Toe Rails | Making & Test Fit

I made the toe rails that run along the edge of the cabin roof while I was covering the upper hull in fibreglass cloth. It was a welcome distraction and a good use of time while resin was curing.

The toe rails are made from Sapele hardwood, which will look nice when oiled or varnished. The stock supplied in the timber package was oversize so had to be reduced to the specified 3/4" square section.

I did this in the vice with a jigsaw, as here.

Then it was planed to a straight edge with the jack plane, and finished with the block plane. Like this.

Next I drew a diagram of the required trapezoidal section for guidance, as in this pic.

Then I marked up the rails accordingly, using my trusty old cutting gauge as illustrated here.

The cutting gauge is fitted with a small sharp blade rather than a pin, and is used to mark up long lengths of timber for ripping. Here it is in close up.

The blade cuts a fine line along the grain, as deep as you wish to make it. This is much more visible than a pencil line on the dark wood, and it is very easy to know when you have reached the line because it shows as a bright stripe along the edge of the workpiece when you hit it with the plane blade. That's enough about the cutting gauge ...

It was clear from the diagram that the rails would be difficult to shape. As usual the manual tells us to use the tilting table saw which we do not possess, so the rails would have to be planed to shape.

There was no way to hold the rails down on the bench or in the vice to allow them to be planed, so I fastened them to a length of scrap.

By clamping the ends of the scrap piece to the bench it was possible to hold the rails rigid and plane them to the required section, as in this pic.

It took a lot longer to do than just running the rails through a table or band saw, but it worked out just fine.

This is the resulting trapezoidal profile.

Next was to decide how best to bend the rails into place for a test fit. Now that they were reduced in mass by sizing and shaping they felt quite pliable.

I marked out the curve of the cabin roof edge on a board and made a test bend of a rail, clamping it in place. This is it.

That was quite easily achieved, so I then drilled holes in the rails for temporary screws to fasten them to the cabin roof. As here.

The manual shows that the builder used seven temporary screws in his rails, but I felt that the curve at the forward end was a bit too stiff and needed another screw in the Dorade box area.

Here is the starboard toe rail test fitted to the roof.

And here is the front end of the rail, showing the three screws holding it in place on top of the Dorade box.

I wondered about where exactly to site the rails, in relation to the edge of the roof.

In the end I installed them right on the edge because this allows the temporary screws to be driven into the sheerclamp as well as the deck, providing good holding.

The manual states that the rails will be 48" long when fitted and finished, so I will have to trim an inch or two off the front end when installing them. That can wait.

The rails were finally set aside to await installation when the cabin roof has received its requisite three coats of epoxy resin.

Fibreglass | Transom Inboard Panel

When I 'glassed the footwell I omitted to add an overlap from the rear face of the footwell up onto the transom, to accept the final panel on the inside face of the boat's stern. By the time I realised this it was too late ... the footwell was all 'glassed out!

So before adding 'glass inside the transom I had to make an overlap with a scrap of cloth.

Here is the overlapping patch, wetted out.

When cured I sanded and feather edged the patch.

I had previously made a pattern for the inside face of the transom and transom skirt, and used it to cut out  a 'glass panel.

Finally I carefully wetted out the panel with a disposable roller, working down from the top edge and from the middle outwards so that the cloth would not sag or drop.

Here is the finished article.

Looking nice, and hopefully no more fibreglass work until the boat is turned upside down to finish the lower hull!

Fibreglass | Seatbacks & Cockpit Deck

As usual the first task when making 'glass panels for the seatbacks was to make a pattern.

Here is the paper pattern, test fitted inside the port seatback.

You can see that the pattern continues out across the cockpit deck, covering the outboard edge of the deck and overlapping onto the single full width sheet of cloth laid fore and aft along the centreline of the deck.

In this way we cover both seatbacks and the whole deck with just three 'glass panels. Neat, huh?!

Lastly the cloth panels were cut, fitted and installed.

There isn't a whole lot to look at but here is a view from astern of the wetted out seatbacks and deck.

