Restoring a '62 Chris Craft Sea Skiff
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Famowood filler and Total Boat fairing compound.
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Weekend Update.
Been a bit of a roller coaster this past week. Once the paint went on I looked at the boat for two days and was just was not happy with the finish. The glossy paint just highlight all the flaws, mostly just slight outlines of the grain and some places I missed, which I expected. While I am not looking for a perfect yacht finish after all this work I just couldn't accept it as it was. It would have been cutting corners and always bugged me.
Having sanded the whole boat with long board(s) it felt pretty much flat to the touch. I knew there was some unevenness but I never expected it would show as much as it did. If you look close you can see a little of it in the previous posting photo.
So, I grabbed my long board and started sanding again. What I eventually found was that running my ROS over the Douglas Fir as a final pass was a mistake. It was sanding low spots in the soft summer grown of the wood. The harder winter growth is much harder and wouldn't sand as fast. A hard pad would probably help but it was to late. I was really surprised by this but that was a large part of why it looked like it did.
After sanding it again I started to fill the flaws. It looks like the boat is half covered with filler but once I got through sanding it all flat at least half, probably a lot more of the filler ends up on the ground.
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This is after some sanding and a little more filler applied. You can see those low spots I sanded.
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This time I made it a point to go over the whole boat by hand with the long board. Lots of running my hand over my work. It is amazing what the fingers feel and the eyes can not see. A little more filler and more sanding.
Two coats of paint are on and I am happy this time. I see a couple of small spots I want to touch up but this time it looks MUCH better. Not perfect but it is 60 years old and not a show boat. It will be used a lot. Now I will take what I learned and it will make the Port side go much easier and faster.
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Been a bit of a roller coaster this past week. Once the paint went on I looked at the boat for two days and was just was not happy with the finish. The glossy paint just highlight all the flaws, mostly just slight outlines of the grain and some places I missed, which I expected. While I am not looking for a perfect yacht finish after all this work I just couldn't accept it as it was. It would have been cutting corners and always bugged me.
Having sanded the whole boat with long board(s) it felt pretty much flat to the touch. I knew there was some unevenness but I never expected it would show as much as it did. If you look close you can see a little of it in the previous posting photo.
So, I grabbed my long board and started sanding again. What I eventually found was that running my ROS over the Douglas Fir as a final pass was a mistake. It was sanding low spots in the soft summer grown of the wood. The harder winter growth is much harder and wouldn't sand as fast. A hard pad would probably help but it was to late. I was really surprised by this but that was a large part of why it looked like it did.
After sanding it again I started to fill the flaws. It looks like the boat is half covered with filler but once I got through sanding it all flat at least half, probably a lot more of the filler ends up on the ground.
This is after some sanding and a little more filler applied. You can see those low spots I sanded.
This time I made it a point to go over the whole boat by hand with the long board. Lots of running my hand over my work. It is amazing what the fingers feel and the eyes can not see. A little more filler and more sanding.
Two coats of paint are on and I am happy this time. I see a couple of small spots I want to touch up but this time it looks MUCH better. Not perfect but it is 60 years old and not a show boat. It will be used a lot. Now I will take what I learned and it will make the Port side go much easier and faster.
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Did you think about using a guide coat? As much as I think I can feel irregularities with my hand, that doesn't come close to using a guide coat. I think it goes a lot quicker to.
What's the story of the zebra kayak in the rafters?
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Neat project and way over my patience. I'm just starting a Glen L Zip , cutting out patterns from tracing with carbon paper over the prints.
A hell of a lot less work ( and smaller) than yours , but yours is authentic.
Are you finding genuine mahogany (South American) hard to find period and at a decent price ?
Had to drive 5 hrs to find a mill with enough on hand and a fair price.
A hell of a lot less work ( and smaller) than yours , but yours is authentic.
Are you finding genuine mahogany (South American) hard to find period and at a decent price ?
Had to drive 5 hrs to find a mill with enough on hand and a fair price.
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Yup! I see a lot of people use Sapele but even that is hard to find. here. I have a line of some African Mahogany fairly close.
Next step is replace some of the trim and I have to find some in the next couple of weeks. I can get it shipped in but the shipping cost is more than the wood.
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One of my personal boats. It's been an ongoing prototype for my designs. Been altered a few time but it is basically my Curlew design.
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Ha Ha What a great find/bargain ! Have you ever looked at Hydrotek ..a little cheaper ( over Okume buying new) and the stuff I looked at ( and bought) was even more flawless than Okume.Friday Update (on Saturday)
One of those weeks with lots of sore muscles and hours of work and it barely shows. You about have to look at last weeks photo compared to this weeks to see any progress.
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I spent the week sanding. I found I could do about an hour and then had to stop and do something else. I have this side of the boat about 95% done. It is ready to applying the filler and fairing compound to even out all the flaws.
Then guess what? MORE sanding. But that is just part of it. Can't be as bad as sanding inside the boat was!
This morning I am reading Facebook and drinking my coffee and this thought pops in my head.
I have spent the last couple of weeks looking for MDO or real Marine Grade ply for the decks. I just couldn't find anything within a 3 hour drive of me. I can have it shipped but I was getting prices of $500 just for crate and shipping. Then $500 for the plywood. So ball park $1,000.
So, I plugged in Marine Plywood in Market place and first ad was an hours drive away and he had 3-1/2 sheets of Okume, marine plywood for $225. Exactly the size and amount I need.
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Okume Marine Grade Plywood (New), 3.5 sheets that are 9 mm thick and 1 sheet that is 6 mm thick.
This is a top grade marine plywood that is 4'x8' size, $225 or $200 if picked up by 5/17/22.
Two hours latter I was trying not to break his hand stuffing the money in it!
Next week I will most likely start putting the decking on the boat. Then I can roll it over and spend the month sanding.
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That boat looks like it'll need 3 feet of water, minimum for draft. I don't think you could find more than half a dozen places to run that down here. Pretty, though!
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18" draft
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