Plywood Boat: Plywood

New plywood more chine fixes

With G7 over, it was time to get back to work on the boat.

In early October, I placed my order for 5 sheets of 1/4” BS 1088 Meranti Hydtrotek with Homestead Hardwoods in Ohio. I received my well-packaged crate of plywood just a few days later. Right off, I was more impressed with the Hydrotek than the Douglas Fir marine plywood I’d been using up to this point. The Meranti has a more attractive appearance, and a much smoother surface. It is also a 5-ply structure, rather than 3-ply like the Fir, so the outer and center plies are considerably thinner. I’m looking forward to using it to plank the boat, although I’ve read that Meranti splinters considerably when it is cut... we’ll see.


My crate of Meranti Hydrotek, fresh off the truck.


BS 1088 Meranti Hydrotek

Before I can plank the boat, though, I still have to finish fairing the framework. That means I have to deal with another problem along the chines.

Originally, I had cut 1” deep notches in the frames to receive the chine logs. However, the “1-inch” board I bought for the chines was in reality only 3/4” thick. This turned out to not be a problem, everywhere except frame #1. At frame #1, the chines ended up being recessed too deeply into the frame notches, leaving 1/4” of the frame extending past the chines on the sides of the boat.

1/4" of frame #1 extends past chine log.

1/4" of frame #1 extends past chine log.

Originally, my plan was to simply fair the frames inward to meet the chines. I changed my mind, however, and decided to laminate on a little extra material to this section of the chines, much like I did up forward.

I cut two strips of 1-3/4” x 4’ Southern Yellow Pine from the most vertical-grained board I could find at Lowes. I planed these by hand down to roughly 3/8” thickness, and attached them with thickened epoxy , centering them with the 2’ mark in the middle of the frame. The next step is to fair these strips down to shape so that they form a fair curve along the length of the chine. Hopefully I can begin to plank the boat not long after that.

Dry fitting the 1-3/4" x 4 strips into place.

The port side strip clamped on while the epoxy cures.

Next step is to fair it down.

Plywood the other boat skin

One of my ongoing research areas is what to cover a skin on frame boat with other than industrial fabrics sealed with modern sealants. Yes, there are animal skins, and I know that people have covered their boats with cow hides, but you see, we live in an industrial society and the imaginary scenario I am creating for myself is that the factories have shut down and one has to operate as boat builders of old did, that is, to find boat building materials in their immediate surroundings.
Perhaps we have to broaden our definition of skin on frame a bit and allow a boat where the skin is the main structural material and the frame is of secondary importance. Enter the plywood boat.
In my case, not a boat exactly but a plywood pool punt. The main idea was to not spend a lot of money. The secondary idea was to provide a stable lounging platform for a pool in an environment that is too cold for swimming for most of the year.

Here is the punt under construction. One sheet of plywood formed the bottom, another formed the sides. Height of the sides was just a bit under 16 inches. Early trials established that 16 inch sides were too high so I trimmed them down to 13. Perfect. The sheets of plywood are screwed to battens inside the punt for additional support. Water proofing of the screw holes courtesy of 3M 5200. Water proofing of the seams was done with a layer of glass adhered by epoxy.

Initial trials also established that the sides of the pool abraded the fiberglass that I sealed the seams with so I added some wooden bumpers at the corners and some skid rails at the bottom for dragging the punt in and out of the pool. Then a few coats of gray paint from a five gallon bucket that a friend was tossing away, or rather, giving away. And oh yes, we realize that the pool is greener than it should be.

The same day we launched the new improved punt we also ran into a small futon and some quilts that a neighbor was discarding. These are now lining the bottom of the punt. Very comfortable and stable to boot for someone used to sitting in narrow kayaks. Sometimes it is OK to trade speed for comfort.

Plywood!!! Okoume BS 1088 throughout

I bit the bullet today and ordered my plywood from Boulter Plywood in Sommerville, MA. I called at 2:00 PM and by 3:00 PM the driver was calling to tell me I could have it by 3:30PM!!! Incredible.
Unfortunately, I am not home....

Total bill was $1140. So, I guess I am not buying a large screen TV this month. With care this boat should last for a generation or two. 9 Sheets of 6mm, 3 sheets of 9 mm.

I will actually be boatbuilding by tomorrow!!!

ordering plywood

Based on my experience with the Michelak Vireo build, I am staying with the BS 1088 Okoume. It comes in 98" panels which makes the scarfing much easier as it still allows for 8 panels after the scarfing saving time on layout. at an 8:1 scarf it should be fine although I may add a little epoxy backing on the 3/8 panels.

I realize that this wood needs to be protected for long term benefit but a coating or two of epoxy followed up by a good two part epoxy paint should last a lifetime. This boat would be stored under cover as well, so not too concerned. The other option is going with Merenti, but it is a little brittle to work with, and a little heavier than the Okoume. Additional weight in a boat such as this is a poor idea.

Building form in place

Thanks to Phil Gartlands generosity, I am the proud owner of a 12x4 x2 steel building form for the CS17. It is now waiting for the load of plywood. Going with bs 1088 okoume throughout.

scarfing the panels

Looking forward to working in the downstairs workshop. I put a wide sawhorse under the panels being joined, put down a layer of plastic, and then primed with a coat of epoxy, then followed that with a slightly thickened batch of epoxy with silica added. A piece of mahogany weighed down with paint cans and water bottles will hold the panels while the epoxy sets up.

Outside in the garage, I finished laying out the forward bottom panel. Will cut tomorrow and splice into the other bottom panels. Scarf will be 2" for an 8:1 scarf. Pretty simple. tough part will be cleaning the garage to make the second scarf joint.

When I took this off the "press" both corners did not seat well. It took a few minutes with a belt sander and then a follow up with a little fairing compound to get a nice smooth filet. Front side was fine. Back side a little messy. On the second attempt, I clamped the mahogany board down on each end and already see an improvement. Nothing a little filler cant fix. The second panel yielded the same results. I believe that my mahogany clamp is not flexible enough to get good pressure on the edges.

Forward panel is scribed and ready to cut.

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New plywood more chine fixes

Plywood the other boat skin

Plywood!!! Okoume BS 1088 throughout

ordering plywood

Building form in place

scarfing the panels

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