Sanding, Sanding, Sanding

All the deck is installed and the sanding has begun. I've made one pass over the deck with 80 grit on the belt sander. Lightweight belt sanders with a dust collection bag are great for this. Im using a cheapo from Harbor Freight and its fantastic.
Next I need to sand around the inside cockpit edges to bring the plank ends flush with the sub-deck edge underneath. Then I will fill the few epoxy voids between some of the planks and then sand, sand, sand. I figure I have about 2 weeks worth of sanding to do.

If thats the case I can sand the next two weeks then apply clear for 2 weeks after that then all of August can be spent at the upholstery and stainless steel trim shops and the first week or two of September will be final details and test runs. Okay so theres the plan in a nutshell.

Foreward deck planks installed

All the forward deck planks are installed. The aft sections should be finished up in the next few days. My plan was to have all the planking installed by the end of the month. Looks like Ill just make it. Then its time to start sanding like crazy.
I also started working on the windshield template. Its going to be trimmed lower
in height at the center post and extend about an inch farther out on the side of the boat. Then I'll go to a local glass shop and have this cut from polycarbonate of some sort like plexiglass.

More deck planking. I now have 4 deck planks on each side of the king plank and 2 per side on the aft sections installed. Here is a photo of the bow area after a quick sanding, still more gap filling and sanding to do but I think its going to turn out great.

This week I began gluing the deck planks in place. I first glued one basswood filler strip to one side of each of the 2.75" wide mahogany planks. Then they install as one piece. The disadvantage to this is that you cannot hold the planks in place with screws and oversize washers where the filler strip is like you can with a caulked deck that is void of caulk at this step.

So to have a screw-less deck required some innovative clamping. Im clamping with large bar clamps across the deck to squeeze the planks up tight with the king plank in the center. Then long pinewood boards keep the deck planks flat and screws and oversize washers are screwed into the sub-deck on the outside edge of the outer most board at a 45 degree angle to hold the outside edge tight to the sub-deck.Its a bit messy but sanding later will clean it up. I also found african mahogany dowel rods online that I used to fill my coverboard screw holes, they match perfect.

Below, picture taken when gluing the first two boards. This is about halfway into fitting the clamps and boards and screws/washers. I end up using several more but then you cant hardly see the deck planks in the picture that way.

Chromed Parts Done

I picked up the parts I had chrome plated from the plater this morning. Only a day later than they originally told me. The chrome isnt flawless but they certainly are nice.

The only flaws are a couple pin needle tip sized pits are visible. I dont know what causes this but the aluminum windshield parts have more of them than the steel bow handle. The bow handle has only one and each windshield part has 3 or 4. My step pad chrome parts came like that brand new out of the box as well so at least everything is of equal quality. Its supposed to look "vintage" anyway right.

Here is a tip....When mixing epoxy dont put your stir stick in your mouth from the "wet" end when you suddenly need a hand free. Poxy-Grip tastes terrible, this is nothing like the glue you ate in kindergarten and isnt likely to become Baskin Robins 32nd flavor either.

A messy shop means progress is being made. Lots going on here. I still manage to park a motorcycle and a Jeep in here every night too.

The picture is kinda blurry but here is whats going on this week. The seat bases are getting encapsulated on the far right. On the saw horses the 2.75" mahogany deck planks are having the 3/8" bass wood filler strips epoxied to a plank on one side. This will continue for every deck plank. I have all kinds of things sitting on the boat, a drink bottle, used epoxy mixing cups, clamps, drill, sander etc. On the far left of the boat the side cover board is being glued in and clamped, screwed and weights put on it while it cures.

All the king planks are glued in and I only have one coverboard piece left to glue. Once I get a few more bass wood strips epoxied to planks I will be ready to lay the first deck planks.

The chrome plater says my deck hardware and windshield brackets should be ready to pick up friday.

Congrats Todd!!!!!!

Congrats to Todd B. fellow Zip builder in West Palm, FL. Todd launched his Zip "Gem" today. Hope mine comes out half as nice.
You can see all of Todd's build photos and photos from todays launch here. http://picasaweb.google.com/Buckeyesmith1/Gem#

Dave L. and Ray M. also launched their glen-l boats this week. Dave's is a Riviera http://sites.google.com/site/midnightcryproject/Home/day-musings

and Rays is a True Grit.
http://www.egyptian.net/~raymacke/TG/TG01.html

Its been a busy week in glen-l-boater-ville.

Deck Planking Cut

This morning I went over to my work buddy James' house and we (he) ripped the mahogany planks and basswood filler strips to size on his very nice table saw.


I think I need to narrow the king plank an inch or two so that I have more than just a sliver of mahogany between the outermost plank and the coverboard inside edge. Or I could trim 1/4" from each plank.

The chrome bits are at the chrome shop, the upholstery guy is on hold till the deck is done, the decking material is ready to be cut into planks BUT, I'm forced to take 5 days off of building due to work. Until then, have a great week.

Im having a good building week, 5 hours tues, 4 weds, and 4 today. The sub-deck is glued on and the coverboards and king plank are back in place for now.

My father in-law had a great idea, he said I needed a radius transition in the aft end of the coverboards like the coverboard/king plank transition at the bow. So I made those this morning.

Then I started trimming the outside edge of the coverboards around the sheer. Im still afraid to use a router, since I have never used one so Im doing it the hard way. I trim with a saw as close as I dare and then sand the rest. Im within a couple 1/8ths all the way around now.

I think I'll go order the mahogany stock for my deck planking tomorrow. I also want to take my hardware that needs to be chrome plated to some plating shops tomorrow, there are 3 within 1 mile of each other on the east side of Indy and I'd like to get these done while Im working next week so at least something is getting done while I cant work on the boat myself.

Sub-deck Glued/Screwed in place

I wanted to be sure the sub-deck wouldnt move on me before I kept going with the deck fitting so I removed the decking and glued and screwed the sub-deck permanently.

A little college on the subject...Unless you are as agile and flexible as an 8 year old, or have one on hand that is handy with a brush and roller, be sure to remember to encapsulate the underside of your sub-deck material before gluing it in place. On the first section of the bow sub-deck I forgot to and it made for an uncomfortable hour on my back, in a tiny, hot, space. On the other hand, with a little padding you could have a little berth under there for naps at sea. The wife found it amusing.
Before I took the decking off to attach the sub-deck I cut out two small inserts for the radius on each side of the king plank for a smooth curved transition from king plank to coverboards at the front of the deck. You might find the radius nearly identical to a SOLO plastic cup lip.
Now to re-install everything and get back to moving forward.