reupholster curved part of open bow

Hi,

I'm trying to hustle and get my boat ready for summer and have ran into two problems while reupholstering.

I have a trihull open bow. The front part of the open bow is slightly curved. I already cut 1/2 plywood based on others' advice. However, because it's curved the plywood won't conform to the shape and I will have a huge gap in between the plywood and the fiberglass. Any ideas? Do I need to get 1/4 inch board for this part so that the board will conform once I put the bolts in? Not sure what else to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Corey

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

I think you need 1/4 plywood so that it can be wrapped or bent to conform.

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

An alternative that uses the wood you already have is to cut vertical stripes @ 1/4" depth. Space the cuts 1" to 2" apart, based on the radius of the curve at each spot. With the crappy plywood we get at the box stores you will have some chipping and loose pieces of wood but hese can be handled with extra foam.

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=347724

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

I'm in the middle of the exact same project right now myself.

I first tried warping the wood with steam and wet rags. That really didn't work and the wood began to bulge and expand from the water it was soaking up.

I then tried the method that fossilized wrote about. This is the same advice that the guy at West Marine gave. The wood conformed perfectly.

Now I am at the stage of how do I get the wood to keep it's shape when I unbolt it to do the upholstery. This is an issue because I want to seal the wood with epoxy resin to keep the wood from rotting out again. If I wasn't doing that then I would just put the upholstery on and bolt it to the bow.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=392547

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

Thanks for the ideas guys!

Can you give me details of how you cut the grooves?You simply cut 1/4 on the backside of the plywood in a vertical line from top to bottom? How many of these did you cut?

What kind of saw do you need for that? I will have to borrow one, as I only have a circular saw, table saw, and jigsaw.

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

most circular saws do have a height adjustment on them

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

I cut my slits with a grinder and one of those thin cutting discs on it. i cut them to the inside and it bends perfect. I also have seen people wet the wood pull it up with screws and let it dry in the sun.

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

ax1lla said:

Thanks for the ideas guys!

Can you give me details of how you cut the grooves?You simply cut 1/4 on the backside of the plywood in a vertical line from top to bottom? How many of these did you cut?

What kind of saw do you need for that? I will have to borrow one, as I only have a circular saw, table saw, and jigsaw.

Click to expand...

circular saw, table saw yes jig saw no
How many of these did you cut?
enough to encoumpas the arch of the curve

if you want the wood to "hold its shape" you can make a template of the curve out of cardbaord or what ever and transfer to a couple of 2x4s and cut the arch with the jig saw then wet the wood with a clothes steamer and screw the ply to the 2x4s you may still have to cut the grooves to get it to bend enough then put it in the sun and let it dry completly. once dry remove the screws and see if it holds its shape if it doesnt repete. if the second round doesnt work then screw it back to the jig (make sure you apply mold release to the jig) and apply the reisen and fiberglass. I know you are in a hurry but take your time and do it right so you dont have to do it again next year.

Re: reupholster curved part of open bow

Thanks guys!

Seamore - you are right in that I need to make sure I do it right, however, you are also right in that I feel like I'm rushed at this point.

In my mind this was a VERY simple project. Not saying it isn't, but I keep running into little things that are slowing me down greatly. Summer weather is almost here and I still haven't even bought my foam yet!!

I am going to cut the slits, wet the wood, and screw it into my boat. I'm hoping that 1 or two days of the screws holding it in while it drys will make the shape hold. Then I can take them back out and start the upholstery portion of it.

Thanks again for the input everyone! I'm sure I will have more questions soon......