stripper

After a trip to Home Depot, the floor, ready to start!.

As per the Kuffel Creek plans, I constructed a frame from 2x4's ripped in half.

I didn't use any fancy joinery, as it will be glued and screwed between the deck and belly pan.

The deck is 1/2" acx ply, glued with polyurethane construction adhesive and screwed with rust resistant exterior deck screws.

I filled the spaces between the frame members with foam board. The R-value is 7.5. This should keep our backs warm and dry!!

The belly pan, 1/4" acx ply, glued and screwed.I beveled the joints and glued them to keep the seams tight.

Some ballast to keep the joint closed while the glue sets.

Once the glue had set, two days in the 40 degree shop, I coated the road-side of the floor with asphalt emulsion roof coating.

While waiting for asphalt and paint to harden, I laid out the profile on some 1/4" ply sheets glued together. The profile will serve as a pattern later to cut the sides from.
The lay-out is done by measuring key points to the full size pattern, and connecting the points

Once the points were marked, I "connected the dots"with a batten, (a flexable strip) or my metal ruler. The batten touches the points and forms a fair curve.

I drove small brads into the ply for the batten to rest against.

The batten froms a fair curve. This is the galley end of the profile.

The finished profile, propped up on the frame. I laid out the door and bulkheads on the profile, although you can't see them here.
I added 2" to the curve of the front. I like the look of a fuller curve.

Building up the side panels.

Since these sheets will be final finish, I decided to go with a half lap joint. I laid the joint out to achieve a good glue surface , 4". The joint will be reinforced later by fiberglass on the outside and on the inside seams only. The floor, roof, and wall system will lend strength also. These members will be glued and screwed across the joints at 90 degrees.

I laid the joint out to be cut with my router with a straight mortising bit. The cut depth was set to 3/8", half the sheet thickness.
I cleaned up the bottom of the joint with the ROS.

To ensure that the edges were as close as possible, I made a final pass, cutting the two edges at the same time. Any waver in the cut is mirrored exactly on both sheets. The joints look very tight. Finally!!

After test fitting, I laid waxed paper under the jont to keep from gluing the sheet to the workbench.

A generous bead of Gorilla Glue was placed on the bottom section of the half-lap.

For "clamps" I screwed a 2 by 4 with shims to the bench. The shims allow pressure to be placed over the whole length of the joint. The curve in the board shows that pressure is being placed at the center.

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