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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on August 30, 2014 at 6:59am

Hello Bryan, I don't know of anyone making replacement parts for Tatman boats. They are not being manufactured anymore either. Essentially the front casting deck is a triangle whose side dimensions are determined by the length of the sides from the inside of the front two frames members and the width between them. A piece of cardboard can be cut to fit those dimensions and then final size can be figured out by testing. The corners of the triangle are radiused to whatever you choose. Do you have the pieces that form the side mounts? I presume that you must not have the front casting brace either. The width of this brace is equal to the width between the back side of the front frame members. The shape is what ever you want, the wider the stock you use limits or determines the heigth above the casting deck. Some folks choose to make them higher than stock because they want the knee braces above the stock distance. Perhaps they are taller than what Greg designed them to fit.

If you use the search function at the very upper right hand side you will find a bunch of posts on both front and rear casting braces. When I did the search I found there are many posts on rear braces, I have to presume that there are also many of front casting braces too.

If you go to my page you will find numerous pictures from the past Wooden Boat Festival that I posted here. There are many photos of boat details and features. I think it will help you out.

Posting a picture of your boat will also help us answer your questions.

Good luck with your build. You might also want to confirm by checking that there is no rotten wood in any of the places that water might have settled. A sharp object like a scratch poked into those places will quickly tell you if there is any bad wood. How is the bottom of your boat? Often there are issues there too.

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Barlow on September 14, 2014 at 10:01am

Thanks for the info Rick, very helpful.  I tested the wood on the sides for rot and found nothing out of the norm.  When I tested the bottom I found a few areas that were soft to the edge of the scrapper. It wasn't too soft and seems that I might be able to ok.  Do these boats have 1/4 inch bottoms?.  The guy that owned the boat before me put a Line X on the bottom so Im hoping to be able to sand the bottom down a bit and reseal it.  Do you think a Deck over product would be a good bet to cover the bottom and give it some grip?  I have attached a few photos.

Thanks for the help

Attachments:

• IMG_6223.jpg, 2.6 MB

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on September 15, 2014 at 11:38am

Linex is a difficult material to remove or sand. To seal a leak the appropriate procedure is to open the seam and replace or place epoxy or a seam sealing compound like a polysulfide between the unsealed surfaces. However that is often difficult to do. A coating placed over the offending seam won't prevent leaks for long. If there is rotten or soft wood near a seam moisture can often move, perhaps through layers of the plywood to the interior of the boat. Epoxy is an adhesive rather than a waterproof sealer. Temporarily it might suffice but over time moisture will find a way through eventually. If your boat is only in the water for a few hours at a time rather than spending days or weeks in it your technique may suffice.

When you mention Deckover are you speaking of  product designed for decks? It is not designed for nor are materials like this recommended by their manufacturers for applications where the substrate can move or flex.

Duraback has been used successfully for drift boat floors. Just the floors, not the frame members between them. I have applied the parts store equivalent of Duraback, it is made by the same company but only available in black or white not multiple colors like Duraback. It is Herculiner.

Before we put the coating on we sanded the floors with 80 grit. Since the fir plywood had been exposed to UV rays and was unprotected for so long the wood had checked and opened up cracks. We laminated six ounce glass to the majority of the floor other than the first three sections where we laminated 18 ounce triaxial fiberglass for added strength in addition to protecting the plywood from water intrusion. Next we mixed and applied the coating. After drying it looks great and appears to be very durable. The boat hasn't hit the water yet so we haven't tested the coating yet. Those that have used Duraback/Durabak have found that it worked well. Steve Putnam's posts show the boat and the process.

Good luck.

Rick Newman

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Permalink Reply by Kurt Selisch on August 30, 2014 at 9:09am

Hi Bryan, I feel your boat is probably a 17 1/2 X 54, which is the biggest kit boat Greg made. Unless this is a custom he made for someone? Regardless, If you can find someone with a 17 1/2 X 54 tatman on this site, they could pull the deck off, trace it on a big piece of butcher paper and send to you. If not, this is what I do. Measure from the forward side of the brace to the bow stem along the same plane as the deck cleats located on the brace and hull. This measurement is center of boat. Subtract about 1/2 inch or so. This will give you the rough length of the deck. Then measure the width of the hull at forward side of the brace along the same plane as the cleat, subtract a 1/4 inch or so. Using these measurements, cut out a rectangular piece of 1/4 inch marine fir ply (looks like your boat is fir). Take this and lay it on top of the boat. Reach underneath with a sharp pencil and trace (scribe) along the inside of the gunwales (handrails) from brace to stem on each side. Cut this out and you will have the rough shape of the deck. Put this into the bow section and do a series of scribes and cuts until it fits where you want it. You can do this from the top now, if you have not scribed before, lay your pencil flat along the hull, eraser end up and pencil point down on the deck piece, then just run the pencil along the hull from brace to stem and you will get a pencil line that is about an 1/8 inch less then the actual hull width & shape.  Take your time and just kind of finesse it in. If you are using a jigsaw, be sure to tape the edge of the plywood with a good quality masking tape as the jig tends to tear up the edge of the ply. As I get closer to a fit, I start using a handheld grinder with sanding disk and then just an orbital sander to make the last adjustments. When the deck piece is done, put a stiffener underneath, could be any kind of wood, probably 2 inches by 3/4. Run it down the center of the deck and screw from the top. This gives some support to the 1/4 ply which is  flimsy, especially if your fisherman turns around to talk to you and sits on the flydeck, they could just go right through and end up in a pile.

Hope this helps and was not too long or confusing.

Good luck and have fun!

Kurt

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on September 2, 2014 at 10:27am

Deck in front:  My main man Rick has it right.  Cardboard. no measurements.  cut a piece of cardboard, trim it until you like where it fits.  transfer to wood.  cut out, shape and sand. BOOM you're done.

Rear "arch".  Tablesaw a piece of lath, 1/4" by 1-1/2"long enough to clamp into place and eyeball the fit.

Clamp it in place when satisfied. Get your cardboard out again.  Trace the arch, mark the attachment points.

 

Transfer from cardboard to a 2x8 form.  cut out, shape.  Steam your wood to taste, clamp to the arch forms.  let it sit until dry.  When dry, laminate your next piece and so on...  You can either use solid wood or laminate for the arch.

 

 

 

 

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