Layup of the Riva Foredeck

 

Laying up the deck using packing tape, and checking alignment with the center panels.

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”

Working on the Riva Foredeck

This is a detail of the deck damage that we were contending with.

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”

Cutting the Flat

You can see the exposed end grain in this picture of the flat cut most of the way with a power plane.

Last time, I talked a little about cutting the flat along the keel so I could put a cap over it to keep from having exposed end grain there.  My friend Steve asks, “Well, exactly how did you do that?” (or words to that effect).  It did, in fact, take a little bit of doing.  So I decided to explain myself a little better in a follow-up post. Continue reading “Cutting the Flat”

Final Topsides Plank and a Patch

Topsides planking finished
The topsides planking is finished. Next will be the transom and then the bottom planks.

The final topsides plank is fit and glued in place.  Huzzah!  It took a long time to get here because I elected to vacuum bag each plank individually.  I wanted the tightest seams I could get.  And in order to do that, you need to know the plank you’re fitting against isn’t going to move, even slightly.  Without locator screws, which you can use in traditional boat building, you don’t know things will go back together exactly as they did during the dry fit.  The topsides gets a lot of scrutiny on any boat–perhaps not as much as the deck, but it’s what people notice first. Continue reading “Final Topsides Plank and a Patch”

Fitting the Next Planks Using the Router

Cutting plank edges
The Router Method makes cutting plank edges an efficient process.

Last month, I described in detail the process of scribing, cutting, and fitting the first strake of final planking on our Palm Beach 22 mahogany runabout.  If you missed it, I suggest you go back and take a look.  It’s a necessary precursor to the process I’m about to discuss.

Laying up each plank and fitting it is a time consuming, although satisfying process.  Refining your skill in creating light-tight seams between planks is a worthwhile pursuit.  The better you are at scribing the previous plank edge onto your new blank, the quicker it goes.  It’s a time-honored skill among boat builders.  But let’s take a look at a more efficient method. Continue reading “Fitting the Next Planks Using the Router”

Fitting the Mahogany Layer on the Palm Beach 22

Gluing mahogany planking on the Palm Beach 22
You’ll use every clamp in the shop to hold that mahogany in place while the glue sets.

Our final layer of planking will run longitudinally to look like traditional carvel planking in this build.  That’s where the longitudinal mahogany planks are laid edge to edge and screwed to the underlying frames.  When it’s complete, you end up with a very smooth, fair hull with seams so tight you can’t even feel the transition from one plank to the adjacent one.  Well, that’s the ideal, anyway.  These boats worked because the seams tightened up after the boat was in the water a few days–tight enough to keep most of the water out.  And while it’s helpful to remember we’re building a boat and not a Steinway piano, with a little know-how and patience, we can get reasonably close to that ideal.  We’re going deep into the weeds in the next couple of posts so bear with me. Continue reading “Fitting the Mahogany Layer on the Palm Beach 22”

Cold Molding the Next Layer

 

Vacuum bagging 2nd layer of planking on the Palm Beach 22
Vacuum bagging the second layer of planking on the Palm Beach 22

Having completed the 1st layer of planking, and being careful to edge glue each plank, we had to make sure we had an air tight surface for pulling a good vacuum.  So we rolled on a coat of neat epoxy and then followed that with a scrape-fill of epoxy thickened to the consistency of mayonnaise. Continue reading “Cold Molding the Next Layer”