Greetings BYBB's,
My name is John Crow.
I am an interior trim carpenter from Boulder Co. and am going to build the weekender, have my plans and am starting to stockpile lumber.
I am hoping somebody can answer a couple questions for me.
#1 I dont want to use any fiberglass and recall seeing somewhere that you dont have to use glass if you want to go that route: Is this true?
#2 Have been brainstorming on how to make the entire deck and cabin roof have the strip plank look. I dont really favor the saw kerf idea because there will still be obvious lines at the plywood joints. Was thinking about milling down a light colored wood to 3/8ths x 3 inch then join the planks together somehow and cut out with the lofted (full) pattern and a router set on the specified angle. I have no experience with the difference in tolorances and weight though so I figured this forum would be the place to start.
#3 The biggest question of all. Who has the best prices on quality brass screws, Epoxies, Marine ply and hardware for a guy who lives inland.
As an interior trim carpenter, mainly working on custom homes in the 2-10 million range, I am extremely meticulouse. please keep this in mind when making your suggestions.
Thanks in advance everyone, looking forward to becoming a BYBB!
Welcome John, it's good to see a new builder out there. You'll love the weekender. Now for your questions. Use glass! It's a pain to put on, it's a itch to sand and it raises the cost of the boat. It also keeps the boat from rotting away, it gives the boat strength, it gives the boat a smooth finish and without the glass the plywood will split apart opening up places for water to get into the wood giving you a boat that you will be constantly working on the keep it afloat and looking good. I hated glassing but I'm sure glad that I did it.
If you want that wood deck look just make some thin strips and place them on top of the plywood. You'll fight leaks forever if you don't put the ply down first. As for fasteners, we have a members discount available to the BYYB full members at Jamestown marine. They would be a great source for your screws. Keep away from brass though, your best choices would be silicone bronze, monel, galvanized or stainless steel. You can find them online and order a catalog. Good luck with your build and keep us posted on your progress
Keith
Duh...Bronze yeah :oops:
As for the strips, This also crossed my mind. I was thinking about using 8th inch marine ply, then stripping over with quarter inch stock/ or vice versa. has anyone tried this method?
As for the glass...bah...almost everyone has said to use it. Will it cover my decking and still let that beautiful wood shine through?
Welcome Aboard John.
Glad to see you made it through all right.
I would have to concur with everyone else about the glass on these boats.
You would be fighting a loosing battle if you did not.
I believe Brit Howell did a stellar job at installing a strip deck and roof on Mini pearl. It looked fantastic. You may want to check out our photo album for weekender pictures. Here is a link to it...
http://byyb.org/cpg143/index.php
As Keith said we do have members discounts at Jamestown marine for full BYYB Members.
For my hull I used merenti plywood merenti and occume are about the best you can get (as far as I know) pretty expensive though. As far as glassing your decks you can glass, then add thin wood strips on top to strip your deck that is the rout I am going to take.
Please keep us up on your build and post lots of pictures if you can.
Again welcome and good luck on your build if I can be of any assistance just ask.
Brian.
Welcome aboard John, you could get by without 'glassing your boat, but wear and tear will eat up the usual places pretty quickly (rub rails, keel, etc.) You can protect these areas with half oval strips, which is a traditional way of doing things. If you keep it dry, well ventilated and clean, you could have this boat a long time, without a drop of goo and fabric on it.
In the real world, the boat gets rained on, morning dew settles in her bottom, she isn't kept clean, ventilated and dry, which hastens the decay process substantially. 'Glass isn't a substitute for good care, but can increase the amount of neglect she'll tolerate before little beasties crawl into her and start feasting on the wooden bits.
A planked deck is lovely, but a lot of effort and weight, particularly on a small boat. Extra weight is the constant enemy of small boats, killing performance and load carrying ability. Make every effort to reduce weight when you can.
For decking material I'd recommend pitch pine, ash or of course teak. Pitch pine will hold up like teak, weather nicely and providing good traction under foot when wet. Ash isn't as rot resistant and doesn't provide as much traction, but it's pretty tough. Teak is well renowned and highly recommended if you can afford it. Teak is also very heavy. Some of the cedars may work, though most of these move so much from a dry to wet state that they'll strain fasteners, glue and caulk.
You'll have quite a difficult time "springing" the decking, so you'll have to lay it fore and aft, which is traditional on small boats (for the same reason). A 1/4" layer of the wood you choose will work. It's recommended you 'glass over the substrate and the substrate should provide the bulk of the deck strength (1/4" plywood will be fine). You can bed the deck planking in polysulfide or glue it down with epoxy. If it's bedded you can remove it when it wears out, if it's glued, you'll be replacing the whole deck as repairs are very difficult.
Again welcome and check the previous posts about issues you may have questions on. There's a ton of information here just for the looking.