Floorboards

 At last, time do some carpentry.

For the floorboards I purchased six lengths of Queensland Hoop Pine 3.6m x 250mm x 25mm. Although classed as softwood the timber is dense and weighty and has a beautiful grain, I think it will make perfect floorboards plus the off cuts can be milled up for cleats etc.

As the purchased timbers dimensions were 250mm wide by 25mm thick they required considerable milling. 

I cut two lengths a bit over 76.2mm wide on the bench saw and the proceeded to mill down the thickness but unfortunately, my trusty old thicknesser/planer blew up, so it was off to the local hardware store for a new one.

Time to make some dust.

Here is the first cut of floorboards ready to be trimmed to fit around the centerboard case and edge routed.

The first two center flooring boards are trimmed, and edge routed and sitting in place around the centerboard case.

To fix the boards I made some simple jigs. I purchased a countersinking drill and a box of 200 stainless steel self-taping screws.

This is the drill alignment jig; the top & bottom holes will line up for the board ends and the center holes will line up the floors. 

The jig from a different angle showing the spacer screwed and glued into the ply. I used two wooden paddle pop sticks glued together to provide the 3 mm gap between the floorboards.

Here is my jig arsenal, consisting of the drill jig, countersunk drill bit, spacer jigs with 3mm nails and two paddle pop sticks glued together to form a 3mm thickness.

Before I start screwing the floorboards into place, I needed to glue the last two cleats to BH 2 & BH 8. I purposely left these cleats off to ensure they lined up accurately with the remaining floors. As indicated in previous blogs there was an error in the plans for the cleat height on BH 2. 

Thats the end of the tenth month of construction..............

More sanding and Epoxy coats

 Well, I'm back from gallivanting around with the Mrs. and feeling rejuvenated so it's back to the build.

I know many builders have said it before, but it can't be underestimated the amount of sanding required. 

To make the process a little easier here are my sanding tips:

• Firstly, and most importantly use appropriate PPE gear.
• To reduce climbing in and out of the boat keep everything close, either in the boat or on a tray or shelf within arm's reach.

• Use a sander pad on your oscillating sander it gives better disc adhesion and prolongs the sander base plate.

• Regularly clean the sanding discs, I use a combination of compressed air and sandpaper cleaning block.....BUT most importantly change the paper often (Keep a good stock as you will go through heaps)

Turn the stereo on and up loud with your favorite music.

After thoroughly cleaning the sanded area, I applied two more coats of epoxy wet on wet using a foam roller in an ice cream container.

I checked off the epoxy coating process on a sheet divided into the segments of the hull.

Finally, the epoxy is completed. The bilge area below the floorboards will be painted but I am contemplating gluing marine hull lining carpet to the area between the floorboards and the gunwales.

Time out from Build

 

Hi to all PocketShip builders & enthusiasts, just advising of a short delay in building while my wife & I take a short holiday.

Look forward to getting back into the build in mid-November

Cheers from Terry