Thread: Tom Cat

Ok, but honestly the morning is the worst time to do glassing. The day is warming up, which means the timber is warming up, which means the air in the timber is expanding. This makes outgassing far worse.

If you have no choice but to glass in the morning, then fair enough. If you have a choice, it'll be a lot less stressful if you glass in the later afternoon, when the temperature is dropping.

Just as an example, I've been precoating my ply in the afternoon and letting the pox kick off overnight. The ply is quandong, which is roughly the same density as WRC. Although I get lumps from left over roller stipple and bits of dust/bugs/wood fibres/whatever, I get absolutely no outgassing or bubbling problems at all. None. Zero.

Ask PAR about this too. He swears by glassing or coating when the temperature is dropping. In fact, I got the idea from him.

Yes...totally agree and am fully aware of the outgassing being worse whilst the temperature is rising hence the intial coat of epoxy to seal the timber. Bit of a no brainer really...I've just checked again and as mentioned before some outgassing occurred but nothing like it would have been had I not laid down a coat of epoxy first (there is a method to my madness). Also considering the deck is being overlayed with more timber it's neither here nor there - I'm not looking for a finish job by any stretch of the imagination.

This pic is the layout for the glass - I under ordered but with this jigsaw puzzle I think I've got it covered!

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Turned out pretty good even with a few indiscernable bubbles. Nothing that a sharp scraper won't put right.

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Just to show how the joins will go. I think it will all come together nicely.

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Looks ok.

OK…all done and dusted. It turned out pretty good and after running the router along the Sheer and around the Cockpit Edge it looks like a bought one!
Just some pics of the joins and the methodology was to glass a small section at a time. Wait until it went off, although still green, then cut along the tape and voila! ready for the next piece.
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This pic was to show off one of the joins and the finished job prior to trimming with a router.

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These pics are the finished job. Onto to the Coamings next.

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Well, the Coaming on this boat is a 12mm laminated structure from 4mm ply, initially in three layers. It is 160mm wide and runs the fill circuit of the opening in the deck. I say initially as when these initial three layers are completed there are an additional two layers running from the bulkhead forward.

Considering joins were going to be required, I contemplated my navel for some time before deciding that I would make these at the broadest beam and centre aft. My reasoning was that it didn’t matter where they were to be as the Coaming is to be painted inside and out. A convenience thing really - just so long as the joints were positioned for strength and ease of construction.

First thing was to make up some templates from 3mm MDF – this in itself was supposed to be a simple task but getting them right was a matter of many trial and errors – on the boat, off the boat, on the boat, off the boat etc until eventually I was happy with the slope all round. I only needed the fwd and aft templates on one side as it was symmetrical pt and stbd. This was facilitated with the use of “slope blocks” (for want of a description). The blocks themselves helped enormously in finalising this part of the process and am glad I had not gone ahead with the laying of the final deck.

I’d have to say that the initial cutting of the Sub Deck with the jig saw was the most important aspect of attaining the end result. Get that right and everything should fall into place. I didn’t realise this until the actual installation of the ply, subsequently I had wasted a lot of time fiddling around for nothing as I ended up just screwing the ply directly to these cut inclines! However, the slope blocks were absolutely utilised in steadying and stabilising that first layer. From the MDF I cut the first layer of ply, fit all four pieces and subsequently used these finished pieces as the templates for the other layers. These I cut and finished to the line at the bottom and left the width oversize at the top. My thinking was to install the first layer then use the bottom line as the base line for subsequent layer fitting and gluing. This worked really well for me.

I had previously prepared all the pieces required, 16 in all, utilising the templates to cut the ply (oversize of course!) one coat of epoxy and TRPDA all over both sides, followed by 2 additional coats on those sides that would be finished and painted. All were sanded back and then my modus operandi was to install two fwd pieces, pt and stbd and then using the ends of these as a starting point fit the aft pieces as required. Once the first layer was on it was a simple matter of continuing two fwd one day, two aft the following day until I had all three layers on. This is where I’m at, waiting for the epoxy on the last 2 aft pieces on the third layer to go off.
I have lots of pics – what I have uploaded should tell some of the story. The missing bit is - you need lots and lots of clamps!!

This series is template fabrication
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This is the second layer
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Last layer and joins
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Time flies but building has continued albeit slowly over the Xmas break as family comes first!

The Coaming has been finished to width and planed off but will need some tweaking come the installation of the Cabin Top. I am considering creating a grooved line at the bottom inside face to give it more zing - about 12 or 19mm up from the bottom. If I do this I will use a flat head screw attached to a block of wood that you can run around the base of the Coaming. As ever will provide some pics if I go ahead.

