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Laminating the Stem

Laminating the stem of the Palm Beach 22 to a very tight curve requires many layers.
You can never have too many clamps!  Laminating the stem of the Palm Beach 22.  Notice the plastic sheet over the lofting board to keep glue from dropping on it.

In my last post I said I would tell you more about making the hatch in the waterproof bulkhead, and finishing it.  Well, I’m still waiting for some of the hardware, so it’s time to move on and we’ll come back to the hatch later.

Time to build the Stem of the boat!  I decided to laminate this stem because it’s easier and stronger than the traditional method of sawing it out of solid lumber pieces and bolting them together.  Laminating is just gluing together multiple layers to produce a larger piece.  It’s also used as an alternative to steam bending wood.  We’re going to do a lot of laminating on this boat.  So let’s get started.

Continue reading “Laminating the Stem”

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Building a Hatch Opening

Framed hatch and opening, almost ready to be installed.

The water-tight bulkhead forward of the engine compartment needs a hatch opening so you can access the area forward of frame 3.  We have to cut an opening and frame it and the hatch.  We’ll have to design the frame for both pieces, determine proper placement of the hinges and opening hardware, and make it waterproof. Continue reading “Building a Hatch Opening”

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Xantrex Freedom 20 Repair

Charred input connection for Xantrex Freedom 20 inverter-charger

I recently got a call to diagnose and repair a Xantrex Freedom 20 inverter-charger.  An inverter-charger is a dual purpose machine that can either charge your batteries using shore power, or create AC power from your batteries while you’re away from shore power.  What’s more, it can share your shore power feed between whatever you want to use it for on the boat and the battery charger, giving some power to each.  So you can charge your batteries and enjoy using your air conditioner while making margaritas with your blender! Continue reading “Xantrex Freedom 20 Repair”

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Assembling the Transom Frame

Aft view
Assembled transom frame viewed from aft.

We’ve been talking about making all the pieces for the transom of our Palm Beach 22.  If you missed that part of the discussion, you can check it out at making the Transom Cheeks and Making the Transom Bows.  Now it’s time to put these parts together into a unified whole.  We need some guideposts, something to tell us how this piece should look when we’ve put it together successfully. Continue reading “Assembling the Transom Frame”

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Making the Transom Bows

Shaving to the line
Shaving the upper transom bow to the line of the deck camber.

The transom bows are the curved top and bottom pieces that give you the shape of that beautiful transom you see on classic runabouts.  Nelson Zimmer’s plan calls for a 5 foot radius curve.  He also calls for a deck crown or “camber” of 2-1/2 inches at the transom.

So we’ve got two pieces to make, bent to a 5 foot radius.  And the top one has to have a curve cut on top of it to support the crown of the deck as well. Continue reading “Making the Transom Bows”

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Cutting the Transom Cheeks on the Palm Beach 22

Palm Beach 22 transom cheek
The profile view of the transom cheek.

It seems like forever since I talked about working on the Palm Beach 22 in this space.  Intervening boat repairs do have a way of taking up time here at the boatworks!  Anyway, when we left off I was talking about the plan for framing the transom.  I had made up 2 blanks with the curve of the transom cheeks.  You can read about it here.

Transom cheek blank
I checked the curve of the blanks to the lofting board. If you look closely you can see the line for station 10 hugging the piece, just inside the line for station 9.

You can see the blank laminated to the curve here.  Now it’s time to cut the compound curve out of this blank.  Remember this piece not only curves inboard, it also curves aft when you look at it from the side.  Take a look at Zimmer’s drawing again.  It’s at the top of this post. Continue reading “Cutting the Transom Cheeks on the Palm Beach 22”

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Add A Windlass to a SeaRay Sundancer–part 2

Windlass for SeaRay Sundancer
The finished “bowsprit” with windlass, anchor and anchor roller.

In my last post I talked about the plan for adding a windlass to a medium sized powerboat, a 2008 SeaRay 240 Sundancer.  If you missed it, you can read more about it here.  When we left off, I was fabricating a platform to fit where the lid for the anchor locker is.  There’s a recessed gutter around the opening that’s ideal for a trapezoidal frame that supports the platform. Continue reading “Add A Windlass to a SeaRay Sundancer–part 2”

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A Windlass for a 2008 SeaRay Sundancer-part 1

Fitting the frame for the bow pulpit.

Not too long ago, a customer came in needing a windlass installed on his SeaRay Sundancer.  Luckily, he had some excellent plans for how he wanted it done.  He wanted to take the lid off the anchor locker and fabricate a piece to fit over it that protrudes enough from the bow to stow the anchor.  Sort of like a mini-bow pulpit.  This was a great project for my shop because it encompasses a variety of skills, all of which I’m pretty good at, even if I do say so myself.   Continue reading “A Windlass for a 2008 SeaRay Sundancer-part 1”

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Varnishing Stella

Varnish restores the luster of brightwork
Detail of the toe rail after the first full coat of varnish

This week I had the opportunity to meet one of the more attractive boats in the Charleston area.  “Stella” is a 2014 Chris Craft Launch 25, and she came in for some varnish on her brightwork.  Here you can see a detail of the port toe rail after the first of two refresher coats. Continue reading “Varnishing Stella”

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Framing the Transom of the Palm Beach 22

Transom framing for Palm Beach 22
Transom framing view from the front. The red arrow points to the transom “cheek” we’re going to build.

We’ve got all the frames built and set up.  But we’ve still got to frame the transom of the Palm Beach 22.  We’ll build the framework and add it to our setup so we can begin planking.  The picture above is a rendering of what our framework should look like.  Note that I’ve pointed out a particular piece I call the transom “cheek”.  You can see the transom curves inward at the top (called “Tumblehome”).  This is part of the signature look of a mahogany runabout. Continue reading “Framing the Transom of the Palm Beach 22”