"My Reason for Installing the Deck Shelf First!!
Before removing the mold I installed the deck shelf ,the reason I wanted to laminate the shelf with the mold in, so I could be sure to keep my shear locked into the molds shape. I started chiseling out the Airex Foam 4" down from my shear line. Note: You will have to notch each frame for clearance to be able to install the shelf, also be sure your you shear is correct before you install your deck shelf. Check it real good,usually your eye does not lie. You can refer to the pic next to this article to get a general idea how to do this, as it is how I did mine on Big Easy, remember that the size of the boat and thickness of the lay up may dictate some modifications on how you will need to do this. I started with laminating my first layer of fir and continued down the length of the shear using many c-clamp's . I installed about four boards a day because of limited c-clamps. I glued four and then would work on something else to move the job along like scarfing more of the boards while I let the glue set for 24 hours and then do four more till I had everything glued up. Then I installed the 1/2"s.s. bolts thru the deck shelf every 18". I then fitted the breast hook which I spelled wrong in the sketch. Note how I rabbited the shelf and the breast hook to finish flush with the deck shelf. I used hard wood for mine, but you make a choice you feel comfortable with. If you have plans you should have no problems, ( if you don't have plans you should. :) Any how the sketch is how I did mine and is close to how my plans had them laid out. When you have completed the deck shelf feel free to take your mold out. Just be sure to mark out your water lines from the frames to the foam to make it easy to find when you do the inside the hull glass work. Some people save their mold, I tore mine out, I did not want to unfasten the mold to pull it out with the crane sitting there waiting on me to get it ready to be pulled out,which would be extra money.
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Now would be a good time to start reading about your interior arrangements and your deck construction . I used a plywood laminated deck with fiberglass and epoxy ,but with today's new foams I would not hesitate to use core cell . You will have to make that call for your self. Now when you get the mold removed you will have to make some kind of arrangements depending on how large your boat is for walking inside of the boat. On my boat with the sandwich construction I had to fiberglass the inside of the foam with bi-ply glass to create the foam sandwhich. I used two layer's of this material. This kind of construction allowed me to eliminate the hat section stiffner's for stiffness required in single skin fiberglass boats. Let me point out that while I was glassing the inside of the hull I lost my footing with about two gallons of resin in a five gallon bucket and slid all the way into the bottom of the keel and as I hit bottom the resin sloshed up and covered my arm. I can tell you styrene burns so if you have to do glass work in side be carefull !!!!At this point I would recommend reading the following link:" Boat Interior Construction " to familiarize your self with the deck configuration and how you might want to deal with things below deck . Next I will explain how I fabricated my " Deck Beams and installed my deck".
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