By Terry Crisp

   Getting rid of that pesky panel jointer on the cabin floor.

    Back when I was getting ready to loft the hull bottom for my boat a few builders reported that the panel jointer on the cabin floor was a pain when overnighting.  A few said it kept them from sleeping and that basically it is in the way.  So, I decided to find a way to get rid of it.

    I decided that since the Weekender hull bottom was ½” material, why couldn’t I laminate a big sheet of ½” plywood?  I could scarf two ½” panels, but would lose a lot of plywood doing it.  I decided to use 4 sheets of ¼” lauan (at $7.77 a sheet) to make the hull bottom.

    I used two full sheets and cut two others to 5’-6” to make up one panel 4’ x 13’6”.  This was long enough to loft the bottom.  Originally I glued this up with contact cement, and while I had absolutely no problems I would use epoxy to glue them up if I ever did it again.

    Once the sheets are cut and ready, take some of that clear packaging tape and tape one long and one short sheet together.   Make sure you mate the factory edges, let your cut ends fall on the end of the laminate.  Sweep and dust the floor absolutely clean (find a good level spot).  Lay the sheets tape down on the floor and coat liberally with a coat of epoxy thinned between 10 and 20% with denatured alcohol.   Make sure you tip up the taped joint and coat the edges of the plywood where they will contact each other.  Stick a 2 x 4 or something under the joint to open it up.  Now give the other two sheets the same prime coat making sure to coat the edges where they will contact.

    Mix up a decent sized batch of epoxy thickened with fumed silica (cabosil) and wood flour.   Use a notched trowel and coat the sheets on the floor liberally.    Tip the joint up and recoat that with the thickened googe too.  Apply the other two sheets staggering the joint and the fun begins.  Stack bags of softener salt, paint cans, old tires, anything you can find to weigh the laminate down.  You cannot use too much stuff.

    After a day or two you are ready to loft the hull bottom and have an unbroken Weekender floor.

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