December 17, 2017
My first order of business was sanding the balance of the cockpit and the deck after the spot fill and fair work done over the last few days. Since I need to get the second coat of primer on by this weekend, I sent straight to work hand-sanding all surfaces with 150 and 180-grit papers.
With the sanding out of the way, and not to diminish the joyousness of the repetitive motion by giving but a sentence to it, I vacuumed the surfaces thoroughly and wiped the remaining dust with solvent applied to a couple clean shop rags. The next order of business was to tape the remaining deck hardware not pulled from the boat: stem fitting, bow pulpit, and chain plates.
With the chain plates isolated with tape, I started to mix a batch of Primekote.
Waiting the required 15 minutes for the paints induction period, I used the time to sort out painting supplies - foam brush for cutting in tight spots, foam roller and paint tray.
Started painting from the inside out, or more precisely the cockpit floor, seats, aft cabin bulkhead, and then the decks from aft to foredeck.
I did cut in around the bow pulpit and in the higher radius corners.
With this application of the second coat, I discovered just a few areas showing pinholes. I came back later in the work session to apply a thin coat of 410 Microlight to fill and fair these areas.
With my time on Joule finished for the day, I moved back over to the wood shop to continue working on the brightwork. I set up a 1/2" straight bit on the router table to cut a rabbet into the underside of the both the toe and rub rails. The rabbet would allow for plenty of space for polysulfide to help seat the rail, but also will allow for an additional water barrier. I ran a scrap piece of teak over the router bit. The scrap teak had the same width dimensions and confirmed that I had the fence set correctly.
Starting with the toe rails, I ran the two boards of both pairings over the router, holding the boards firmly against the fence.
The results were exactly what I was looking for, so I continued with the balance of the toe rails.
The starboard toe rail pairing after being run across the router table, cutting the 1/2" rabbet.
I then turned to the rub rails, and applied the same process. The rub rails are also 3/4" in width dimension, so I did not adjust the router or fence.
The port rub rails showing their rabbets. I will be putting a 1/4" roundover on the toe rails, but would do this just prior to gluing the pairings together.
I bundled the toe rail pairings together once again and set them aside. My next task was to complete the shaping of the cockpit seat trim so that I could steam bend them on the prepared form I had built. I switched out the router bit for a 1/8" roundover and ran both pieces of seat trim across the router table. I decided to use a 1/8" roundover on the underside of the trim, and then use a 1/4" roundover on the topside of the trim. The 1/4" radius provide a bit more forgiving 'edge' as one takes and gives up their seat in the cockpit.
After completing the passes on the 1/8" roundover, I switched router bits and aligned the bit to cut the 1/4" roundovers.
Show below, both seat trim pieces ready for some steam.
I pulled out the steamer and started to bring the temperature up on the water. While I waited for the steam, I 're-tooled' the companionway slide hatch trim to allow for a more severe arc. Earlier, I had pulled the small piece of trim from its form and witnessed a lot of spring-back. To get the convex curve I was looking for would require me to adjust the form to pull the ends into a greater arc. As I completed this simple task the steam box was telling me it was ready for material. I loaded the steam box with the companionway slide hatch trim and the two cockpit seat trim pieces.
Effectively done for the day, I kicked back with a beer and NPR to enjoy the evening. I left the pieces in the steamer for just over an hour. I pulled the wet rag used to seal off the end, pulled out the small hatch trim, returned the rag to seal off the end, and then set the trim in the adjusted form. With the small piece of hatch trim set, I went back to the steam box and pulled the two pieces of seat trim from their hot/humid environ and placed them on their form. Starting with the center-most form block, I pulled the trim pieces into the block with a clamp. I continued this process, alternating from one side of center to the other until all clamps were in place.
With that, I closed the shop for the day.
Total Time Today: 5 hrs