Glen-L.com

THAT LOOKS SO GOOD!

drool.

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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."

Finishing up the planking. A few planks had a slight twist so I wrapped a 1x4 over the top of the deck to hold them down until the epoxy set.

At the rear, I made the sub-decking overlap the motor well by about 2 inches. When I started the planking in that area, I decided to cut back the sub-deck to match the full plank, rather than cut a plank in half. You can see the full plank and some of the sub-deck which I will cut away. The deck still overlaps the motorwell by about 1 inch.

After the planking set, I created come molding to form a coaming around the cockpit areas. The rounded corners required cutting a curved piece from a glued up block of mahogany. I don't think you could do this without a bandsaw.

Here's a few of the pieces. I fit and set the pieces this afternoon and the epoxy is under my tarp and heaters to set up. Due to the slight curve in all the pieces it took literally every clamp I had to hold it all in place.

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

All the planking is down and I'm working to finish it off. I had a few issues with the drywall screws I used to hold down the planking while the epoxy set. Eight of them had the heads snap off when I tried to remove them. I spent a day trying to remove them. There is a separate thread under "Fasteners" on that topic. DON'T USE DRYWALL SCREWS WITH EPOXY!

Anyway, I got them out and then countersunk and plugged the holes. I had another issue with the bungs. I used scrap 3/8" planking for my plugs. However, due to the thinness of the material, the plug cutter did not go deep enough to get the diameter under the hole size. I didn't figure this out until I was trying to set my plugs and found they were hard to get into the hole. I ended up chamfering each plug by hand. What a pain! I should have just used thicker material and made new plugs. Anyway, I got them in.

Here are all my plugs set in a row. I put a dab of Titebond III on each one. You can also see the edging I put around the openings.
I used my Harbor Freight multifunction tool to trim the plugs. This thing worked so slick. It took like 10 minutes to trim them all flush.

Then it was out into the driveway to start belt sanding. I used 80 grit to take down the epoxy and high spots. I then put 80 grit discs on my RO sander to do some closer work on a few areas.

I have a few cracks and seams I want to fill and then I will sand some more with 100 and 150 grit. I plan to use mahogany stain on the outer cover boards and the cockpit coamings, but leave the interior planks unstained. (That would be too much masking!) When this is epoxied, I will get a slight contrast between the outer board and interior mahogany and also the big contrast with the maple. I am pleased with how it is turning out.

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

Bob, That is truly outstanding!!!! Just BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Roberta

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

Looks great. For the fine cracks on my deck I used fine sawdust and titebond III. I find using epoxy for this process makes the slurry come out too dark while the titebond comes out lighter in color. I tape the sides of the gap, fill, use putty knife to work slurry in, then remove tape ASAP. Leave cure and sand. Congrats on the great build.

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This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

I'll have to try that Titebond III trick. Thanks, GD.

Roberta

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

Thanks for the tip.
I didn't read this post in time. Since all my gaps were next to mahogany, I used Famowood mahogany to fill the cracks and then sanded down. When stained or just epoxied, it matched the mahogany pretty well.

Anyway, more progress. Things are happening faster and everything is starting to come together. It is getting exciting.

First, I got back my polished aluminum windshield brackets. These are only polished and not plated.


The plating company did not recommended plating due to small pits in the aluminum casting. They said they could keep polishing and polishing and they wouldn't come out. Plating would not hide them, and might even look worse, so I just left them polished. I sprayed them with some aluminum clear coat to prevent oxidation.

For reference, this is how they looked before.

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

With the planking on and the cracks filled and sanded, my next step was to stain the cover boards and trim around the cockpit and motorwell. Since the other planks would be unstained, I had to mask off these areas.

I used 1/4" green auto tape to follow the curves. I then added 1' blue tape to give me some extra room for sloppiness. Here's how that worked out.

The narrow auto tape was pretty easy to follow the curves. Wider tape would have been a challenge.

I then used water based mahogany stain from Minwax to stain the boards. This is a wiping stain that comes in a tube and goes on pretty easily. It also isn't real runny so I didn't have any issues with seepage under the masking tape.

This is the result on the rear deck.

Epoxy and varnish to follow.

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

Awesome, Bob!!! I hope you make it to the G6 or at least the Branson International show in Sept.

Roberta

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

Those colors look great!

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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."

Absolutely Stunning! That is really going to pop when the finish coats are applied!

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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

Thanks, all! Don't stop me now, I'm on a roll.
I am planning on G6. Haven't thought about the ACBS at Branson. I hope to launch by Memorial Day.

I put a coat of epoxy on. The color of the non-stained boards got a lot darker, so there is much less contrast than in the previous post. However, the stained pieces are more consistent in color while the other pieces vary a lot, creating some interesting variation.


After the first coat of epoxy set, I went about cutting the hatches for my ice box and waste bin. I am trying to cut them out accurately so I won't need hatch trim. I used a mulitfunction tool to plunge a straight cut into the cut line so I could insert the saber saw blade and finish cutting it out. There was a little damage at the starting point so I routed a small radius on the opening and hatch to even things out. We'll see how it looks. I can always add the trim later if necessary.

Here are the two hatches and the openings cut in the center deck.

You can see the cut-outs for the hatch pulls and the hinge holes. I mounted the hinges before I finished cutting them out to ensure the alignment would be perfect.

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

Still rolling!

I put on three coats of epoxy this weekend. I was only going to do two, but I sanded through and hit bare wood on the cover board. So, I had to re-stain and put another layer of epoxy. You have to watch yourself when sanding.

Last night, I put on three coats of System Three WR-LPU clear gloss.




My light attracted some bugs, so I have some embedded creatures. I think I'm going to wet sand with 320-400 grit to remove the bugs and smooth things out a little more and then add one or two more coats.

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

You have got to be Proud, Bob!!! Beautiful!!!!

Roberta

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

Way to go Bob!

It is suprising to me that the stain didnt seem to darken much at all with the epoxy coats, I would have thought it would darken a bit also. I think out in the sunlight youll still have a notable contrast. Its funny in the garage how when viewed from different angles these wooden boats colors will change. Like in your picture of the starboard rear compared to the others.

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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."