The Building of Old Codger

[Oyster]

Ah,, you are not done sir. We must see the completed paint and launching and feedback. This looks like a project for other old codgers. 

[Chick Ludwig]

No Oyster, most certainly not done! As some wise boat builder has said, "When you are 90% done, you still have 90% left to do". Now why did he have to go and remind me of that little fact. Dang, I thought I was almost done.....

 

Hey, any of you other old codgers wanna mosey on over to the old garop and lend a hand or two to the poxy coating, sanding, and painting? Good ol' Real Southern Sweet Tea and Vienna sausage provided.

[Ken_Potts]

   I think I like the Plan D ports the most.  The proportions seem right for the cabin sides.

[Chick Ludwig]

Ken thanks, that's what we're going with.

[Chick Ludwig]

Just so you guys don't think I'm snoozing and not getting anything done, here's a picture of the hatch sliders setting in place, ready to be glued down. The top part comes off to install or remove the hatch and is held on with screws and caulk.

 

This shows how it all works. There is a 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum strip edge glued into the hatch. Another 1/8" x 1/2" strip is screwed down on the bottom part of the hatch runner.

[Chick Ludwig]

Today's update.

Here's the arrangement for the forward hatch hinges.

 

In order to avoid having to buy another expensive piece of plexi, I had to reduce the size of the windows so that they would fit the 24"x24" piece that I already have. Here's how they look. There will be a wood trim piece along where the cabin top meets the sides.

 

These are the windows cut out ready for the edges to be polished. Gotta look up on U-tube how to flame polish 'em without burning them.

 

Any suggestions on fasteners that look more finished than plain screws and nuts? A nice polished or black button on the outside would look nice.

[Oyster]

Personally I would create a ring for the outside, allowing it to be sized inside  into the hole cut to fit the piece of plexiglass and epoxy it to the outside of the plywood cabin sides. Then bed the plexiglass against the ring on the outside from the inside.

 

This is if the cabin sides plywood thickness is the same. The cut another ring for the inside and bed that against the plexiglass and the plywood on the inside of the cabin, running screws into the cabin side plywood from the inside  and even a tad bit into the outside ring without going thru. Plan accordingly  ahead with the thickness of the outside ring so that you do not go thru the outside ring all the way. Of course with decent caulk you really will not need to go that deep anyway. Those rings are not going anywhere.  Now I use black Loctite Roofing and Flashing sealant for mine.  Scuff up the plexiglass a bit in the area of the ring and glue area. This gives you  a clean finish with no screws showing.  And if you have some teak, use this for your trim rings, varnishing them and this gives you some bling. ;<}

[Chick Ludwig]

Oyster. Guess I'm being lazy about trim rings. I kinda like not having them on the outside, but they would give the appearance of bigger windows. I'll give it some more thought. What does my other reader think?

[Oyster]

Well the easy way out is machine screws, finish washers backed up with a black sink faucet washer against the plexiglass  on the outside with the acorn nuts and flat washers on the inside is not that bad looking. Just make sure you drill your holes a wee bit oversized and add a bit of acrylic latex caulk around the fastener before securing the fasteners in place. You will still need to bed the glass against the plywood, and that's not always leak proof. You can run a router around the rim creating a small rabbit  on the outside and this will give you a better seal when you add flex caulk between the glass and plywood.

[Chick Ludwig]

How's this Oyster. It's a pain making all of the trim rings, but It does look better. There will be inner and outer rings.

 

This is the forward hatch propper-upper. Simple---and cheap!

 

Propper-upper folded out of the way.

 

 

 

[Hirilonde]

On my old Renegade I didn't use trims on the outside, but did inside.

[Chick Ludwig]

Purty, Dave. I'm in the process of cutting out the inner and outer trim rings now. Boring, and uses up the last of my 6mm plywood scraps. Hard for us ADD sufferers to get through. Thankfully, I don't need any plywood for anything else. My cabin will all be  varnished inside, so the rings won't have the contrast with the white paint. Probably the same for the outside. But the rings will still look good.

