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