I don't know how others built their seat tops but this is how I did it. I first cut the ply to length. Placed it in the boat to line up where the notches of the bulkheads will be. A square came in handy for this. To get the curvature of the seat I drilled a hole in scrape piece of wood at the widest part of the seat. It would have been easier with a thicker piece of wood. The pencil kept falling out of the hole. Keeping it square I traced a cut line on the plywood
I then put nails on the cut line and used a limber piece of wood to get a fair line for cutting with skill saw. I could have used another saw but the curve was so gradual that skill saw worked well.
If you haven't put a clamp at the start of a cut do so. It prevent a lot of binding especially if you are working alone.
After cutting the round for the seat I used a straight edge to mark the bulkheads and cut notches. The back end required beveling because of the slope of the plank. In all there was a lot of taking out and putting back in to get the fit I wanted. The seats are not put in at the present. Two things have to be resolved first. The width of the seat. Mike Monies were wider so he could sleep on them instead of the sole. I haven't made up my mind on that yet. We call that " Indecision " might be the name of my boat. The other thing are the hatches to be completed before installation of the seats.
fred4win wrote:More than 1 way to skin a cat...I think that is an excellent and accurate an easy way you did Peter. Wish I had known the earlier.
Fred I watched your build and others and picked up ideas from them. This why I am posting this build adding hopefully to the body of knowledge. Especially for the plan builders.
The next part of the build was the sole. I build the sole in two parts. My reasoning for doing this. One I work alone and I take something out and put it back more than once. Second I am getting long in the tooth and my sole is heavy ( : o I put that in there for John W.
The picture so you are orientated is of the space between 3&4 bulkheads. I made a pattern out of slats and cardboard stapled together.
I didn't mean to advertise except to say recycle.
This pattern then was put on 1/2" ply or 12mm and traced. The was some beveling done on the ends. That is part of the putting in and taking out.
Be sure to measure front and back and in the middle in case there is any variation or not square. Mine wasn't quite perfect but I am not telling any one.
I then fitted a 6mm or 1/4" ply on top with a drainage on the out side. This was put together like the bottom of my boat. predrilled with screws and wood tabs as back ups. I coated the ply with epoxy let sit until partially set up then mixed a batch of epoxy with wood flower to a thick syrup consistency placed the 1/4" on top and screwed it together. I started in the middle and worked to the edges. After this had set the next day I unscrewed the tabs. The next step was filling the screw hole. My experience was to put a small amount on the hole and use a tooth pick to get it all the way in. The epoxy was mixed with a small amount of wood flower. I over filled a little bit and before it had set up real hard.( the next day) I used a chisel to clean it up flush.
sorry pictures out of order This piece is the front of the sole not that the edge of the drainage has a fillet of epoxy and wood flour. I made my sole in two parts for ease of putting in. I am working alone and a old dude so make it easy.
My next part of the build was to work on the bottom. I modified my cart by raising and widening it. I also shorten it. I enlisted my neighbor and his three sons who all happened to be at home from college. Sorry no pictures but the turn over it much like Mike Monies a chain fall with a strap around the boat and four people turning the boat and setting it on the cart.
There was a lot of fitting and patching, fairing before the boat was ready to prime. There is one of the long boards that I used. a another tool was a low angle block plane. This took a lot of time. The advantage of a kit is less time fairing.
Next before priming after all the sanding and filling in all the little imperfections. Yes there are some but I am never going to tell anyone. The thing to look out for are any holes or hollows. Leaving any of those will promote air bubbles under the fiberglass which are difficult to remove. I then fiberglassed the boat. If you haven't done fiberglassing go on line there are a lot of good articles that will give good info.
I will skip a lot of steps here. one because others have given a lot better information then I could. Second because that could be a tread unto itself. I laid out the cloth on the boat. This cloth was in a roll that I got in a kit from Duckworks. I extended the cloth about two inches or 50mm over the stern of the boat and over the garboard plank in the bow. This cloth was then cut to length. I repeated this with a second length of cloth. These two pieces laid on the boat over lapping about two or three inches or 50mm or 75mm. These cloths want to slide off the boat but a little painters tape solves that. Smooth out the cloth on the bottom so no wrinkles. My cloth hung over the side to the top of the second plank plus extra in places. I trimmed the cloth to the top of the second plank. You could do it to just the garboard plank and have a larger overlap on the bottom of the boat.
