New Cabin Sole

[Caribsailors]

I'm replacing the floor in the boat and it is 18mm teak & holly plywood. I have made paper templates of the different sections that make up the floor.
What I would like to do is apply a tackifier to the paper template and then stick the template on the plywood and then cut it.
I will be encapsulating the pieces in epoxy and then a polyurethane varnish on top of that for UV protection.
My concern is the tackifier residue, I will be cleaning the plywood before encapsulating with the epoxy with acetone, so I don't think it will be a problem, but want to get some other opinions.

Cheers

[minaret]

Paper templates are a bad idea, paper is not stable and can grow or shrink substantially depending on temp/humidity. It's also a pain to work with. Make proper templates with doorskin and hotglue, and then use low-adhesive hot glue to fix the pattern onto the work surface for perfect marking. It comes off without leaving any marks, unlike the regular stuff. This will give you a perfect fit every time. JMHO...

[SV Liberty]

I agree with Minaret. We had a new sole installed by a shipwright, and I watched him make the patterns in each section of the sole using thin doorskin, ripped to 2" strips, that he would cut (or even break) for each straight edge of the section of sole he was patterning. then would hotglue the strips at each corner to create the pattern. the doorskin was flexible enough to follow curved sections of the sole, and thin enough to cut to length easily. The T&H ply sections that resulted fit the boat like hands in gloves. If I ever need a new sole (hope I never do), I will pattern the same way. I have since used this method to pattern other boat projects.

[James S]

If you already have the paper templates made, cant you just trace around them?

[Caribsailors]

Oh Sorry forgot to add, I live on an island in the Caribbean and some items are not as readily accessible as the mainland, but I'll check on the door skins. I've seen that method used before but never checked locally. I'll report back.

[Pauls]

Minaret has got it right. The problem with paper, in addition to changing dimension with humidity, is that it is somewhat flexible and is so lacking in stiffness that it is almost impossible to accurately pattern a surface with it. Good patterns need a material with some stiffness. Doorskins are very good.

Good luck with your project.

Paul

[Mathil]

Any thin, cheap and accessible material can be used to make the patterns.

Doorskin, Luan, Viriola, plastic, etc etc. Thin is good (1/8") and rip it into 1-1.5" strips. I use a pneumatic upholstery staple gun to tack the pieces together, but you can glue it, it just takes longer. Perfect templates can be made with an olfa knife and a sanding block.

Using a compass to scribe contours works well too. Just make sure you keep the point and the pencil in the same orientation as you move, no rotating or you'll just trace a smaller version of the curve.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Mathil

Any thin, cheap and accessible material can be used to make the patterns.

Doorskin, Luan, Viriola, plastic, etc etc. Thin is good (1/8") and rip it into 1-1.5" strips. I use a pneumatic upholstery staple gun to tack the pieces together, but you can glue it, it just takes longer. Perfect templates can be made with an olfa knife and a sanding block.

Using a compass to scribe contours works well too. Just make sure you keep the point and the pencil in the same orientation as you move, no rotating or you'll just trace a smaller version of the curve.

A staple gun will allow the joints to wiggle around after you move the pattern, and it can be difficult to staple the pieces of template together in place. A hot glue gun is much faster, and you know for sure if a joint fails after you move the pattern. I use an industrial hot glue gun which cranks out ridiculous amounts of bubbling hot high strength hot glue, but a regular household model works fine. I often use a household gun with low-strength glue and the industrial gun together, then you can tack a piece of pattern in place with low-strength from the household and know it wont move on you while you build the rest of the pattern. This means when the pattern is complete you need to get under it with a chisel to pop off the low-strength, but it does result in absolutely perfect fits. A pattern, particularly a large one, often has to go through some small openings to get off the boat and the joints are often stressed while doing so. If you pop a joint lose with hot glue, you will know it.

[Jake Tanley]

If you can get the old floors up cleanly, you can use them as a template and cut the new boards with the help of a router. This is the process I used this past off season.

Documented here:

Cabin Sole pictures by berner73 - Photobucket

Discussed a bit here:

Cabin Sole - Before & After - SailNet Community

[Caribsailors]

Thank you all for your input! I did check with a local builder and they have to order door skins in. He suggested cardboard. I'm going to check with one of the local cabinet builder today.
Nice job Jake, I had a friend offer up his router to do exactly what you did. My issue with using that method, is some portions have rotted and missing the original edge.

Cheers

[Mathil]

Staples hold just fine. Put in 2 or 3 per joint and nothings moving unless you're being overbearingly oafish with your template. Its the same way granite and solid surface counter people have made templates for years, until the advent of laser scanning.