Vera Cruise
by David Ellingson
16 June 2009
I finished planking the hull this weekend, its starting to
look like a real boat! The planking went on in big sheets,
scarfed together to span the entire length of the boat. I
couldn't see how butt joints would finish fair.
The big panels handled like giant cooked lasagna noodles, not
heavy, just unwieldy. A few neighbors helped me set them down on
the applied epoxy. The temperature was cool (about 50F) so I had
plenty of time to fasten the panel before the epoxy started to
cure.
To glue the planking onto the framework I used System Three
GelMagic (slow cure). That stuff is great. You just mix it
up, spread it on, and there it stays, no dripping or sagging
even on vertical surfaces. I used System Three T-88 to glue
the scarf joints which worked just fine.
I included a picture of a finished joint. Scarfing was
pretty easy using the technique described in the
"Boatbuilding with Plywood" book.
The strength of the finished scarf was amazing. I destroyed a
few sample pieces to check joint integrity. In all cases the
plywood failed before the scarf joint. I used BS1088 9 mm
Okume for the planking.
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