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Attempted to make the templates for the BH’s but when I placed my previously made supporting Deck Beam on my new Coaming the line from top centre to the apex of the Coaming fwd just didn’t look right. It appeared to slope rearwards and no amount of thinking on my part put it right. Had I got the top of the Coaming incorrect etc etc until I finally succumbed to checking the Beam dimension. Was it a 7” in 5’ camber? Answer a resounding NO! It was 4 ½” in 5’. Goddam it! Bad mistake and had to make a new one. Time and timber lost but a much better result. Top of the cabin now looks more in tune with the plans.

A further error was the placement of the BH – I had allowed for the BH to sit and be connected aft of the frame so had not painted the aft face of said frame etc. Unfortunately the plans say otherwise – consequently had difficulty fitting the template between the frame and the end of the seat board. These things are sent to try us but I found a way. Now all I need to do is figure if I want plain ol’ ply for the BH or something with some eye catching appeal – maybe shiplap boards or something. I’m contemplating my navel!

Stbd looking Aft
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Stbd showing seat placement
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Port looking Aft
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For some reason that I totally forget but ….oh no, I remember, I need to lay the deck prior to completing the cabin structure. This will allow me to use clamps in the open space for attaching the Deck/Coaming moulding around the bottom of the Coaming. So work begins on the Covering Boards.

First decision is the design of the deck layout and, considering the width of available board stock, what joining method to use on the Covering Board? After surfing the Net upon many enjoyable holiday hours I decided to basically do my own thing. Some might say that the method is complex and time consuming but what the heck, it might just look OK.
Some examples…….

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I have also begun the task of cutting the deck boards and the covering board materials from Queensland Maple. It is all cut vertical grain and I am hoping that it will do the job OK. I haven’t seen or read anywhere where this material is used and that could be a bad omen. However the density is OK, we'll see. I also haven’t quite decided the finish I will use. There are many alternatives…

• Painted Covering boards w/- the deck boards left bare
• No paint, everything left bare
• Varnished covering boards w/- the deck boards left bare
• Everything varnished

Oh well, it’s all fun or we wouldn’t be doing it, right?! More to come.

Not much to report this time around. I have completed the task of cutting all the timber for the Covering and Deck Boards and had a look at what I could get out of the stock for the Covering Boards. Due to the small width of the boards (95mm) there will be more joins than I would like but maybe the join design will offset this. Note that I have no intention of leaving any gaps similar to that required between the Deck Boards – these will be glued up nice and tight with epoxy (I hope).

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Having got out the boards I have moved on to preparation of the Sub Deck and commenced sanding down the aft deck. Unfortunately this is where something has gone totally astray. Somewhere in my normal meandering around the shed, bending, lifting etc I have given myself a herniated disc so have been chair ridden for the last couple of weeks and am awaiting a trip to the specialist to see my fate. Will keep you posted.

Laurie,

Sorry to hear of set-back. Hope to hear you are mending soon.

Best,

Greg

Thanks for the kind words Greg. I miss the shed!! Oh well, we'll know more after next week. In the meantime I'm investigating carving designs for various bits in the boat. Need it to be interesting but not overpowering. I'd have to say I'm a bit of a sucker for 17th century scrolls etc but we'll see. I don't think cat boats normally have this type of decoration...need to keep it simple. Have a look at some work I put on this thread some time back.

OK...moving along again. I’ve had a steroid injection into the disc area this week so this should remove the pain. I now have a semi-permanent soft shoe shuffle!

I've gone onto the Covering Board construction. This is a much easier job than sanding and will provide some forward movement on the boat whilst I adjust myself physically to the new regime. The Covering Board construction is just a matter of fitting the joins with not a lot of bending, twisting etc on my body’s behalf.

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To make this job as easy as possible I invested in a support for my Dremel tool. This has certainly been an inexpensive and great investment, just the job for those pesky small radii on the joins. Work on these continues. By the time I have got out all the Covering Boards I should be in a position to finish sanding the Sub Deck and get on with epoxying them in place. I’m also contemplating a gap in Covering Board joins - a filled seam between the joins or match them right up with no gap as originally intended - we'll see as work progresses.

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Interesting work on the cover boards. I'll be watching closely for inspiration and ideas for my next restoration. I ran the deck strips straight into the gunwales on the current project but am planning cover boards next time.
What is the reason for the curved joins - just visual?
If you are considering an epoxy seam is that because of the difficulty in getting a perfect fit?

Great work,
Mark