The Restoration of 'Lady J' - Week 10.5 - Almost Too Busy to Get Up Here . . .

[CharlieCobra]

It's been a while since the last report as we've been busy but here goes. After looking at options for the transom, which is ratty plywood, I settled on covering the ply with a nice, figured Honduran Mahogany veneer. We cut it to fit using a template, spread thickened epoxy and placed it. It proved to be difficult to get the bubbles out and the edges flat with such a large piece. This is how it looked after we finished applying it.



We still had to add more bracing to get the edges flat.



The next day, I checked it out and didn't like it. From five feet away it was fine but I don't tolerate that. We peeled it off with heat guns and putty knives. Needless to say, it wasn't a painless process. I spent the next two days repairing the damage.



This time, I'm going to separate the planks in the veneer with heat (I found this when taking the other off) and lay them up individually. This should be a more manageable process.

The boys have been busting their humps on the brightwork both inside and out. They finished prep on the exterior and I applied CPES prior to varnish.



and



The interior is about 80% prepped and will gert coated this week.



and



My new detail guy is terrific. He takes some of the load off of me.



There's still a good bit of interior parts to be done.



and



During this time, the owner decided he didn't like the look of the seam compound as some of it had soaked up stain and other parts hadn't. He disliked it enough that if I couldn't fix it, he was ready to paint the boat instead. After some trial and error, I came up with something that worked. He was happy and here's the result.





Of course it will turn amber with the varnish but as long as it's uniform, that's cool. Another issue popped up with the mast. It continued to separate at the seams just sitting level on the rack so we decided it was time to rebuild it. Here's a series of teardown pictures. Trust me, this isn't for the faint of heart...

Yesterday



This morning



Tonight



Some of the seams popped cleanly



Some are ugly and will require a lot of work to get straight and clean



Where the old resourcinal held up was impossible to separate and had to be sawn. I'll likely have to scarph in a bit along that area but that's ok. I lined up some old growth Sitka Spruce today in case.

Finally, there was this little bit of fairing for the depth sounder from Sapele that I carved on the bandsaw. I like it...

[IdoraKeeper]

CC I am amazed. You are now making your own plywood. You must let us know what that turns out like. Would it be safe to assume that the spar will be stronger than original when the scarf(s) are in? This will be a very nice boat. I hope to see her out on the sound.

Todd

[CharlieCobra]

I'm refreshing the surface of the existing ply so I guess you could say I'm making my own (loosely). The spar will be as strong as new, possibly stronger when finished. It would've been a splintered stump had I not rebuilt it. I'll keep ya'll posted as we go and as I get time.

[SabreKai]

By God she's looking sweet. You do class work, and so do your lads.

try this next time you need to apply a large area of veneer to a surface, get a small air mattress. Get a piece of thick ply that will cover the entire area, drill holes along the edges and then lash it in place with the air mattress between it and the veneer. Pump up the air mattress. Even pressure all over. Like vaccum bagging without the bag or the vaccum ( I just know I spelled that wrong )

Sabre

[delmarrey]

Gee that looks a lot like the same hull as this one..........


.

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

By God she's looking sweet. You do class work, and so do your lads.

try this next time you need to apply a large area of veneer to a surface, get a small air mattress. Get a piece of thick ply that will cover the entire area, drill holes along the edges and then lash it in place with the air mattress between it and the veneer. Pump up the air mattress. Even pressure all over. Like vaccum bagging without the bag or the vaccum ( I just know I spelled that wrong )

Sabre

Looks great Charlie

x2 Very useful when you need time.

I have used this same idea to put 1/8 veneer in place as an overhead finish. The overhead had various cutouts around hatches and fittings. The air mattresses were slowly inflated, allowing us time to adjust the veneer.

[CharlieCobra]

Thanks for the tips.

delmarrey, yes, yes it does.