Seats - a beginning

I don't know what I'm doing, but I think it looks good! 😄 (Making it up as I go...)

In the photo below, I'm finding the proper outside curve of the bench tops, using cheapo sub-flooring plywood, which I bought for making templates with.

The vertical bench faces are the good plywood, in final form.

In the next photo you can more easily see that I've taken the decks off. I won't be putting them on permanently until I've got the interior done.

Today I bought some deck plates which will go on the bench faces so that the enclosed area can be aired out from time to time.

Decks & hatches

Before I glue the decks on, I'll paint the areas that will be enclosed. Seats are next, though.

Flipped

Next step is to glass tape the inside seams.

The ends will be watertight storage with hatches, and there may be seats along the sides of the cockpit. The "off-centre board" will go on the starboard side.

Wired!

(See yesterday's post for details about the wire.)

Stitching up

The "stitches" of a stitch-and-glue boat are usually wire twists. I've found copper wire to be too soft, and it sticks to the glue (resin) too well, making it hard to pull out. This annealed stainless wire works great. It's quite strong, so one can pull quite hard on it to bring the parts together; and it's smooth and slippery, so it pulls out of the glue without breaking.

I started stitching at the very tip of the bow, because it looked like it would be the most difficult to pull together properly.

Poking the wire through the tiny holes from inside the stem—sitting on the floor working overhead—was very demanding! I needed my reading glasses and a light.

Bilge planks

Somehow, these pieces will go together to make a nicely curved, pointy bow!

The plank on the floor to the right is a trial piece, out of sub-flooring ply, that I used as a pattern for the final pieces.

3-D

Getting a boat from these simple designs into 3-D is pretty straightforward. Make the pieces, then start putting them together.

Below, the butt blocks joining the panel pieces:

 

I've been lax in the photo department. Suddenly, the boat is three-dimensional:

The middle crosswise piece above is the forward bulkhead, the only one of the three above that will be permanent.

The temporary form on the left will come out eventually. The space on the right between the aft bulkhead and the transom will be an enclosed locker or lazarette.

Lots of mistakes have been made already, but so far nothing has had to be done over.

Next, the gunnels.