1992 Skimmer 18' Flat Bottom Skiff Restoration

[JASinIL2006]

If you have trouble getting your fillets smooth, just brush some catalyzed resin over the fillet using a chip brush. Smooths it right out, leaving a nice surface for tabbing. Some of these PB-meisters don't need to resort to such trickery, but I found it helpful...

 

[studioq]

Ill post some more photos. They were pretty smooth. I was pleased. I just have this crazy idea that the CSM was a better bonding surface. Chalk it up to my first boat resto i guess

 

[studioq]

Revisiting the rest of the work on the transom.

After getting it fully filleted with some hairy "Hull and Deck Putty" ala Mertons pre-fab $45 per gallon putty that I actually love. I gave it a quick sand....












Then I tabbed the top of the transom over the back, outer skin with 1708 where I had ground down to bare glass - actually almost going through in a few places....



When it comes to laying the biaxial glass - as far as it concerns the delicate balance between resin-starved and resin-rich, I always go for this "snake skin" look. Any more resin and it will look lumpy and the reptile skin look wont be there, rather there will be puddles of resin. Any less and it will show a lot of discolored patches.






Then I tabbed the inside - first with CSM - then 1708...

 

[haymon75]

Looking great.

 

[kcassells]

Time to sand again. Work is looking nice. Grind away.

 

[Woodonglass]

Very Nice Work!!

 

[studioq]

My Stringer Process for the center or "Keel" stringer.. There are many like it but this one is mine...

First - I have a few things standing in my way every time I go to work on the boat.. To start, it's 180 miles door to door from my house to where the boat is garaged. I was working alone during this particular process. I also have no choice but to have the boat on the trailer. Being a flat bottom boat sitting on the outer edges of the trailer on flat boards - it all works out ok.

But there is a real problem with hull flex that has to be corrected every time I move the boat to get it properly level and getting in the boat while working is absolutely out of the question unless you're grinding. Trying to take measurements while a 300lb gorilla (me) is in the boat just doesn't work. So that has to be overcome as well. And it has to be overcome at every stage of the stringer process.

So the first thing is - how do I measure for the stringer without actually being in the boat...

First I ran a brick mason's line level from bow to stern. Hang out with enough brick layers and you begin to think like them.. In the bow I drilled a small hole in the inch thick PB left over from the original build and tied the line to a screw that I sunk in the hole.





On the stern I cut a small piece of board that would hold the line at the right height for level and secured it through the drains with more line and twisted the line tight around some spare blocks and tongue depressors..













Then I had to fashion a crude ruler out of more spare wood and a door shim. One that could be held from outside the hull in order to get rough measurements for the first initial cut of the keel stringer. I took the measurements every 12 inches along the "flat" part of the stringer and every 3 inches along the curved portion... Hmmm.. I wonder where I've seen that before? Well - I borrowed, ok... stole it from another board member... I believe he's been crowned "The King of Clamps"... But his method worked really well for me.. Here is his build. The carpentry starts on page 4













Then I took the two pieces of ply that I had cut and after dry fitting and trimming them several times to get them to the proper dimensions - I per-treated them with resin and then laminated them together with a piece of wet CSM on each...





After it had hardened I trimmed it down and started on the rear portion of the stringer.





I temporarily tacked down the bow portion with some hull and deck putty.. It worked wonderfully until I climbed in the boat for something and snapped them off with the downward force applied while I stood in the center of the hull. Oops..



How to get the angle for the rear? Put the 90 degree board up to the angled surface and measure the distance between the top of the board and the face of the angled surface. Transfer that measurement to the bottom of the 90 degree surface, draw a line to to top outer edge of the 90 and then cut. What's the angle? Who knows.. It just works. I don't need to know the angle.







Then I took those boards once they were properly fitted and laminated them in the same fashion..



Then the sistering of the butt-joint and some thickened PB to fill the joints for glassing later on.







I then used the completed stringer as a template for the rough cuts of the port and starboard stringers.









The grinding got really deep up near the bow - so I had to add a deep layer of PB and a few sheets of CSM to fill it back in. There is also a repair in the hull under this that I'll detail later...



Now for the second hurtle... How can I PB this stringer in without being in the boat? The only answer I could think of was to lay in the air up above it.. So that is what I did - via (3) 2x4's and a plank of cheap plywood... Moving it up and down the hull as needed while I spread the PB and then later glassed it in..





Getting it centered... and then placing some temporary boards in there to keep the middle of the stringer from flexing and wobbling while I worked.







Then came the PB...











And then a layer of CSM tabbing..









And then I started to layup the mating surface on the port side before I ran out of time, daylight and energy....





And that's it... Until next time - which if the temps drop too far - might not be till spring... But I can still sand and grind!!!

 

[Sea Stomper]

Nice. That thing will be stronger than heck when you are done.

 

[studioq]

Making the 180-mile trek to go work on the boat this weekend.. I have about 3 to 4 gallons of resin to use up before winter sets in.. I'm going to try to get the port and starboard stringers PB'd in place.. and do a few layups on the hull. That should about do it. It should be about 66 during the day... I'll make sure the resin and the boat get warmed up beforehand... This will probably be my last chance of the season...

 

[studioq]

Got the other two stringers cut, assembled, pre-treated with resin and abut 60% bedded in with PB before I ran out of time. Over all I'm very pleased. Once the PB is done completely I'm going to have another grinder/sanding session and get it all smooth again. Clean up the drips - take out some of the junk on the hull in between them. Then I'll do my final reinforcement on the hull and start putting the 1708 on the stringers in spring.. Unless we have a really nice fall. I also have to finish the rest frame carpentry and cleats for the deck.

 

[Arawak]

Great stuff. It's really coming along. I guess I should stop complaining about my 25 min drive to work on the boat!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Every boat resto has its challenges, but your sound pretty great... Even so, you're doing great work. Nice to see your progress! Keep up the great work!

 

[kcassells]

Looking real nice SD! A man with a plan.

 

[Sea Stomper]

Very impressive. What a long way from the original question of "how long will it take to dry out the foam?" When this thing is done, it's going to be about 950 times stronger than it was when the manufacturer pushed it out the door.

 

[studioq]

What a long way from the original question of "how long will it take to dry out the foam?"

I know - I so wish the MODS would let me change the title of this thread - but it really does point out the folly of my initial thoughts.

 

[archbuilder]

Nice progress, I'll be following along for sure!

 

[Woodonglass]

Just send a PM to a MOD with the Title you want the Thread to be changed to and they will change it for you.

 

[studioq]

Well - it's been a while.. Missed you guys. Can't believe it took me this long to get cracking on the skiff again.. I literally haven't been able to touch it since NOV '14...

Just got to finishing the filleting (with the help of the little lady)... Next week we start sanding and getting ready to glass in the stringers and cleats for the deck. So happy to get rolling again... Even took me a while to remember how to post pictures..

 

[studioq]

Was able to cut the sub-frame/ deck cleats and get them notched in.











And then I started with the 1708 on the stringers. Got the port side done then had to quit.. Going back to do more this Saturday.

 

[studioq]

Finished the first layer of 1708 on the stringers.. Now for some more sanding and grinding and I'll add the second layer - tabbing them in and also add a layer of stitch-mat down the two bare areas on either side of the keel stringer. They have to be ground out first. I needed to get the stringers glassed in first so that I could walk around on the hull again without breaking things. The bottom of the hull was made very thin. Maybe good enough for a lake boat - but not the saltwater this thing is going to be pounding around on.