Seacraft Progress

[JAL]

Shawn is right.......we are winging it. Neither of us have ever been involved with a project this big.

However, we have both studied ClassicMako Owner's Club and Classicseacraft.com on various subjects about replacing decks, transoms, rebuilding stringers, etc.

As far as our supplies go, well my dad is a bit over-cautious and he only wants to buy high quality supplies. Our first order of cloth/resin and foam was over $800, haha.

-Mike

You'll make out just fine if you don't mind a little itchy work and have the spare time... it ain't rocket since. Keep up the good work, some people are intimidated by mowing their lawn.

[mrobertson]

... it ain't rocket since.

holy crap you sound like me!!! Thats the reason we started the project.

[Shawn Kimbro]

holy crap you sound like me!!! Thats the reason we started the project.

Oh brother.....

[mrobertson]

Had some time on saturday to do a little boat work. We accomplished alot in a short period of time.

Here we are trimming some glass for the port side stringer.


Wetting out some cloth


We had to build a new rear bulkhead. It is 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood glued together with epoxy and a piece of 1708 cloth. Then, we layed 1708 cloth on both sides and sealed it up.


We glued the bulked into place with epoxy thickened with Cabosil. Notice the drain hole at the bottom, never had that originally and it caused problems.


We cut slats out of 1x4 red oak for the fuel tank to sit on. We decided on slats so that any water to gets into the tank coffin can run out between the slats and then out the drain hole in the bulkhead.


At this point, both stringers have been rebuilt and they are STRONG. The bulkhead is in place and the slats are cut. Once we get the slats glassed into place, we will begin working on the new deck.


more to come......


-Mike Robertson

[coach23]

Looks like you guys are really coming along. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing it when it is done. I am off from school the next couple of weeks, let me know if you want to fit a trip in. Rich

[Shawn Kimbro]

Thanks for the update. Good ideas all around. Also, thanks again for dropping off those turnip greens. I dressed em tonight and they're on the stove now. Sure do smell good! Mmmm.

[mrobertson]

Well, it's been slow go on the seacraft. Not really a lack of motivation, we found out the hard way that resin does not cooperate in cold weather. My dad's shop is great, but it is un-insulated with an open ceiling. He can only get it to about 2x the outside temperature in there. So, when it's 20 degrees outside, it's just too cold to get anything done.

All the stringer work is done, they are totally rebuilt. We needed to find a solution for slats to sit the tank on. After alot of consideration, we molded a solid piece of fiberglass about 4' x 4' and about 3/8" thick. We then cut out six, 8 inch strips and squared off the ends.

Weird picture, but this is about how thick they are



The slats still did flex a little bit and my dad is an overbuilder, so we glassed in a thin strip of 3/4 marine beveled and totally encapsulate with epoxy and cloth.

The end result



Since the last post, we added a front bulkhead and glassed it in place to completely close in the tank coffin. When we took the boat apart, there was no front bulkhead. We gave the bottom a quick coat of paint and then bedded the new slats to the bottom with epoxy thickened with cabosil. After that setup, we gave them a quick grind and tabbed them into the stringers. The 1st and last tab are also tied into the front/rear bulkhead.

Here is our slats layed out and ready for battle.




This is our first serious project. One thing i can say is that our glasswork is not the cleanest, but it sure is strong. Once the slats hardened dad and i stood on 1 together. 2 x 250 pound men standing on them and they do not budge. They should hold the tank down without question. Next we will clean up the coffin and finish painting it. Then we will set the tank and begin laying the deck back down.

More to come soon on this slooowwwwwwww project.


-Mike

[Prestige Worldwide]

I wish I had the skill to do what you are doing. Congrats!

[Bob L]

Looking good. I have been using fast hardener on my project due to temps. Yesterday with it being so nice out figured I would laminate my 1/4 ply on the bow of my skiff, all I can say about that is ya gotta work fast and be well planned out when the temps are up with the fast stuff. When I was done the temp in my unheated plastic shed was 70 and by yesterday evening I was able to pull my temp fastenings. Think I will get some slow hardener now.

Bob

[mrobertson]

I wish I had the skill to do what you are doing. Congrats!

Let me tell you with 100% certainty. We do not have any type of special skillset. We are winging it as we go. Most things you just have to pre-plan and think about for a while before wasting any material. Any of the work we have done thus far can be done by anyone who is relatively handy.

Looking good. I have been using fast hardener on my project due to temps. Yesterday with it being so nice out figured I would laminate my 1/4 ply on the bow of my skiff, all I can say about that is ya gotta work fast and be well planned out when the temps are up with the fast stuff. When I was done the temp in my unheated plastic shed was 70 and by yesterday evening I was able to pull my temp fastenings. Think I will get some slow hardener now.

Bob

Hey Bob -

We are utilizing the fast/medium/slow hardeners as well. When the temps are high, you are right you don't have many minutes with the fast hardener. The glasswork is alot easier with 2 people, at least for us!!

-Mike