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Click on photos for larger view.
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Decking |
Lining up the deck planks. I used 3/16" plywood as my spacer between the planks.
(12-MAY-2008)
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All of the planks were numbered and dry-fit prior to epoxying them down. I bought
a $125 Sanding Station at "Canadian Tire". It has a 4" x 36" belt, and an 8" disc. It
was VERY helpful in shaping the ends of each piece of decking. This is one tool that
I wish I had much earlier in the build process while assembling the frames and spiling the
planking. It would have saved many hours !.
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I decided to add a fancy treatment for the fuel fill.
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Some of the rear planks needed temorary hold-down help between the screw lines.
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Everything is epoxied down.
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I bored all the holes for the bungs. I used a 3/8" counter-bore to
match my 3/8" tapered plug cutter.
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400 plugs ...
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Here are the bungs glued in. I purposely set my drill press so that the plug
cutter left about 1/32". The bungs came off in "sheets", making them much easier to handle.
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Here is the deck after first fairing with a belt sander. I knocked off all the
bungs, and leveled out the board edges.
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Here is a close-up of the finishing board joint. I still have to fill some gaps in the joint.
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The bungs turned out OK, but I didn't quite get the grain lined up as I hoped I would. Some of
them are a little off line.
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This is the decking after 80 grit with the random orbital sander. All belt sander marks are gone.
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I added a 1/4" radius to the finishing board. It still needs some clean-up sanding
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This picture shows the "out-gassing" after the first coat of epoxy. It looks like the boat has a case of leprosy.
(24-MAY-2008)
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As I expoxied the deck, I had a pretty bad case of "Out-Gassing". I had hoped to
get three coats of epoxy on in one day, without sanding between. As it turned out,
the gassing was so bad that I had to let each coat cure and sand it down. When I went
to my West System manual, the warning about out-gassing could not have been more plainly
presented. Somehow I missed it. Either warm the hull well in advance of epoxying, or start
your work in the evening, as the hull is cooling.
(24-MAY-2008)
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In this shot, I am dry-fitting the mahogany panelling for the "ceiling". This view
is of the front cockpit, passenger side. (The ceiling is the interior finished wall). I chose
to form my ceilings out of 1/8" plywood, then vener them with 1/8" mahogany strips. The strips
will be epoxied on, but I will use rows of screws and cup washers for an authentic look. The
stowage compartment will be rounded, and a mahogany trim frame will be added. Those floorboards
will be covered with a white "marmoleum" look.
(01-JUN-2008)
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In this shot, I am cutting the hatch out of the deck. When I framed it in, I left 1/4" between
the hatch opening, and the hatch edges. I used a long, skinny drill bit to drill upwards and
find my corners. It was straight lines between them. When I framed the deck, I tacked 1/4" ply
spacers in the gaps. Those needed to be removed. I also fastened supports under the hatch, so
that it does not fall onto the engine. (Pay no attention to that man with the bald spot sawing
without safety glasses).
(06-JUN-2008)
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Here are the hatches. Originally, I was going to do one solid hatch, but the more I
researched the '50s style of this boat, the more I realized that the twin hatch approach
was more authentic. So I ran my circular saw down the middle to split it in two.
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Now that the hatch is cut out, there will be some clean-up work on the inside of the hatch opening.
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