And so it begins

[25yearslater]

Thanks again Danny. Aahh Jibes, how right you are about too original. Actually what I have for hull liner is Outdura vinyl fabric. The trick was the foam. What a head spinning affair that was. Some are pretreated with antimildew agents, others aren't. Sizes, cell structure, color, chemistry and a host of other factors. The Outdura is pretty bulletproof and comes close to original but is a definate step up where life expectancy is concerned. After talking to Rudy, he confirmed the 'original' fabric is not available anymore. The company that made it is no longer in business. This is one of those areas where modern materials/methods will come in to play. Kind of like Knytex and epoxy vs. mat and polyester resin for the deck. And definately change those Formica colors. My '78 Oday 22 had white Formica and I can only wonder what in blazes were they thinking with some of the other colors. Anyway, some things are best left to the past. Again, thanks for the input, and Danny, thanks but now I will visit Pittsford Lumber for more plywood to redo the galley now that I know the sides were wood. B.O.A.T. Break out another thousand as the saying goes.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Oh Boy, a real owners manual!

I have the lads working on converting the owners manual to a more suitable format for download.

That is excellent news! I'm sure you have been hounded by more than a few of us for copies by now , so thanks in advance to the lads for their contribution to the O27 community.

 

[25yearslater]

Well hopefully everyone had a wonderful holliday. Yours truly was trying to complete a few woodworking details Thursday when my ancient tablesaw burst into flames. Not to have such a trivial matter interupt my progress I continued on despite the smoke and flames. No worries, I haul it out of my shed and work in the backyard so the danger of the fire spreading was nil. I imagine the neighbors enjoyed the spectacle. So stopping by Sears Friday I purchased a lower end tablesaw that so far seems to be just right for anything I might want to accomplish. Heck I'm no Norm Abrams here. So continuing on I hope to pop some photos of this weeks progress possibly later today. For those interested here's a link 27 afficianodos might find interesting. Take care everyone. www.sailingmagazine.net/boats/6-used-boats-notebook/745-oday-27

 

[25yearslater]

So here we go. Whatcha think? Finally back on track and even slightly ahead of where I was previously. Hey and no more screaming orange.

 

[25yearslater]

And a few more. Mitered corners, piano hinge instead of those little do dads at the engine hatch, and the mahogany handle. Not original but some owner mods without affecting the original character of the boat.

 

[Panta Rei]

gel coat

I'm interested in your gelcoat plans. What are the factors that lead you to applying more gelcoat? My plans where to polish out the gelcoat and touch up just a few spider cracks.
I completely agree with your assesment of Awgrip etc. I used that on my O'Day 22. Ok for that boat but it is not a ten year coating.

Looking for more posts!!

 

[25yearslater]

Hello Panta Rei. This indeed is the area of the restoration project that causes me the greatest concern. Each coating method offers it's benefits and drawbacks. Awlgrip/Awlcraft 2000 have the repairability/longevity problem. Gelcoat offers a repairable surface but comes with the risk of cracking due to shrinkage. For me the benefit is in repairability. Even if a crack appears, it can be readily repaired unlike the other coatings. With substantial oxidation and the unknown of the original gelcoat thickness on YOT I think this is the time to go ahead and recoat. Since most marinas prohibit the spraying of paints or other coatings, and rightly so, the long term benefit of gelcoat seems worth the risk. The other major factor was ease of matching a fresh coating versus a 34 year old coating. Should a docking mishap occur, like that ever happens, the newer gelcoat should, I hope, be easier to match than the current one. The finnal factor was the color change in the boot and shear stripe. For nostalgic reasons I will be changing them from green to gray and blue. As always I look forward to your input as it has proven very accurate.

