Big wooden boat project [Splashed Sept 2017]

[fhhuber]

And we can see why restoring can cost 3X or more vs new....

That's a LOT of very good work.

 

[Ned L]

And we can see why restoring can cost 3X or more vs new....

That's a LOT of very good work.

Thank you, ....... and Yep, ............. However, some may be surprised that financially (not including my labor) I will probably have invested about the same in this boat as people here talk about spending on a rebuild for a typical 20ft bow rider (stringers, transom, sole, etc).

 

[Ned L]

Next was to cut and set the 500 - 600 teak plugs in the screw holes (used old varnish for this). The plugs are then trimmed flush and the deck is hand planed to fair out the irregularities. - I did not plane the old planks to an even thickness as that would have required making them only as thick as the thinnest area.

The deck was then hand planed to smooth it out, then given a light sanding.

I had more epoxy squeezing up between the planks than I liked, so I took a large hacksaw blade (from an old power hack saw I guess) and ran it down all the seams to cut and clear out any excess epoxy.

Finally! I was ready for some caulking!

All the seams were taped on each side with masking tape. 3/4" tape actually overlapped in the middle of the plank so only the seams were exposed.

And followed with the TDS caulking (messy stuff but good)

Put into the seams with a caulking gun and followed up with a putty knife to make sure it is all the way to the bottom of the seam and then smoothed off.

A day later the tape is peeled up.

And what is left are results that I'm pretty pleased with

Now I have a foredeck that should not ever leak, and still the original teak.

I will admit that this was a tedious 6 months of real fussy work. I'm happy with the results.

 

[Woodonglass]

Very Nice!!!! I've seen/heard of guys using tinted thickened epoxy for this. Since the deck will be coated with multiple coats of UV protecting Poly the epoxy, so they say, lasts longer and won't shrink. I have no idea but sounds like it might work. IF/When I get around to making my Wood-On-Glass "Bucket List" boat, I may try it out!!!

Again, you'rs looks GREAT!!!!:first:

 

[zool]

Very Nice!!!! I've seen/heard of guys using tinted thickened epoxy for this. Since the deck will be coated with multiple coats of UV protecting Poly the epoxy, so they say, lasts longer and won't shrink. I have no idea but sounds like it might work. IF/When I get around to making my Wood-On-Glass "Bucket List" boat, I may try it out!!!

Again, you'rs looks GREAT!!!!:first:

Im wondering, Mike, if the epoxy would give enough flexibility for any expansion/contraction of the deck boards.......and Ned did do a great job!

 

[Ned L]

Thank you WOG and Zool!

You could do that ( thickened tinted epoxy) if the deck were going to be coated (epoxy, polyurethane, etc). I agree, not sure you would want to do that here.
What you see above will be the finished surface (bare teak), and left to weather a light gray. The only maintenance will be a light brushing with salt water ( with maybe a touch of bleach in it). This is both traditional, and how to get the longest life out of a teak deck. This deck should be good for another 20 years at least without doing anything. That would be about 80 years out of the teak.

 

[zool]

ok, thats good to know, I Plan to close the bow on the skiff im building, and plank it in teak or mahogany under clear linear poly.....

Im being good and not going over to the other site to "read ahead".....this build is enjoyable as its being fed

 

[bajaunderground]

This project is like boat restoration on steroids...you've completed most of the projects; however, you present them in a paced, albeit, quick manner...perfect for us boaters with A) Nothing to do because it's winter time. B) Us readers with short attention spans. C) Those of us with ADHD or D) All the above (which is the category I fall into!)

Those teak planks/decking looks real nice. I have a certain appreciation for wooden boats, I don't have the patience to own nor restore one...I also lack the funds!

 

[Stumpalump]

Thanks for updating the best thread on the Internet!

 

[nurseman]

Love it!

 

[kcassells]

Oh OK! Yup...This is a very very cool rebuild. Thanks Ned, keep it coming. Great work, techniques and presentation....A++

 

[Ned L]

Thanks. In an effort to make this more interesting for people here I'm trying to keep it heavy on pictures and not getting muddled down in a lot of text. Certainly if anyone has questions, or if something is not clear enough I'll be glad to go into more detail.

