Glen-L.com

Fantastic work Bob...I cheated on the starter cables by just buying some #6 jumper cables at an auto parts store, cut off the clamps and crimped on terminals. Saved me about $100.

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Bill

I told my wife we needed a three-car garage for my projects...she told me to ask her for permission next time before I buy a house.
http://www.unitybuild.net

I thought of using jumper cables as well, but ended up buying new wire. It was only about $20 for the wire and terminals. Plus, I was able to get terminals that had the correct sizes for all my connections. I couldn't find the variety of hole sizes I needed locally.

Moving on the making more sawdust!

I plan to plank the deck of my boat with mahogany and maple. The African mahogany will be in strips about 2 3/4" wide with a 1/4" maple strip between. The maple will provide the contrast rather than white caulking or epoxy that some people use. Typical planking thickness is 3/8". Getting lumber that size is easier said than done. The thinnest stock by hardwood supplier offers is 4/4 (13/16" finished). They also don't have a resaw capability. To get 3/8", I'd have to buy 4/4 and have it planed down, wasting a lot of lumber. That plan was a no-go.

After calling around I finally found Fehlig Bros. Lumber, which has a 13" resaw capability and were willing to resaw my boards. Since the blade is about an 1/8" thick, I had to buy 5/4 mahogany and maple to ensure I'd get 3/8". I dropped the boards off on a Friday and then bad news hit. The saw did not track properly and could not handle the 13" boards. This seemed fishy as mahogany is not really tough or hard. It was possible the blade was dull so they were going to change blades to a carbide tipped blade but that wouldn't happen until Monday. I worried the whole weekend about what to do if this failed. I had a lot of money tied up in these boards.

Well, not to worry. The new blade cut them like butter. The boards were pretty clean and very close to the same thickness, but they did vary a bit and were all thicker than 3/8". So, we needed to plane them.

Here is my stack of resawn lumber about to be fed into the thickness planer. You can see this is an industrial strength shop with lots of heavy duty machines. The planer is 25" wide and takes just about anything down to 3/8" in one pass. I'd like to have access to this!
The boards go in rough and come out smooth and all the same thickness:

In just a matter of minutes all the boards were done.

Here they are loaded in our SUV. I don't have a pick-up truck so one must get creative hauling lumber. It's also my wife's car so I can't scratch it or mess it up. I built a 2x4 support that sits right behind the front seats and support the boards so they can extend over the dash. I can actually fit 11' boards with this set up. The gap between the seats is less than 12" so I had to prop my 12" and 13" boards on edge. The mahogany boards I bought were 15' long, so I had to cut them down to fit.

I want to thank the folks at Fehlig Bros. Lumber for being so helpful and accommodating. Without their help I wouldn't have my planking.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Did anyone ever say you can't have enough clamps! Too true.

I used 3/8 plywood for my first layer of the carlings. I then planned to laminate another 3/8" of mahogany on top of that since that will show on the interior. Using scrap plywood to simulate the decking, I could fit the mahogany so it would butt up under and support the decking.

Once fit, I just epoxied everything in place at once. I used about every clamp I had.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Moving on to the decking.

I made templates from some roofing paper I had so I could best arrange the pieces I needed. It is not obvious from the plans how to cover the Malahini deck with 2 sheets of 4x8 plywood. The instructions just say that "if you cut with care", you can get it to fit with two sheets. This is only way I could get it to work.

I did a rough cut with an extra inch around the edges for positioning and temporary attachment. Then the exact outline can be penciled in for the final cut. Since the pieces are mirror images, you can rough cut both sides at once by clamping the two sheets together. Here are the rough pieces fit and temporarily attached. I had to use some other scraps for the middle bridge piece, which is not in the original plan.

After removing and making the final cuts, I could start attaching them. Here is the front deck permanently glued and screwed down. I tried using the nails as Glen-L recommends but it was quite a challenge hammering them in, even with pilot holes. It also hurts to pound on your boat with a hammer. I decided I liked screws better. Unfortunately I ran out and had to order more so I couldn't finish the rear half. The decking has a 1/2" overlap into the interior. I'm not quite sure how I will finish it off, but I think I will make some custom mahogany moulding to cover the edges.

The weather also turned very cold and I won't be able to get much done in my garage for a while.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

I watched a video today that dealt with resaw. The guy started with that table saw putting 3" cuts along both edges at mid-board. Then the resaw. Really.made.the cuts easy and and.virtually no wander. Follwed by the planer to final thickness. Cool.idea for future reference

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John Martin
Fort Mill, SC
http://buildingawoodenboat.blogspot.com

I even create six inch solid veneers with my table , flipping the plank over and cutting the opposing side and thats just about the widest that I have found to be needed in most cases. But even so you can also do a wee bit wider pieces if need be and then just run the plank through the bandsaw and finish the veneer off. Then clean the veneers up with the surface planer.

