Installing Seatbacks!

Well I still seem to be working all the time at my day job and going out of town on trips, so the boat building time has taken a hit. I did get some time this past week and weekend to install the seatbacks.

I had a brad gun that I have never used and bought as a kit many years back. I decided to order some stainless steal brads and use them to hold the seatbacks in place.  I looked at the local big box stores, but they didn't seem to carry any stainless steal brads. There are probably other places you can get them, but I purchased them from Danow Fastening. I bought 2 sizes, but wound up using the 3/4" inch. I would shoot them in at an angle, since they will go through both the seatbacks and framing. This is only an issue in the locker area. You don't want them going through and cutting your hand at a later date. I was very happy with the results and it was a heck of a lot easier than using temporary screws. The brads will be left in.

There have been a lot of little projects before installing the seatbacks that I have done in previous posts (gallows pole base and painting), but I was finally ready to install. I mixed up a big pastry bag of thickened epoxy and spread it out on all the seatback framing. I then installed the seatbacks and used temporary clamps to hold it in place. It took no longer than a minute to shoot a bunch of brads into them to hold down.

Below are a few pictures.

Also note the hole already drilled, coated in epoxy for the gallows pole. I can install the cap and cut out with a router at a later date.

If you look closely at the picture below you will see a little round hole in the bottom next to the transom. This is where I pre-drilled a drain hole for water to drain from the locker. I left the framing short, so it is a natural place for water to drain through.  Thanks to Jeff "Old Soul" for another one of his ideas! 

Next up will be installing the roof deck. I have already finished planning the cleats and will do a quick check this week before installing the deck. I also need to drill the drain holes in the dorade boxes and cut the holes in bulkhead 2 that go into the dorade boxes. I bought inspection plates last week. 

Roof Cleat work, Dorade Boxes and Gallows Pole

Roof Cleats and Dorade Boxes

I finished epoxying all the roof cleats and have started to use a block plane to get the angles correct to install the roof. I don't have any pictures to show, but I am about 1/2 of the way done. I have been using a hand plane and it is taking some time to do. I plan on using a sander to do the final shaping. 

Below is where I was glueing the blocking to the inside of the Dorade boxes. This will provide something to attach the mooring cleats to at the end of the build. I still need to get a hole saw to cut the hole through bulkhead 2. 

 

Dorade Box Mooring Cleat blocking

In between working on other tasks, I applied 3 coats of epoxy to the underside of the roof. I am thinking if I want this natural or whether to paint it. I still have a little time to decide.

Gallows Pole

I have been thinking a lot about the pole installation for the boom gallows. I purchased the hardware kit from CLC and was concerned about the poles lining up to the flanges that are installed inside the lockers on the seat backs. I figured it would easier to do any work in the locker without the seat backs installed. In my case I was right.  I made a temporary boom out of a 2X4 using the pattern provided.
I then held it up and determined where I should drill the holes for the poles on the blocking I installed.  Per the manual you need to cut off one edge of the flange (see below), so that it will fit properly in the locker.  To do this I tried a cutoff tool on my Dremel tool, but that didn't work very good. I decided to use a hack saw, which was a lot of work, but I got the job done. To hold them I bolted the flanges to a scrap piece of wood, so I had something to clamp down.

Flange bolted to scrap wood. 

End result with edge of flange cut off. 

 I next installed the boom with poles through the new holes that I had drilled in the seat back. Unfortunately, even with the edge cut off of the flange, they did not line up properly. They were not straight vertical. I then decided to cut a small piece of blocking to raise the flange and that did the trick. I then had to sand through the finished painting I had done and then I epoxied the blocks in place. I have already applied multiple coats of epoxy and 2 coats of primer as well as applied epoxy to the inside of the hole I drilled. Once I epoxy the seat back tops, I will just drill a hole from underneath and use a route to expand the 1" hole in the top.

Doing a test fit of the gallows. 

Blocking to raise the flange.  

Hole drilled and flange painted. 

 I will put a couple coats of Brightside top coat on the blocking and then I should be ready to install the seat backs.