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I have been reading these forums and looking through the boat plans and pictures for a couple of years now. In many of the pictures of boats built I keep noticing something that I don't understand. What is used in between the thin planks that many builders apply to the top of their boats. I'm talking about the thin strips of mahogany or the like with white lines between the planks to improve the looks of the boat. What is the material used to create those white lines? I would be interested in creating a similar look.

(Moderater's Note: Folks, this is one of the MOST common questions asked by new members. Let's all pitch in and make this a very informative thread so that we can keep referring back to it in the future. How 'bout it? - Dave)

Lots of thoughts on this one!

Some people use contrasting wood strips.
Some people mix a white epoxy.
Some people don't like white and use off white or black.
Some people varnish over it, some don't.
Some people use caulk, like I did (3M 4000 UV).

Bill

_________________
Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Bill really covered the bases here but MAN, this is a thread that calls for PICTURES!!

So I'm going to start with Doug Hodder's Malahini. I talked to Doug on the phone when he was building this baby and he explained how he got the look. He bookmatched his mahogany strips and then set them against each other. Then he actually used a good quality vinyl pinstripe tape and laid out his feature lines. Finally, he started applying coat after coat of epoxy until there was enough build up that the tape could no longer be felt and everything was smooth. Here is the result:




Next is Graham Knight's Squirt. Graham used thin strips of a very light colored wood between his mahogany strips. An easy way of doing this is to rip and sand the lighter colored wood until it's the thinness you want and then glue it to the mahogany strips along one side. Then you cut your mahogany to fit and the lighter colored wood inlay is already in place. From there all you have to do is figure out your inlay at the covering boards. Here's what Graham's boat looked like when finished:



Then there is Mark Bronkalla's Riviera. Mark used the white colored epoxy to achieve his look. His entire build is documented on his fantastic website www.bronkalla.com. Here is his boat:



For me personally, I had been vasilating between methods. But when I got to the recent Gathering this past October, I saw Bill Yonescu's boat. Bill used the same method as Graham Knight with alternating light and dark colored wood. When I saw that in person, I knew that this was the way I was going to go with my Zip. To me, it just looks superb!

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

Also,there was some mention that when the colored epoxy method was used,some cracking occurred when the boat was left outside for a few days in a sunlight warming/cooling situation with a cover on.

I'm thinking of the alternating color wood strip method for this reason for my build.

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

If you go with the two contrasting woods, the trick is to laminate them first. That is plane both pieces first, then laminate them together. Then plane them after they are laminated. Then rip your planking. That way the narrow strip is already attached to one side. And, you have two clean sides to match together.

Bill

_________________
Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Thanks for the info guys that helps alot.

Great techniques here We are planning on black (or very dark) stripes between African mahogany. One thought I had was using stained Walnut for the stripes. The question being...Can I stain the walnut first, then epoxy (or glue) it to the mahogany as Bill mentioned?

Yes you can. Now keep in mind that whenever you apply varnish or any kind of finish really, the wood will darken somewhat anyway. If you're going to use walnut, you may be getting dark enough that you may as well just gone ahead and painted the dark wood dark. I'd try a couple of test panels before I committed to the final deck.

_________________
Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

Ive wondered about that...setting up a test with a few different techniques to see which we like best

Pictures. We want pictures. LOL

_________________
Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

If you laminate the dark wood to the lighter wood,then you have to cut it and plane it....so you can't stain it first.

Even if you laminate thin pieces together then after you apply it to the deck,you have to sand it to get everything level,so no you can't stain first

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Like the others, I have been fretting over the deck caulking. My deck consists of 3" wide by 1/4" thick mahogany planks, spaced at 1/4". I've ripped em planed em and glued em etc. Now to fill in the holes. I've checked the various sealants which are usually not recommended (eg. Sikaflex 291, 3M 5200 etc.
I'm toying with Bruce's "old school method" but wondering just how much elasticity that (putty) might have.
I kind of like your method Bill, of caulking the seams and was hoping that you might tell me a bit more about 3M 4000 UV ? The questions of course are:
a) If I varnish first, is the 3M 4000 UV easily cleaned up ?
b) Does it stay soft long enough to be easily workable ?
c) how long to fully cure ?
d) and last but not least does it say anything on the tube about not being used for deck caulking ?

Of course the easy answer to all of this is buy a tube and try it, however, 4000 is not available at my local outlets and I will have to order from a supplier elsewhere. Can you help ?

Regards to all those enjoying the pains of boat building...

Al

_________________
You know that you're having a good day when you don't accidently drill a hole through the bottom of your boat !

Al

Varnish first. 4000 UV is made for sun exposure.

Use blue painters tape on your planks. Caulk the seams. use the back of plastic spoons to smooth the caulk. It will spread out onto the tape like a boat wake and will be very thin against the edge of the wood. Wait about 1 1/2 hours then the 4000 UV will be dry to the touch. Pull the tape, there will be not mess. If you spoon starts to pull when you are smoothing throw it away and get another. Don't try to fix it! You'll make it worse.

There is plenty of working time. Cures out in 2 or 3 days.

Mine has been on about 2 years now and doing fine.

Bill

_________________
Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Thanks Bill. I'm going to give the 4000 a try!

Regards Al

_________________
You know that you're having a good day when you don't accidently drill a hole through the bottom of your boat !

Deck caulking (again!). I almost hate to bring this topic up, but I do have a question.

Bill, when you were using the 3M 4000UV, did you run into any problem with it gassing out, i,e, small bubbles in the finish ? I have not as yet tried the product. I will have to order 4 tubes of it as it is not locally available.

I have been experimenting and have discovered the following which may be helpful to others.

If you use the "old school" method be darn sure that you varnish well between the grooves. If not the linseed oil from the putty will seep into the wood and discolour it.

Contrary to the advice given to me by a number of boat builders, refrain from using Sikaflex 291 (lot) for deck caulking.
My experience was that it gassed out and bubbled, It is primairily an adhesive - not a caulking, it has no UV protection and last but not least it says on the label not to use as a deck sealant.

Al

_________________
You know that you're having a good day when you don't accidently drill a hole through the bottom of your boat !