 

[Panta Rei]

This will be very interesting. I have been researching the proper Gelcoat polishing techniques and find them nearly as labor intensive as a new gel coat application. Will you be doing this work this summer? I have mine scheduled for the following summer.
I have a few spider cracks in the non-skid areas. I'll first firm up the deck but I'm not sure how to proceed after that. The Non-skid is a diamond pattern. I see three possible ways to go.
1 I can strip the paint, open up the cracks and make a mold of the non-skid and use filled Epoxy to fill the cracks.
2 Strip and open up the cracks and use filed epoxy and reform the diamond pattern at the cracks with a comb like tool.
3 Don't open them up but carefully fill the cracks with penetrating epoxy and give the non-skid a few coats of paint.
I hope you or the others following this thread has some input on this.

 

[25yearslater]

Hey again Panta. First let me pop the link. www.masepoxies.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=articles.view&id=5665 with that up you can find the Gibco Flex Mold that is appropriate for Oday as another option. Oday used 3 different patterns, the 319 (small diamond) the 301 (larger diamond) and the 312 (rope weave) the one I have. I plan on purchasing a full sheet at this point and molding in place on the deck as I was unsuccessful in capturing the original pattern due to it's very fine detail and shallow print depth. I will be experimenting with casting sheets in epoxy and overspraying with gelcoat and then bonding to the deck with epoxy after which I will be filling in the smooth areas with white gelcoat. The 27 had sections of nonskid but the deck was colored at the breaks with the same color as the nonskid. Seems strange. All the spider cracks have yet to be ground out and filled to provide a good base for the finishing which will take place in the late spring/early summer. Get ready to sit down if you choose to pursue the flex mold route. Full sheet 4' X 11' was about 1200.00. I'll be renting out the Oday 27 patterns if I can't find a satisfactory alternative to full sheet cut patterns and believe you me I'll be looking real hard for that alternative.

 

[Panta Rei]

I did not follow your cabin liner repair since it did not apply to my project. I now see what you have been up to. I think I'll go the flex mold route unless you get a break through. Renting the patters out sounds like a win/win . I'll likely do the same for my diamond pattern. That Mas Epoxy site is a winner!

 

[25yearslater]

So what's he up to? Let me start by offering a few reviews of some products. The Craftsman 10" table saw is working like a charm. The cuts are accurate and while I wouldn't recommend it for any type of professional endeavor the hobbyist/boat restorer should find it a suitable unit. I have had no problem ripping 2" thick mahogany or using a 6" dado cutter for the molding work. All in all a competant product for those looking for an inexpensive table saw. Another product was sent to me by a friend who knows my aversion for cutting holes in boats. www.treefrogpad.com has this neat little pad that can afix a variety of items to another surface. Let's say the GPS to the bulkhead for those times when we find ourselves geographicly challenged and don't want the hassle of a permanent mount. Stick your bowls to it in the galley while you need and extra hand and the boat's a bouncing. Anchor your plates to the table with this do-dad and both hands are free to dine. And how many times has our coffee or other beverage launched across the cockpit while we adjusted a sail or were preoccupied with some other chore. The little pad is sticky but doesn't leave a residue and is reusable. So for right now I'm gonna tab in the bulkheads and do a bit of staining and I'll have some more stuff for everyone soon.

 

[25yearslater]

And, and, and. Fini, Kaput, El fin, least aways with the cutting, staining, urethaneing and so forth where woodwork is concerned. I'm doing other things for awhile like start the cushions. The galley can wait for a bit as I'm up to my eyeballs in saw and sand dust. Besides that the galley should be easy compared to everything else I've endured with this part of the project. OK so now the Alleluia Chorus from Handel's Messiah should be about appropriate. So here are the pics before and after. I'm gonna collapse now. Oh yeah and the framing is Poplar instead of the ratty pine from the factory complete with mitered corners and edges radiused with a 1/4" roundover bit in the router.

 

[jibes138]

What framing? What is that slot for in the starboard bulkhead? Is that for people with long bodies to put their feet? What if you jump up quick in the middle of the night, will you shear your legs off? :>)
I really like the lighter wood tone versus the original picture, looks great.

