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Use a 100 grit wet dry paper on a DA and roll over the outside edges of that flat bar stock. Working wet will leave the finish easier to manage. Once the rough roll over is done, go back with 180 or 220 (wet again) and finish the strips off nice and purdy. Consider a clear coat to protect it after you drill and counter sink holes on 6" centers, with two closely spaced at each end.

Craig, yep, that's German something, possably sphincter.

I'm not "there" yet, but I'm currently pondering the multitude of options for attaching a painter. Right now it's down to three options, in order of preference:

The modal method is to drill a hole through the stem, seal it with epoxy and do something like this: (PS: the rubrail/gunwale work here is exactly what I'm shooting for with my boat)


Some folks argue for the bow eye approach, esp locating this part lower on the stem, but above the waterline


A third option that I've been turning over in my head is that I could hammer a small eye/loop in the stem band at the position on the stem where I want my line to attach, then hang ring from that.  The only problem is figuring out how to reinforce it so that I don't yank the stem band off when hauling the boat onto a trailer or getting towed by a overzealous yachtie.

Flipping the boat tomorrow evening. Standby for pics (^_^)

A painter and bow eye are intended for two different things. A painter is typically where you hang a lanyard for a mooring line or towing tether, when astern of a yacht. These are usually mounted high on the stem, for obvious reasons.

A bow eye is used to drag the boat up onto the trailer and it's best mounted low on the stem, just above the LWL. This is to prevent torquing the bow down into a chock or roller, when cinching the trailer winch down, while the boat is still partly floating, half on and half off the trailer, which is often the case at a boat ramp, when loading.

If you use a bow eye for a painter, you could arrange a gasket (hoop) from the eye to deck level, so you can attach a painter. This tends to drag in the water underway though. If you use a painter to load the boat, you usually "racket" the boat over it's CB when loading, causing the bow to compress into the forward rollers or winch stand chock.

It's a tough call, a Pea Pod would look right with a painter, but if it's towed, you might consider both. Me, I'd say the heck with convention, if I was trailering a lot.

Forms are out, except for two, in preparation for the big flip tonight.  I'm really happy with the way the inside looks, now that I can see it all.  There's a lot of work still to do.  I've got a lot of filling to do, since I'm a bit reluctant to take much material off the inside after all the sanding on the outsides.  Anway, let's get the boat flipped and then we'll think about that.

First shot of the full insides, unobstructed by molds.


Look Ma! No molds!  (except for the two).  If you look closely at this pic, you can see the pipe insulation that will cradle the boat when it's flipped.  I used tie-downs run through pool noodles for cross-straps.  Those are the light green things close to the sawhorses.


The molds came out surprisingly clean.  Next time I'll use duct tape instead of masking tape.  Guess I'll tuck these away for another boat or builder someday.

It's done!   

The Flippin' crew: From left to right, Robert (guitar pickin' buddy), Jim (see him every day on morning walks), Jamie (beer buddy), Charlie (Dad)


So... did we break it?


The tension breaks when we see the boat did not.



A very boatwrighty looking shot

Way to go Will, have a beer (or two) a classic milestone has been crossed, congratulations.

Sanding the inside is much more difficult than the outside, because it's concave and the shapes odd, especially the ends. I've found a concave scraper works best. I make mine to suit from 14 gauge steel. A nice sharp edge will make more enjoyable work of it (and fast), so learn how to do this (it's not hard or time consuming). I can sharpen a 6" blade in a couple of minutes by hand with a file or stone. Also, a scraped wooden surface looks a lot better (if finished bright) than any sand paper can possably produce. It'll also take paint better, because the cellular structure in the wood is "sheared" clean, instead of fuzzed up with sand paper.

If you want to use power tools, then a disk sander with a fairly bendy backing pad works well, though does take some practice to do without digging shallow depressions (it can tend to scallop the areas). The bigger the disk, the better. A belt sander with a convex shoe works too. This is a home made tool, where you take a regular belt sander and place a bigger or custom made belt (super glue and fiber backed sand paper) on it, but over a custom made wooden (or HDPE) convex shape, glued or screwed to the base plate of the sander. I have several shoes I use for different shapes and it turns a belt sander into a wood killing machine, so prepare yourself for serious stock removal, work light and repetitions are the game. A DA can work, but isn't usually big enough to be really effective at stock removal, though can be for finish sanding.

In the old days a "backing plane" would be used, but this is back breaking work, though not where the tool got it's name. Lastly, sneak up on it. Concave surfaces are easy to dig into with power tools, so remove a little, check it, remove a little more. It's a lot easier to remove stock than add it. One trick I use is to rough things close with sand paper and power tools, but finish up with a scraper. In the old days, they didn't have sand paper and everything was scraped to shape. Finishes where so much better and longer lasting as a result. Imagine scraping the outside of a 130' schooner after it's new planking was hung! The guys with the long joiner planes would "true 'er" up, then the scraper gang would polish the hull smooth.

wow, looks amazing!

Quick update (no pics). After a short hiatus for Christmas and other ordeals of the  family, I'm back to work on the inside of the Peapod. Initial work was with a handheld convex cabinet scraper. I cant seem to get much done with it before my thumbs seize up and my fingers permanently lock in a poor imitation of some kind of judo-chop-fist.  Got a set of shavehooks for Christmas, alarmingly dull. Sharpened the teardrop-shaped one and gave it a try.  Might work, but I need to get a real razor edge on it.  So far my best work has been with a tiny "thumb plane", a simple little block plane about 3/4 inch wide and 2inches long. I have to take care in the sharper corners near the bow, and i have to clean woodchips out of it frequently, but otherwise it does a great job.  Plus it's easy to keep sharp. I will eventually break down and use a sander, but for now I'm enjoying the relatively quiet and dust-free work.

Will post more later when I have something to show in pictures.  Hope y'all are having a wonderful holiday and getting lots of great boaty stuff!

Tangible progress.  I've completed sanding and scraping the inside of the hull. Last night I put on a sealer coat and filled with low density epoxy filler.  More sanding to come! yay.