This method has created many bookmatched jobs of soild wood veneers and saved tons of money from planning down absolutely pretty and expensive woods. But just mindfull to hold the plank up correctly and check for any and all curved lengthways on the board. A good feather board works to keep the solid plank from walking off the correct thickness. I also install a raised piece of wood off the fence for taller planks as a upright guide. Just recess some flathead machine screws through the fence to hold this in place.

Great progress! Love that dash...can't wait to see it in person. Are you going to the Gathering in TN this September? How about the ACBS show?

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Bill

I told my wife we needed a three-car garage for my projects...she told me to ask her for permission next time before I buy a house.
http://www.unitybuild.net

Looks Great, Bob!!!

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

I'm signed up for the Gathering!
I hope to get it to the Lake of the Ozarks this spring. Then I'll have to pull her and trail her from mid Missouri all the way to Tennessee for G6. ( I know, many of you have farther to go. )
I'm looking forward to meeting all of you!

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Well, the admiral wants a place for a cooler and waste basket. We both wanted it out of the way, but also accessible. So, I had to change plans to accommodate. I decided to put hatches into the center section that separates the forward and rear seating areas.
I built some frames and faired them to the curvature of the section. When I attached the sub-decking, I glued and screwed these frames to the decking in position. Once the deck is complete, these will be cut out to form the hatches.

There was enough room on one side for a waste basket, but I couldn't find a cooler, of reasonable size, that would fit on the other. So, I did the Glen-L thing and built a custom cooler to fit the space I had. I used 1" building foam and masonite to make a box, which I fiberglassed on the outside for reinforcement. This will attach under the hatch and provide a decent sized cooler.

This was a bear to fit as nothing in a boat is square or level. The deck slopes from front to back and also from the middle to sides. A lot of trial and error. The corners have mahogany moulding that will take some meranti plywood panels to match the interior. I also am ordering some white styrene to cover the interior. I then had to add a drain and pump below the floor to get the melting ice water out. I didn't want it draining into the bilge and the drain was too low to naturally drain out of a thru-hull fitting. It's amazing how a project can mushroom.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Somehow I missed your posts the last couple weeks. Glad you got the resaw worked out, that is some nice looking lumber. Take your time, this is the stage that really counts!

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My Zip build log...
http://www.vupilot.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/vupilot/Chr ... O0x7SvsQE#

"Nothing screams poor craftsmanship like wrinkles in your duct tape."

Looks like a good use of space, as long as there is still legroom for the back seat drives, but the the Malahini is longer than my ZIP. Funny how these projects seem to take on a life of their own, great work.

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This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

The compartment for the cooler and trash does eat some leg room. There is space on each side of the intrusion that you can stretch your legs into. In the middle, you'll probably have to keep your knees up. Oh well, I'm not sitting back there.

Now the sub decking can be completed. I had an issue with the rear panel to ensure the deck fill lined up with the fuel tank. They are very close and the hose is so stiff that they must be perfectly aligned to fit. Since a boat is not square or level, it is very difficult to measure for the alignment, so I used a direct marking approach.

I cut some PVC pipe to fit over the tank fill and covered the pipe end with wax china marker.

I then placed and aligned the plywood subdeck and pushed up the pipe while twisting it to mark the underside as so:

I could then drill to the circle. It was perfectly aligned and I could complete all the subdecking.


Now on to the cover boards!

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Here is the deck all cleaned off and ready for the next nerve wracking step: fitting, cutting, and mounting the cover boards.

To start the process, I needed the cover boards to align with the front cockpit sides. That was about 7". So, I plan to have uniform width from the stem to the front cockpit and then they must taper smaller as they go back.

To make the templates, I used my old stand-by from frame cutting days, white posterboard. It's stiff enough and cuts easily. I taped some pieces together and trimmed them to the sheer. Once taped in place I used a tracing trolley [Sorry, Roberta, I didn't think wheels were necessary. ] to mark a 7" wide pattern.

From these lines I could cut out the inner side of the pattern and tape into position. I then added more posterboard all the way to the rear and used batten to mark a line that aligned with both cockpits and looked like it had a "fair" curve. Here are the patterns in place.

Now, based on the lengths of mahogany boards I have, I can cut the templates to length and position the templates on the boards for marking and cutting. Since the boat is symmetrical, you cut both sides at once. You do need a little slop on outer edges that you will trim to exactly fit the sheer. I'm still working on the first pieces.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Looks Great, Bob!!! The wheels were probably over-engineering

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"