Clive, the most important thing is to securely fix the rebate to the keel. A wood or epoxy glue should be sufficient, especially if the pieces are clamped while it sets but you could also adopt a belt and braces approach by drilling the holes at the same or slightly greater diameter as the pins and glueing the pins in to provide extra mechanical strength.

I am assuming from what you say that the pins are intended to be permanent and not simply used to temporarily fix the components together until the glue sets though. The instructions ought to make this clear I would have thought.

Colin

(I suspect that you are using instructions which derive from the original Aerokits instructions of the 1950s.

By 'pinning the false rebate to the keel' the original instructions would have meant using 'gimp pins' – a small version of panel pins. They did not mean use dressmaking pins, which I suspect that you are doing…

Glue technology in the 1950s was less sophisticated than nowadays, and using small panel pins added strength, as well as holding the parts while the glue dried. Modern glues are much better than the older ones, and I think you can easily use glue on its own – epoxy, as Colin says, for instance.

If you decide to buy some panel pins, use brass ones. Steel may corrode inside the wood after long use. Here is an example link: **LINK**

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 17/01/2016 19:49:29