Two Compromises Made...More to Come

[taw1126]

I bought my okoume this afternoon. After weighing the benefits & drawbacks of 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch, I ended up buying...3/16-inch.

In what might have been a mistake, I had the shop make 11-inch rips (for sides 1-inch taller than the standard Uncle John plans) on both sheets. I figured they would be much better geared to get consistent dimensions than I could pull off with a circular saw. The only downside: the bottom can be no wider than 25 5/8-inches.

If I remember right, the 3-rib plan has a 25-inch bottom. I was trying to decide between building a 3-rib or 4-rib boat but I might have had that decision made when they did the rips this afternoon...

Now I'm off to find a water-based stain.

 

[oldsparkey]

3/16th is a happy medium for the wood.

The 11 inch sides should work with the ribs like is was meant to. As far as the bottom , make sure you have it centered when attaching it and if there is a gap ( I don't think there would be ) it can easily be filled in with some epoxy and wood flour.

After all this is nothing but wood , epoxy and fiberglass so modifications can be made without any problems. If there is a problem then let us know and we can suggest a way around it if you haven't figured out the answerer.

You could still use the 4th rib ( if you want to) since it does not move the bottom out past the width of the bottom of the rib .... just makes it a little wider in the center then one with 3 ribs , length wise.

Remember the panels for the bottom are all rectangular right now and not trimmed down to match the lines of the side panels or the couture of the boat.

Don't panic....... You still have all of the choices to decide on. This is not rocket science , just a fun project.

Chuck.
If you want to ... take one of the center rib bottoms and put it on the wood that was cut for you as the bottom and see what is overlapping on each side.

 

[stevesteve]

Hey Tex,
It fits just fine. I had my timber yard rip 11" strips off my standard 4'x8' boards. There was just enough width left for the bottom without leaving gaps.

I have been out and about in Europe which has delayed me but just need to varnish now. Some photos from earlier:

Here's the bottom on

And here's the seam. After I had taken the photo I then rounded it more to help the glass follow the chine smoothly.

If you bought UJ ribs they might stop 1" short at the top, I made my own so that was not an issue. Good luck with your build.

 

[taw1126]

Steve- did you build a 3-rib boat? I looked at my UJ instructions last night and they indicate a 27.5" bottom when a 4-rib boat is built. I'll probably try test fitting all of the ribs and see if there is a way to use all four.