Fitting the Mechanicals on the PB22

With sole pieces in place, it’s easy to check the fit of hoses, battery boxes, etc.
Here’s a look at some of the sole pieces I talked about patterning in and earlier post.

I’m trying to get ready to coat the inside of the boat before I begin construction of the deck.  It’ll be much easier this way with an open boat to work in.  But before I can do the coating (clear coating on the sides and white paint in the bilge), I need to make sure all the pieces that make the boat go will fit.  In the process, I’ll drill some more holes, glue in backing blocks, fabricate platforms, etc.  As usual, what seems like a straightforward process requires many steps. Continue reading “Fitting the Mechanicals on the PB22”

1958 HiLiner – Reshaping the bottom

1958 HiLiner
The HiLiner was built in Massachusetts. It’s a light, fast boat that’s a lot of fun.
1958 HiLiner is a fast, light boat.
This boat is so light, it’s very easy to wheel around the shop. It’s a molded plywood boat–lightweight ant beautiful.

We recently got a new project in the boat shop.  A 1958 HiLiner came in with the complaint that it leaks badly.  I took a look and found the bottom had lost its original shape over the years.  The keel had compressed up into the boat, and some of the frames had separated.  It’s not unusual for this kind of thing to happen to these classic boats over the years.  After all, this boat is 63 years old.  That’s older than I am (not by much, but still). Continue reading “1958 HiLiner – Reshaping the bottom”

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”

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”

Lofting the Palm Beach 22

Mack Brown helps with lofting the lines of the Palm Beach 22
Mack Brown helps with lofting the lines of the Palm Beach 22.  Look closely and you can see the curves of the boat!

So, we’ve decided on boat plans and purchased them.  We’ve detailed the lumber we’ll need and ordered it.  Now it’s time to draw the boat’s lines full scale.  That means we’ll end up with a 22 foot long drawing of the boat, since the boat will in fact be 22 feet long.  As a friend of mine in the construction industry used to say, we’re going to draw it at a scale of 12 inches to the foot.  The process is called lofting, because the only place big enough to do this in boat shops of old was the sail loft. Continue reading “Lofting the Palm Beach 22”