Builders' Forum |
|
| ↓ Scroll to Last Comment ↓ | Forum Guidelines | Builders' Forum |  RSS
|
i am thinking of adding floorboards to both my eastport pram and my skerry. for the pram, one sits on the floor while sailing and the floor gets wet. for the skerry, even though you can be on a seat, your lunch and jacket on the floor get wet. i ahve some design ideas as follows , does anyone have input or comments??
1) make boards of lightweight cedar, routed to 1/2 round on sides. varnish boards. have these boards removable for cleaning or re- varnishing.
2) how do i get the boards running fore and aft to follow the floor camber ? bow to stern, there is a noticeable curve to the floor , and side to side, the same.
3) to match the floor camber do i really have to wet steam some transverse beams,(of mahogany ?) then attach the cedar floorboards to the beams? how can i get the longitudinal cedar boards to fasten in place, yet be removable?
4) i asume i'll have to drill through the floors of the boats from outside of the hull to attach the bearing beams for the floorboards. do i drill, put epoxy into the drill hole, then insert the screws? how do i keep screwheads from appearing on the bottom of the hull? contersink the screws then fill holes with more epoxy?
any and all ideas welcome, this is a winter project..
2 replies:
RE: adding floorboards..
I am a fan of floorboards. They will need to be fitted to the boat with cross members, called floor timbers. The forwardmost AND aftmost ends of your floorboards can touch the inside bottom. Allowing for some fore-to-aft curvature, shape the two middle floortimbers (one by stock) to provide the additional support. The two outter most floors will be tappered at their ends. MAKE SURE YOU CUT LIMBER HOLES. You do NOT want to trap water.... Once built, floor panels secured to the floor timbers, install velcro strips to keep them in place. This will allow for removal for cleaning & future refinishing. I recommend adding stick-um nonskid to the upper surface of the floorboards. All varnished surfaces are VERY slippery.
Being old & decrepid, I don't know how to post photos to this forum. But if you email me, I'll send several photos of floorboards (Velcro'ed in place) of a boat I rebuilt last year. She is in WoodenBoat this month (July/August) at the top right corner of page 95.
Bruce T. Martens
RE: adding floorboards..
» Submitted by Chris H - Tue, 7/19/11 » 1:52 AM
Hi Carey,
I put the floor boards in my Pocketship recently and if you take a look at the construction album in the catalog you'll see how they avoid all these issues on that one. Basicly there are short ribs epoxied to the bottom that let the boards stay flat and off the bottom. This avoids having to put holes through the bottom although you still have to be careful with the screw lengths and drilling at the ends and near the chines.
Chris