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To read the previous posts in this series, click the links below:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

December 21, 2011

Yesterday I planed all the coamings, deck battens, and nontrip chines to half inch. They were all cut from 3/4″ stock (couldn’t get 8″ boards 1/2″ thick) so I had a lot of waste. I still may pop for that band saw so I can resaw thicker planks. We’ll see.

After cleaning all the chips, I cut the notches for the deck battens and installed them. Today I sanded down the newly installed battens and started fitting up the coamings. They seem to go into their respective locations without too much putzing. A few compound miters around the transom to clean up the transom joint and they will be ready to install later on.

I spent the rest of the day picking things up and cleaning a bit. Tonight Rich and I will flip it over and I will install the nontrip chines and the planking on the sponsons over the next few days. Then I’ll probably sand the bottom down and give it a few coats of resin before righting it again to finish the topside. Not having to deal with a lot of weight and a build form makes flipping the boat around easy and I can work on things on the top or bottom, whatever seems the most logical. My work table is perfectly flat and level making it easy to keep things plumb and square.

The coamings are notched into the transom frame and the transom. The tail of the coaming laps the plywood sides of the transom and motor board. Compound miters need to be cut to accommodate the angles of the transom and carlings. Things will get trimmed up after they are permanently installed and everything is faired in.

Coamings are clamped in place to check the fit and the deck battens are now in and faired.

December 22, 2011

Last night Rich and I flipped the SS over so I could resume working on the bottom. Today I did some sanding and fairing and set the nontrip chines. These chines go from frame 2, through frame 3 and land on the bow piece. They form the corner for the bottom plank to the runner chine and the nontrip plank to the bow piece to create the sponsons.

The chines are cut from 2″ by 1/2″ mahogany. The end that lands on the bow piece is tapered so it fits flat on the bow piece. It will be faired later for the planking that gets attached to it. I attached the chines to the frames and bow piece using glue and 1 1/4″ screws. Two screws were used at each frame attach point, but the end by the bow piece was just glued and clamped.

The taper on the front end of the chine is shown here.

Here the chines are attached and clamped. Once cured, I will fair them for the planking.

December 23, 2011

Today I faired the nontrip chines, runner chines and and bow piece and cut the nontrip planks. The planks were faired and shaped to accept the runner planks for the bottom of the sponsons. I will cut and install those after I have fastened the nontrip planks. I used my hand power planer to rough in the fair, then belt sanded, and finished with a large sanding block. Spanning the surfaces with a large block sander or long block will help square things up so the ply will lie flat without gaps.

All faired up and ready for planking.

Keeping the plywood layers lined up and parallel ensures the fairing is straight and flat. Transitions in angles will show some changes, but you don't want terribly squiggly lines here. This is DF plywood and there are a few voids and inconsistencies in it. I prefer Okoume plywood, but this was in the frame kit and will be fine for this application. A good choice to keep cost at a minimum and not sacrificing structural integrity.

 

Nontrip planks are fitted and ready for attachment. Proper fairing allows these to seat nicely on their counterparts. The edge along the runner plank joint has been faired in, but the edge on the outside along the bow piece will be faired when the boat is righted again.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more of Roberta’s progress…