Boat Repair, Restoration, Building
After the new deck pieces were fabricated and trimmed to final size, it was time to focus on removing the old deck. It was a pretty lo-tech process actually. I used a router to turn the old deck into a lot of sawdust, removing the same thickness as I had fabricated the new pieces to. Continue reading “Finishing the Riva: Out With the Old, In With the New”
Remember long ago (by now it seems long ago to me) when I talked about the painstaking process of making patterns out of cheap 1/8″ luan? My process was to use the 1/8″ luan to make my original patterns because it’s so pliable and easy to carve to shape.
But by now, you realize how much time and energy is invested in laying up the mahogany and holly blanks and laminating them to the backing board. It’s too risky to use such a thin pattern to cut out those blanks. One slip of the router, and you’re starting over on those layups. So I used the original patterns to first cut out new patterns of 1/2″ thick birch plywood. The 1/2″ thick plywood, with no voids is much more secure for cutting the blanks. Continue reading “Riva Iseo – Trimming to Patterns”
Having settled on the option of hand laying the deck, it was time to start milling wood. Take a look back at the first post in this series, Working on the Riva Foredeck. Look closely at the picture of the overall deck. See how the pinstripe holly lines are symmetrical about the centerline, and how they line up fore and aft from the outboard panels to the center panels? That’s what is going to make this a beautiful deck. Continue reading “Layup of the Riva Foredeck”
I’m restoring the foredeck for a 2013 Riva Iseo. I talked about working on the swim platform in my previous post, where I said we’d discuss options for the foredeck next. I thought briefly about trying to repair those bad patches, but I decided against that option because I would have to strip the entire finish without sanding through the thin veneer of mahogany and holly. At the time I thought it was about 1/16 inch thick. It turned out to be much closer to 1/32 inch. Then there was the problem of matching grain, joint lines that would show, etc.
So that left what looked like three options. Here they are, in order of complexity and expense: Continue reading “Working on the Riva Foredeck”
One fine June day, a 2013 Riva Iseo showed up at the shop after the owner asked if I could do varnish work on a wooden deck. He had purchased the boat used from someone in Miami, FL. Continue reading “Restoring the wood on a Riva Iseo”