Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Planking the Guideboat

The hull bottom is now sheathed in 4.8mm Okoume plywood.  It provides a nice continuous covering which distributes stresses evenly.  It didn't bend exactly the in the manner I hoped for, but I'll go back with some fairing putty to improve that.  I learned that the best way to created a tight junction with the plank keel when bonding the ply in place was to use #4 x1/2" flat head wood screws as temporary fasteners.  I tried using staples but they didn't have enough holding power.  I also tried using clamps, but couldn't get the proper leverage/clamp placement at the keel.

Sheathing the bottom in three sections; nice to have plenty of clamps.  The keel joint is temporarily fastened with small flathead screws.  I had no problem removing them after the epoxy set.  In the center section, the screws were spaced every 12 inches; at the ends, the spacing was every 3 inches.

Significant curvature in the hull ends.  Need to do some fairing of the sheathing and put an external cap on the hull end ply junction.

With the hull bottom sheathed, I now need to finalize how to plank the topsides.  I am thinking to use 5mm thick solid planks, carvel style, narrow widths, with one or two staggered scarf joints per plank.  But that could change.  I have some planking material on hand, but not enough to finish anything; need to find enough stock lumber to finish it before I get committed.


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