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.

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.

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.