I realized the other day, ... I think its kind of interesting, to do this entire rebuild I will have used less than one gallon of epoxy, about a quart and a half of resorcinol, and maybe half a dozen caulking tubes of Sikaflex adhesive/sealant. working with wood is nice!

 

[Teamster]

Yeah,........

But your missing out on all of that supper fun grinding,..................

Nice boat ya got there,............

 

[Ned L]

Oh in the past I've ground enough glass and done more than enough layup work to fully appreciate the pleasures of the task. LOL

 

[Ned L]

With the old deck framing off to the dump it was time to move on.......

And rebuild the windshield that started everything up here. Not too many pictures here. ---- A couple of the end result.

And here are a couple of the lower frame. These were a bit tricky as they are both curved and beveled at about a 45? angle. I don't have a saw that will do this, so I ended up making an extra angled clamp on table for the band saw. Tip the band saw table as far as it will go, then clamp the angled clamp on table to get me to the 45?. That with a bit of fairing by hand afterwards worked ok.

 

[Ned L]

The whole windshield thing sort of morphed into the cabin as well. Some of the lower cabin sides needed work as well. I'll be going there next.

 

[Woodonglass]

Im wondering, Mike, if the epoxy would give enough flexibility for any expansion/contraction of the deck boards.......and Ned did do a great job!

I've not worked with epoxy all that much but the little that I have worked with it, I've found that it remains fairly flexible when fully cured. On the other hand, when polyester resin cures. It become very hard and brittle. That's why, as you know, it needs the CSM and fabric to keep it together. Epoxy has build in binders so using it as a stand-alone resin it will flex and remain together. It's main drawback is that it has NO UV resistance. I've seen and heard about Natural Teak decks due to the fact that Teak has it's own High content of Natural Oil. I know in the distant past the Old Atlantic Steam Passenger ships had all Teak Decks and furniture and left them all natural. They Swabbed the decks with a cleaning solution that cleaned the wood and also added oil to the wood all at the same time. Some people today don't appreciate the Gray Color tones of bleached Teak so they stain it and seal it. Maintenance can be quite bothersome!!! Others do what Ned is doing so maintenance is a lot less bothersome. To each their own. As I get older, I'm kinda getting to be one of those that looks for the least maintenance route!!!!

 

[Ned L]

I understand there are those who like the look of 'fresh' teak, and they generally end up paying some sort of price (high maintenance, shorter life, deteriorating appearance over time).
In many peoples minds these are 'proper' teak decks.

This schooner, "Brilliant" was built in 1931 by Sparkman Stephens on City Island N.Y., and only about 6-8 years ago had her original teak decks replaced. Not bad, .... 75 years and all you need to do is swab it down with clean water and re-caulk ever 25 years or so.

 

[Ned L]

Moving down below, .......... this is what the layout is , settee to port, with a backrest that folds up to create upper and lower bunks; and to starboard is the dinette that converts to a bunk.

(The upholstery is being replaced.)

It wasn't long before things were looking like this to port for some new wood. I guess this is actually still the windshield rebuild.

And then things were looking like this ... no more settee.

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy there were four ribs with hairline cracks that I decided to sister while I was in there.

Here they have just been steamed and bent into place.

A little paint and things are looking better.

And removing the old paint on the other side

 

[zool]

I understand there are those who like the look of 'fresh' teak, and they generally end up paying some sort of price (high maintenance, shorter life, deteriorating appearance over time).
In many peoples minds these are 'proper' teak decks.

This schooner, "Brilliant" was built in 1931 by Sparkman Stephens on City Island N.Y., and only about 6-8 years ago had her original teak decks replaced. Not bad, .... 75 years and all you need to do is swab it down with clean water and re-caulk ever 25 years or so.

Don't get me wrong, im always a fan of bare teak on decks and cockpits, especially where foot traffic is.......but I just have an urge to match the gloss of the alexseal poly by using their aliphatic clear on the brightwork....especially if I choose mahogany...and the epoxy grooves intrigues me



mahogany




teak

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but as a wood boat newbie, just trying to grab some knowledge