Mississippi River Skiff: update

The exterior of the hull has been glassed, kevlared, and faired.
We removed it from the forms and got our first ever look at this hull form.  Are there any other Mississippi river skiffs of Howard Chapelle's lines out there?  It is on page 99 of his ASSC.
Let us know.
We like it.
The hull was stripped above the shear.  The plan is to cut the shear after all the glassing is finished.
The strong back is being taken apart and removed from the shop.
We will get the hull back inside and begin sanding the interior and prepping for the interior glass.
Next, we will be forming the thwarts, seats, and bow deck enclosure.

32 inch Band Saw !

My word, this is a large saw.  After a search,  my friends Charlie and Rusty at Industrial Machine Sales in Alton found all the parts for the old saw.   An earlier posting (May 16th) shows the 1937 Red Fox planer we acquired from Charlie.

As we were fastening the saw to a pallet, we removed the old rusty guards.  I initially thought it was a Crescent saw, but it turns out it was made by Silver Manufacturing Company of Salem, Ohio.  There is a nice brass plaque that says so.

It has 32 inch diameter wheels and a blade length of over 17 feet! 

Here is a great website about vintage American woodworking machinery: 

vintagemachinery.org

After looking through their database, it appears the saw was made between 1904 and 1910.

We will be taking it apart, grinding off some ugly welds and prepping for a new paint job.

This saw will be a welcome addition to the boat shop.

It has Babbitt bearings that still spin freely.  That's old-timey.

Hanging in the Mulberry tree.
With the table and motor, maybe 750 pounds?

This is an ad from 1910, same saw.

Mississippi River Skiff update:

We just glassed the MRS.  After a final fairing and sanding, we glassed the hull with 9oz glass cloth set in low viscosity Raka epoxy with a slow hardener.  This gave us plenty of time to roll out all the wrinkles with a ridged roller.
After three hours we gave it a thin fill coat to fill in the weave.  After another three hours had passed, the surface was slightly tacky and we rolled out the pre cut Kevlar for the bottom.  This received the same epoxy treatment.  It was then three am. so we called it a night.

9oz cloth, originally 50 inches wide, cut down to overlap on the centerline.

The skeg has a 3/4 inch fillet for strength and to ease the layup.  The glass laps in both directions.

The Kevlar bottom will allow for some rough landings.