 

[25yearslater]

Somebody stop me. He's obsessed with this boat. Hey jibes my fellow millionths maniac. Read your post on the shaft coupling and wondered how an accurate fit comes from an expansion reamer. I'd probably opt for the jig grinder myself. Anywho thanks for the vote on the woodwork. I've got to confess a mod is about to occur. The door to the head just wouldn't do so I concocted a raised panel door out of poplar using my router with a 7 degree laminate trim bit for the bevel and an 1/8" roundover with the smaller bearing and using it as a beading bit. Not quite sure about the hole thingy for the feet in the stbd bulkhead either. Oday probably had something in mind. Maybe something like orange formica. So without further a-do the door ready for fitting, sanding and staining and a special other hobby for my fellow metal workers, a 1/8 scale steam locomotive I have been working on for 10 years on and off all built from scratch.

 

[jibes138]

Yeah that expansion reamer looked pretty hokie for a fit of less than a thou. The real problem is these parts are made from soft steel which makes holging tight tolerances tough. Grinding, lapping and so forth are much better on harder metals maybe in the HRc 38 and up range. I used to make volves where the steels were nitrided , or carburized, or on aluminum hard anodized. We also used through hardening metals like 440C and CPM10V. This soft stainless and cast iron and carbon steels are not really made for holding millionths. My goal is to turn all of the members of this website into gage makers, we should be talking in terms of wring fits like stacking gage blocks together. That way you will be better off when you hit a submerged shipping container.

 

[25yearslater]

Gotta agree with you on the ring fit jibes. I'm thinking about wowing everybody by popping the autocollimator on the deck to finish the fairing and then hand scraping it in, but that would be excessive. So today's festivities were stain and urethane the doors to the head. I'll share the pics once they are mounted and I don't yack up dinner should the color be way off. Also today at the request of another Oday owner I'm playing with the craft dough again. Here's the deed and the results. 25yearslater, keeping it original since 2010.

 

[jibes138]

Are you experienced with scraping machine ways? I worked with lots of maintenance guys about 25 years ago that did this full time. I remember scraping in many old Heald ID grinders in the mid 80's. All the new machines are just ground ways. I haven't seen a new machine with scraped ways in a really long time. I remember touring the Pratt and Whitney Jig Bore factory when I was in training at a community college. Lots of scraping going on there. Why don't you set it up as a picture and post it on the "ask all sailors" forum as a goof. It would be funny to see all the reactions. Make note that you are trying to make it perfectly flat.

 

[jibes138]

I made a seat on my sailing dinghy (built the boat from a set of plans) from Poplar, I made the other seats from Maple. It has been great for 10 years. Unfortunately when I mentioned it on the ask all sailors forum one of the guys started ranting and raving about how poplar was no good and neither was Maple that they would rot out and the boat would fall apart and I would probably drown in the process. 10 years later they are fine. I just mention this because I saw you used poplar for the head door. Why don't you post an item in the ask all sailors forum suggesting you are going to use poplar and see what reaction you get. If you don't and I remember it maybe I'll do it instead for the sport of it.

 

[25yearslater]

You know I gotta bust some chops on this one. So here are the pics of the door. I hope I don't get busted too much for exercising creative license and deviating a small bit from the original. Minwax Ipswitch pine followed with Fruitwood yields something fairly close to Okoume with Fruitwood. This is of course followed with the Minwax wiping poly satin finish. Also seen the settee doors with piano hinge.

 

[25yearslater]

Sorry I forgot to answer your other question jibes. Yup been a scraper since 1978. I only do it on a limited basis now since my shoulders exploded. Last great project I worked on was the machine that was making the parts for the optics bench on the Chandra Telescope. That was a 2 micron/meter deal. Anyway at the request of some Oday owners I'm working on the emblem tags. Hope to perfect them with the batch I'm doing tonight. Keeping it original since 2010.