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Click on photos for larger view.
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The stem is 2 layers of 3/4" plywood
and the frames are white oak. The stem was attached before flipping
over. This is a different method than usually used. I saw it in an
old Popular Mechanics magazine and it looked easy. Next time I would
do it the more common way of attaching the frames to a building form and then
attaching the stem.
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Here is my building form in my garage. The frames are installed as
well as the transom.
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The chine and shear are installed. The battens on the bottom are also in place.
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I have started to install the 3/8" mahogany plywood. Notice that the two
sheets are different colours. I thought I could correct this when I stained
it. I was wrong. Also notice the shape of the stem. I designed
it quite vertical to match the older style runabouts. The bend in the sheer
at the bow is often difficult. I did mine differently. I cut my curve
from 3/4" ply. Then I epoxied short, straight pieces of 1"x2" oak to the plywood.
I then recut the oak to match the curve of the plywood. This gave me a rigid,
curved shear that had the strength of 1x2 oak plus the plywood and allowed me to screw
my fasteners into the oak. This is another strange construction method that
I pulled for an old magazine.
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Here's a front view showing the chine and shear. You will notice
that the outside edge of the shear is a smooth curve but the inside edge is
not. This is due to the construction method I described.
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Here is the sheeting at bow. This was difficult to bend. I had
to use hot water and ratchet straps to clamp it. Notice the epoxy on the
plywood at the joint. It will happen no matter how careful you are. It is
a real pain to remove this to allow staining since the top ply is fairly
thin. In the future I will stain before I glue.
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The stain and epoxy are complete.
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The hull was covered with 6 oz fiberglass cloth. This went on very well, nice and clear.
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I put the boat outside for winter storage so that I could use my garage. Four strong
guys could lift the boat to move it. Notice the different colour of the different
sheets of ply. I have done lots of furniture finishing but I was unable to get these to
match. Over the winter I made the decision to plank the exterior with 1/8" mahogany ply
planks. This was a good decision because in the end, the boat looks great.
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The following spring it was back in the garage. I sanded the hull and
ripped the 1/8" ply into 6" wide planks. I epoxied them on holding them in place
with T-50 staples. I used pieces of cardboard to prevent the staples from marking
the wood. The planks were stained before being epoxied so that drips didn't matter.
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I only planked the bow to a line that would be well below the wateliner so that you
could not see the step.
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The bottom is painted with 2 coats of Brightside enamel. I will paint
up the sides after I find out where the water line is. I have installed the
cradle for the roll-over. It is simply built from scrap lumber and held in place
with some ratchet straps. After it is rolled I will remove the side
pieces and leave the rolling frame on the bottom.
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With the help of some friends we moved it out of the garage and its ready to roll !
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Rolling . . .
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Rolling . . .
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Rolling . . .
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