A task I was dreading was decking and the attendant 'hardship' of making patterns from thin hardboard to develop the deck panels from 9mm 5 ply, not a British Standard ply but 'Hardwood WBP ( water boil proof glue). It was suggested by the suppliers,Ferguson Timber, Acton, London, that it is likely that it is the same glue as is used in marine grade ply eg. BS 1088 except that the former's provence is not known and the layers of veneer are not of a single piece but rather assembled like a patch work quilt. This, however, is not apparent on the surface layers of the ply and the appearance was perfect. Allowing that there is a considerable price difference, that in my inexperience spoiling a sheet or two from poor workmanship or poorly cut out pattens was/is a distinct possibility and that this whole project is really something of a test bench makes using the cheaper item a reasonable choice.
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Here a single 2450 x 1225mm (8'x4') sheet is bent around the foredeck framwork with some difficulty in getting cramps to have points of purchase due to the overhang which was necessary to get the sheet close to the underlying frame. I suppose I could have use a Spanish windlass but found a stout rope around the sheet and the hull and its looped end over the jaws of a long friction clamp did the job and achieved the required apposition.
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Here interdigitating the side and foredeck panels is tricky and takes a bit of patience getting a reasonable fit as the hardboard pattern on the left shows. Not shown here but there was no attempt to match the ply colour as it is all going to be painted.There was no chamfering of edges here as the beam underneath was wide enough to provide a good seal for both panels.
However the junction of the deck panels, here seen in the far lower left hand conrner of the lower of the two pictures, had but a 20mm spar thereunder and so these I chamfered, fore panel overlying rear.
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