Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on December 9, 2015 at 6:43am

Hey Mike,

You probably got the same e-mail but Jamestown has a high build varnish in the total boat line and they have free shipping on all total boat stuff right now.

Just an fyi if you oil the floor boards they will be non slip.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on December 9, 2015 at 7:45pm

Mike,

The floor boards in my boat are Oiled.  No epoxy or varnish or sand.  As Mike Baker said they are not slippery when wet.  I generally wear my felt soled boots in the boat.

I've oiled them twice so far, last fall and this spring after the Steelhead season.  They need it again.  I just yesterday cleaned the boat for the Winter and will be doing them again soon.

Do you or your father still have the Cabin Cruiser, sounds like something you'd want to have/keep.

Dorf

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 12, 2015 at 9:23pm

That boat got sold before I was born in 56. I wish he would have kept it though. He helped me restore a wood runabout and a wood cuddy cabin when I was young. He passed away about 9 yrs ago, every day I wish I could talk to and ask him questions. He would have liked this project.

I really want to use the silica sand and varnish on the floors. Dont really want to have to keep oiling parts. I`m gonna experiment some first though, but ive got a idea how I want to do it.

Got the floor boards made up today, I transferred the tapers from the patterns onto the wood parts and freehand cut them, belt sanded and put a .3846239c radius on the corners (eyeballed), then used the router table to put a 1/8" radius on all the edges. Need to wait on more screws to assemble the cleats to the undersides.

Tomorrow I`ll scribe a pattern for my little fly line deck and work on the knee brace board. With the shape of the frt on my slow water Michigan drifter, I wont have much deck, but thats ok. Not sure if I`ll have room for knee braces

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 13, 2015 at 10:07pm

Set the floorboards in the boat just to see how they fit. I`m going to have to figure out a little trap door in the middle section to access the drain plug.

Heres a simple way to scribe a flyline deck. Need to get a little support where it needs to go. I used some 1/4" ply scraps but the ideal thing would be something the thickness of the deck material.

I measured out and cut a pc of pattern paper just a little undersize of the area. I set some wood on it to hold it in place and set my scribe to 1" and ran it around the hull and the frames. Key is keeping the scribe point in line with the top surface.

Then I took the scribed pattern, laid it on a bigger pc of paper and taped it to hold in place. Ran the scribe around it using the pencil to draw a line 1" from the scribe line.

Cut it out and if fit the spot. Since I used 1/4" supports, and 3/8" plywood for the deck, I traced the pattern onto the wood and cut it just a tiny bit outside the lines.

In order for the pc to fit into place, I had to cut the points off at the frames to get it into place. If the inside rail was not fixed to the boat I could have dropped it into place. Then the frt and sides need to be beveled to fit the hull and stem. I used the belt sander, and took little bits fitting it each time. Also set the scribe at 1/8" and scribed a couple spots on the plywood to get a line to belt sand to to remove a couple wavy spots.

I also had a hard time with the frames as one side is twisted just a little bit that I had to compensate for. I got the frames notched and it fits pretty close.

Its pretty close to fitting nice. I need to epoxy some good supports under it and anchor it down. The little corners I had to cut off I think will get epoxied back into place after i bevel them, and then maybe notch the corners to allow for drainage

I might run a fillet around it after I give it a coat or 2 of epoxy and sand it, and I`ll work on the knee brace board next. I didnt think I would have enough room for the braces, but the frt of the deck is 3`, and the board will be just a little longer. I should be able to get the knee braces on it after all.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 16, 2015 at 8:26pm

I`m gonna try to epoxy some blocks underneath the flyline deck to keep from putting any fasteners through the hull. I think I`ll just leave the the corners at the frames open for drainage.

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Permalink Reply by tungsten on December 17, 2015 at 5:57am

Don't forget the beer holder up front:),I've also seen people recessing magnets in the front deck,keeps the flies that you set down from blowing away.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 17, 2015 at 4:44pm

Haha, I`m kinda thinking about the holes in the knee braces, and maybe some in the seats too, cause you cant have enough right? Thats a really cool idea about the magnets!!

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on December 17, 2015 at 6:49am

A standard feature on many Tatman boats is a stiffener installed under the fly deck probably .754637" by 1.5" x .6666 the length of the deck, running from the bow back. Usually screwed and glued.

Your boat is looking good, you have come a long way. About this time in the build people are thinking about their next boat. Any ideas on your next one?

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 17, 2015 at 5:04pm

Thanks Rick, youve been very supportive. Thats probably a good idea with the center brace too, cause you know people will sit and stand on the deck. Dorf would approve of the dimensions ;)

Ive still got a long ways to go, and a trailer to build, but,,,,I have thought about it a little. If I was to do it again, the frame sides would have different angles, (more Mckenzeish) I would keep the same amount of rocker for Mich rivers, but I would make the frt wider than this one, and spend more time planning the stem, and make the rear frame tapered like the rest (vs a wide rear frame like I did) so I could run the inside sheer rail over it instead of into it. Should I really go on???lol

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 20, 2015 at 7:45pm

I wished I would have built the 16` McKenzie, thats what I really wanted. Cost would have been the same. After doing this, now I know how to do everything.

Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on December 17, 2015 at 7:08pm

Mike,

Here's a pic of the 3/4" galvanized pipe I used for the seat supports.  It's 3/4" schedule 40 water pipe.  I added a third support in the middle after the fact but before launch as I am 100 Kg+ and was a little nervous it would sag over time.  It works just fine.

The rower's seat pivots to make access easier to get to the rear but I have found out it's a pain to do as I store stuff in the pockets on either side while fishing and they fall out when I lift the seat.  I might redo it sometime down the road.....

The one piece pipe gives me a place to last the spare oar under the seats on the Port side.  It stores nice as it's out of the way.

Dorf

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on December 19, 2015 at 10:43pm

Thanks Dorf, I need to pick up some pipe and start planning that out. Got a little more done, but the planning is slowing things down. Cut a couple cherry knee locks, ground down one of the drain plugs, I should be able to recess it in the 3/8" plywood bottom (one in the middle side and one in the rear), cut some bracing for under the deck, some bracing for the rear seat bench, some floor for the cooler space under that rear bench, and coated some parts with epoxy. Need to get another gal of epoxy for my epoxy addiction (gone through 2 already), another 100 screws for the floor boards, some more white oak for seat benches and some varnish.

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