of tape around the ends of the iakos as a temporary fix. Do you think its possible to machine and install aluminum sleeves into the bore of the canoe and iako so that the sleeve fits snuggly in the bore and reamed on the inside so that the iakos fits snuggly in the sleeve?
Anybody experience this problem? Suggestions?
Submitted by Snarfblat on Mon, 12/08/2003 - 5:44pm
I always just let it rattle, but my rig wasn't that bad. :P Never really thought about a permanante fix. I know some people that used to just tape it everytime with electrical tape... but I know not everyone has unlimited supply of free tape. :wink: So maybe just layering on a bit more epoxy on the iakos? and then sanding it down if it gets too thick.
I would think machining an aluminum peice would be kind of hard, but maybe would work great. I don't know, perhaps others have found better solutions :?:
#1 Mon, 12/08/2003 - 7:55pm
:lol: Another suggestion that we did was drill a new hole into the iako about an inch or so away from the old ones and reset the pins into them, brings the iako deeper into the boat making it tighter and eliminated the creaking. Or go with the electrical tape.. Good Luck :lol:
#2 Tue, 12/09/2003 - 12:22am
After some thought and a few good email suggestions here are my thoughts.
The way I see it, there are two problems with the old system.
First, the bore clearance (i.e., between the iako and the hole in the ama/canoe) is to big. This allows the iakos to move side to side in the bore.
Second, the holes where the snap buttons pop up are to big, allowing the iakos to move in and out of the the ama/canoe. I don't know if the holes were originally designed that way or caused by wear.
I would try using tape to minimize the first problem and change out the snap buttons to larger ones to resolve the second problem. Finding stainless steel snap buttons, however, is a problem. I know you can get them over the internet (probably in bulk) but I don't know of any local stores that sell them. Here's a website you can check out for the snap buttons:
http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/67749556/
As an alternative to using larger snap buttons, you can try filling the ama holes with epoxy resin and have them drilled out to the exact size of the snap buttons.
#3 Fri, 12/12/2003 - 9:27am
[b]Snarfblat[/b], I definitely agree that the holes are sometimes too big. It seems to me that they are pretty good when new, but over time they carbon around the hole gets worn down from the twisting action when rigging and unrigging the boat.
#4 Fri, 12/12/2003 - 11:43am
I think there is no solution for this problem.....there must be a better system for all amas....for one thing that all the manufacturers forgot to consider is that after we "pau" (finish) paddle, our finger nails are so soft that we cannot push that darn buttons down. There should be a better system besides using tape or epoxy or whatever....most paddlers here use tape to stabilize that iakos and to prevent that noise....
#5 Thu, 02/12/2004 - 11:21am
I think Karel has a pretty good design. Although I don't have one of his boats, a few of my friends do. The ama on his boats are fastened by turning a bolt by hand. Seems to me that even with wear and tear, the fasteners will continue to work because they are adjustable.
#6 Thu, 02/12/2004 - 2:24pm