It's been a while since the last report as we've been busy but here goes. After looking at options for the transom, which is ratty plywood, I settled on covering the ply with a nice, figured Honduran Mahogany veneer. We cut it to fit using a template, spread thickened epoxy and placed it. It proved to be difficult to get the bubbles out and the edges flat with such a large piece. This is how it looked after we finished applying it.
We still had to add more bracing to get the edges flat.
The next day, I checked it out and didn't like it. From five feet away it was fine but I don't tolerate that. We peeled it off with heat guns and putty knives. Needless to say, it wasn't a painless process. I spent the next two days repairing the damage.
This time, I'm going to separate the planks in the veneer with heat (I found this when taking the other off) and lay them up individually. This should be a more manageable process.
The boys have been busting their humps on the brightwork both inside and out. They finished prep on the exterior and I applied CPES prior to varnish.
and
The interior is about 80% prepped and will gert coated this week.
and
My new detail guy is terrific. He takes some of the load off of me.
There's still a good bit of interior parts to be done.
and
During this time, the owner decided he didn't like the look of the seam compound as some of it had soaked up stain and other parts hadn't. He disliked it enough that if I couldn't fix it, he was ready to paint the boat instead. After some trial and error, I came up with something that worked. He was happy and here's the result.
Of course it will turn amber with the varnish but as long as it's uniform, that's cool. Another issue popped up with the mast. It continued to separate at the seams just sitting level on the rack so we decided it was time to rebuild it. Here's a series of teardown pictures. Trust me, this isn't for the faint of heart...
Yesterday
This morning
Tonight
Some of the seams popped cleanly
Some are ugly and will require a lot of work to get straight and clean
Where the old resourcinal held up was impossible to separate and had to be sawn. I'll likely have to scarph in a bit along that area but that's ok. I lined up some old growth Sitka Spruce today in case.
Finally, there was this little bit of fairing for the depth sounder from Sapele that I carved on the bandsaw. I like it...
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