Nearly done with fibreglass for the time being - just the inside of the transom to go!

Fibreglass | Topsides & Seatback Tops

The build manual suggests that it might be easier to 'glass the front and rear topside panels (fore and aft of the cabin topside area) when the boat is upside down.

I can't see how that would be a good idea, when it is an easy task to cover the entire upper hull with 'glass cloth all in one go.

So that's what I did.

First the overlaps from the cabin roof and topside panels were sanded and feather edged to accept the additional topside panels.

Here is the starboard overlap onto the rear panel, nice and smooth.

And here is the starboard overlap onto the forward panel. Again, nice and smooth.

Patterns for the topsides were made by laying paper along the panels and scribing in the curves and overlaps.

This is the rear topside pattern taped in place for a test fit on the port side.

And this is the pattern for the forward topside panel, taped in place on the starboard bow.

Next the patterns were taken inside the house to cut the 'glass panels. There isn't any room in the workshop to do this.

Here the patterns are held firmly in place on the rolled out cloth by a couple of stuffed chicken door stops. They work well, and don't talk back.

While marking out the cloth for each rear topside panel I added an overlap of 15cm to the top edge, so that the same piece of cloth will cover the seatback top and overlap down the seatback into the cockpit.

Here I am marking in the overlap on the 'glass cloth.

 I just use a rule to mark the cloth 15cm away from the edge of the paper pattern.

Then as always the cloth is cut just inside the marks to get a correctly fitting 'glass panel.

Here is the rear topside 'glass panel fitted and held in place on the starboard side, ready for wetting out.

And here is the forward topside 'glass panel clipped in place on the starboard bow.

Clear resin was then applied with a disposable roller to wet out all the panels.

This is the forward panel on the port side.

And this is the rear panel, again on the port side viewed from the front.

In the following pic you can see where the topside 'glass panel extends across the seatback top and overlaps down onto the seatback itself, in one seamless layer.

I carried the inside overlap down to the top edge of the seatback locker openings.

And finally here are the the newly covered topsides, seen from port at the stern.

Looking good!

Fibreglass | Footwell

The sides of the footwell had been half covered by fibreglass cloth overlaps when the cockpit was 'glassed.

It remained for the footwell sole and the bottom half of the sides to be covered.

Again, it was easy to make a pattern and be sure that the 'glass panel would fit correctly.

I measured the footwell and made a scale drawing of the 'glass panel required to complete covering it, including overlaps where necessary.

Here is the drawing.

The measurements were transcribed onto a full size paper pattern which was then used to cut out a 'glass panel.

Here is the footwell after the panel had been installed and wetted out.

Every time I look at that footwell it seems just a bit too narrow for comfort, but it is what it is ...

Fibreglass | Rear Cabin Wall

The rear cabin wall is not a complex shape but it is a large area with long right angle edges in the companionway, so a pattern was required.

It was easy enough to measure the panel and transcribe its shape to a paper pattern, as here.

The big aluminium roofer's square is ideal for marking out large right angle joins.

This is the pattern, clipped in place for a test fit.

The overlaps from the cabin top were sanded and feather edged, as here.

And lastly the 'glass panel was fitted and wetted out, like this.

Progress is good!

Fibreglass | Forward Cabin Wall & Dorade Boxes

Unlike the cabin tops and cockpit deck, the forward cabin wall is a complex shape and a pattern is required if we are to cover it with a single piece of 'glass cloth.

So I measured the various panels that comprise the forward cabin wall and Dorade boxes and marked them out on a paper pattern. I also scribed in the curve of the cabin roof.

This is the paper panel on the bench.

It was a good fit in the boat, as here.

A panel of 'glass cloth was cut using the pattern and dry fitted to the cabin wall, like this.

 Finally it was carefully wetted out with clear resin, working from the top down and centreline outwards to stop the cloth from falling onto the deck. It went well and looked like this.

Wetting out is satisfying because it covers a large area very quickly!