A front shot of Miss Peg.
It looks like Jack is almost ready to start fitting some of the plywood
skins to this famed F-Class hydroplane.
This Ron Jones design is simply
in a class by itself. Very clean lines and smooth features is going to
make this hydroplane quite special.
I'm sure Mr. Jones would be
very complimentary of the fine workmanship being put into this (new) vintage
hydroplane.
Below are more photos and
text sent in by Jack.
Installing the front deck
battens.
Where the battens intersect
the nose there is a compound angle that becomes more severe as you move
away from the center of the boat.
You also have to be sure the
taper at the nose is even so the finished nose will be of an even thickness
all the way across.
I started with the short pieces
to get the feel of fitting everything up.
The two outside battens run
almost the full length of the boat and are quite flimsy...a challenge in
patience!
I wanted to include some wood
from the original boat and have it be visible.
Found some stringer parts
that weren't too horrible.
Denailed, planed them down,
and bonded a piece of 3mm plywood to the back.
These formed the longitudinal
frames of the driver's and engine compartment.
I started to install the deck
beams perpendicular to the bottom of the boat, this would have required
fairing each batten off along its entire length.
Both a lot of unnecessary
work and weakening the batten.
This tool allows marking of
the mortise at 90 degrees to the tangent of the decks curvature, and to
the correct depth.
The adjustable part is about
1/32" narrower than the batten to allow fitting.
A few strokes with a file
and you are good to go.
Depending on which end of
the boat that you are working on, the mortise bottoms are tapered to reflect
the deck curvature.
I was having trouble visualizing
where the deck battens would run out through the nosepiece, so I made this
notched piece of plywood.
You bend the batten down until
it fits against the nose, then you can measure up from the underside to
calculate the finished thickness of the nose.
To adjust, slide the batten
fore and aft until you get the thickness desired.
I have finished fairing the
left non-trip and most of the right.
The next step is to get batten
bonded, and finish up on the fairing and get some plywood cut.
There is a half batten on
the right side that extends from the transom, forward 3 frames.
This wasn't on the plan, but
is on the boat.
Last weekend I managed to
complete the right side plywood and rough cut the first bottom piece.
As you can see the aluminum
has been fitted to the transom.
I wanted to put this on first
so the side plywood would cover the edge...it makes for a more finished
look.
©2001 Jack
Hines
Miss Peg Rebuild
Part 3 |
