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King Billy? clinker dinghy project
I have been gifted an 11ft clinker dinghy said to have been built of King Billy pine. She came from Tasmania and is claimed to have been a tender for a missionary ketch in the Pacific for some 40 years from probably the early 1960's. No idea as to actually how old she is.
At some point in time she was glassed over which the friend who gave it to me had started to remove. As to whether it is hiding any horrors is yet to be revealed. At a cursory glance the ribs are solid and no obvious damage to the planks other than the port top plank which has some edges missing. The gunwhale rubbing strip is cactus and a couple of the rowlock blocks need replacement.
Whilst I don't need a dinghy it attracted my interest as a project that will give me the satisfaction of using some of my late grandfather's shipwright tools as well as his collection of copper nails, roves and brass screws that I inherited.
I think that my first issue will be to remove the old fibreglass. My friend was using a heat gun and scraper. Has anybody done this before? What is the best way to go about it?
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