[Chick Ludwig]

In spite of the ADD, I got through all eight trim rings. WHEW! I hate to build two of anything, but eight....

A word of explanation to my reader who's asking, "What's ADD?". Attention Deficit Disorder is a condition some kids are born with that makes it very difficult to concentrate and stick to tasks. Like studying. Or building more than one part for the boat. Or sanding and applying more that one coat of poxy or paint. There's much more to it than that, but that's the main problem for me. When I was a kid, I loved building and flying model airplanes. And I loved bi-planes. But it was all I could do to build one wing. The second was torture. Most kids outgrow ADD, but some don't. Guess who never did.

 

Here they are:

 

Turns out that they are a rally great place to store my spring clamps. (Little joke...VERY little joke.) Also got the trim over the windows. Eyebrow trim? Doggone, I wish Paul was here to tell me what to call it.

 

Almost ready to poxy coat, sand, varnish, paint. You know the drill. Miss Debbie is going with me tomorrow to get the cushion foam and fabric. A friend at church will be sewing them up for me. The trailer outa be in at the dealer most any day. Mr. Hatsu, the motor, is resting on his engine stand waiting to go to work.

 

[AmosSwogger]

Nice job Chick.  I like the shapes you came up with.  How did you make the trim rings?  I'm guessing either pattern routing or jigsaw.

[Chick Ludwig]

Amos. Combination of table saw, saber saw, stationary belt/disc sander, oscillating spindle sander, sanding drum-on-a-drill-motor (for the round corners in the cabin side cutout), d/a sander, hand sander, kitchen sink...well, not the last. I think it took more time moving tool to tool than doing the actual work. I made a pattern for each window trim ring, then traced it onto three other chunks of ply. Not smart enough to use a router.

 

The window will be bedded, and inner trim ring attached with self tapping screws. This will happen after the painting/varnishing is done.

[Oyster]

Nicely done and you will never think a second though about the little  time it took to do it the right way.   <thumbs up.>  just my opinion of course...

[Action Tiger]

Damn.

 

Stealing that technique. See? There’s a reason it took me so long to put windows in my boat. Windows? Yep.

 

Okay, truthfully, the ports on the Frolic are done, but the new boat will certainly be done with trim rings, ala Oyster.

 

Okay, well that’s a lie, too. The next boat already has its ports laid out, too, and they will also be ringless...

 

The trim washer/faucet washer deal, though...

 

Peace,

Robert

[Chick Ludwig]

Thanks Oyster. I still like the look w/o trim rings on the outside if the plexi had been big enough, but the rings look ok, too. Guess it's all a matter of taste---like Real Southern Sweet Tea and Vienna sausage.

 

Tiger. Stealing? Who's stealing? I'm not stealing. Are you stealing? May it never be! Borrowing maybe. Taking the advice of someone older and wiser? Again, maybe. But NEVER stealing.

 

I do like the faucet washer deal, though. Without PAR, we have Oyster to depend on now.

[Chick Ludwig]

These were the last of the pieces to finish before the sanding-poxying-painting ordeal begins.

 

Toe rail just in case I gotta climb out onto the deck.

 

This is how I'll lock the forward hatch. The pull pin will engage a hole in the hatch coaming.

 

I'll keep y'all posted on how things are going. We're looking forward to splashing Old Codger. Then the motor has to be broken in for several hours. THEN we can go on a little cruise. But to which lake? Ohhh, it's SO exciting!

[Action Tiger]

On 8/12/2018 at 12:01 PM, Chick Ludwig said:

Thanks Oyster. I still like the look w/o trim rings on the outside if the plexi had been big enough, but the rings look ok, too. Guess it's all a matter of taste---like Real Southern Sweet Tea and Vienna sausage.

 

Tiger. Stealing? Who's stealing? I'm not stealing. Are you stealing? May it never be! Borrowing maybe. Taking the advice of someone older and wiser? Again, maybe. But NEVER stealing.

 

I do like the faucet washer deal, though. Without PAR, we have Oyster to depend on now.

If I don’t call it stealing, how can I pretend to be a pirate?

 

Yar!

 

Peace,

Robert