Floor Boards Milling is Finished

After doing all that work getting the floor boards in the boat, the next step is to pull them all out.  At this point there is a ton of work needed to get them to the finished state.  The first thing to do was to use the band saw to cut the curves that was defined by the battens.  Once this was done I re-drilled all of the holes with a 3/8" Forsner bit on the drill press.  This will allow me to plug the screw holes after the boards are installed.  I plan on using a very dark wood for the plugs to get a contrast with the white oak.

Once the shape of each board was cut I rough sanded both side and then fine sanded the top.  Moving the location markings from the top to the bottom in the process.  Finally I gave the edges a 1/8" round over with the router.

All this milling doesn't sound too bad until you realize that there are 16 of these to do.  Not hard stuff but it sure takes a while.  I've still got to finish the surface of these before they can go back in the boat.  I ordered a liter of Danish Oil for doing the boards.  I tested it on a piece of scrap and it looks very nice.

Hours this session: 10
Hours total: 241
Hours remaining: 179

Floor Boards In Place

After sawing, shaving, fitting, drilling, and screwing I've finally gotten all the floor boards in place.  This wasn't a trivial exercise but it was a lot of fun.  Had to rely on some of my simple high school geometry to get them in straight and even.

The front and rear screws were difficult to place because I couldn't get a good angle with my drill.  Eventually I broke down an bought a 90 degree chuck that made the job much easier (still was tough on my back).

Above you can see the batten for creating a fair curve on the outside edge of the wood.  I couldn't find any of those cool "whale" weights they show in the manual so I placed double sided tape at strategic points and curved the batten while placing it on the tape.  It worked out very well and it was easy to do.

After all that work getting them in I now have to mark them and pull them out.  While they are out I will trim each board to the batten line and then sink the screws deep with a forsner bit so that there will be room to plug the screw hole.  I plan in cutting the plugs out of black walnut for a neat looking contrast.  Also, I still need to cut the floor board access panels out.  After that round overs for all the edges and sanding and finishing.  They will be put back in the boat after the interior has been painted.

Hours this session: 24
Hours total: 231
Hours remaining: 189

Deck Framing and Floorboard Start

Took about 15 straight days off of work for the holiday season and was able to push this project along.  My philosophy is that I wouldn't sacrifice anything but TV time to build this boat.  After all I didn't want this project to cause a divorce!  All kidding aside my wife has been very supportive of this project especially since I put her first.

The deck framing was a very interesting job.  Getting the geometry right along with all the beveling on the back and sides framing was an exercise in mental gymnastics.  In the end everything lined up to within 1/16".

Before I put the decking on I will locate the framing for the Bowmar hatches.  These require a framing of 12 X 21"  The framing on the top edge of the footwell will provide one of these side but I'll have to add the others before the deck goes on.

I cut out the notch for the frame at bulkhead #7 but I noticed that it caused the span to be a little flimsy.  Since this stringer won't be added until after the interior has been painted and the floorboards installed I needed a way to make sure I didn't accidentally break it during moving around inside the boat.  It was a simple matter of taping a small block in place.  This technique keeps it almost as rigid as it was before the notch was cut.

You might be able to tell from the pictures that the floorboards were spliced together from two lengths of wood.  Getting 10' length of wood shipped to my house is too expensive.  It only takes me a little bit of labor to do this and save the cost of the shipping long lumber.  Incidentally I made the same mistake as the prototype and spanned the entire length of bulkhead #7 with the stringer.  I had to cut the center section out so that the footwell would fit correctly.

Hours this session: 32
Hours total: 207
Hours remaining: 203