Planking completed.

 

The planking is now completed. In a manner of speaking, the structural work on the hull is basically done. However, there is a lot of work still to be done before the fiberglass goes on.

I had just barely enough epoxy left to finish the job. I used System Three Silvertip, which I thickened with #2 silica, as the last of my mahogany sawdust was gone. I was also running low on 1” silicon bronze screws. However, I did have plenty of 1-1/4” screws. So, I snipped the ends off of enough of them to finish the job, and they worked just fine.

Now it's time for a lot of sanding.

Butt blocks on the port bottom

Not a lot of visible progress since the last post... mostly sanding throughout the last week. However, I did get the backing blocks attached for the last butt joint, where the two bottom panels on the port side will meet. Here are a few photos:

Deep-reach C-clamps are ideal for attaching butt blocks.

4th of July in the boat shop

It was a busy 4th of July weekend in my cramped little boat shop. I set out my U.S. Yacht Ensign flag, and got right to work.

After a week of shaping that mahogany shim on the port chine, I finally got it to a point I was satisfied with. So, without any more delays, I epoxied on the forward bottom planking.

The shim on the port chine

3/4 of the bottom planking is now attached.

This time around, I used System Three Silvertip epoxy, thickened with the remainder of my collected mahogany sawdust. I learned a valuable lesson about using thickened epoxy versus Gel Magic.

Although I used the remainder of my mahogany sawdust, the mixture was still not as viscous as Gel Magic. However, it sure seemed thick enough to do the job. In the end, I used perhaps 2/3 as much epoxy for the port side as I'd used of GelMagic when I did the starboard. Not only that, but it was easier and faster to apply. This saved me time, stress, and money.... some pretty good selling points. 

I still had plenty... PLENTY... of squeeze-out to fill the gaps I was concerned about, too.

I also used 4” spacing on the screws for this side, compared to the 3” spacing I used on the starboard side. The planking contact seemed just as good, and I used 3/4 as many screws (73 this time, compared to 97 before). Again, this saved me time, stress and money.

And yes, this time I did remember to scrape away excess epoxy from the areas where I’ll need to fit the butt blocks.