Friday the 13th turns out to be a near milestone day for the 1946 Gar Wood Ensign deck planking project.
As it opens, you can enjoy with John and me seeing all the planking, fasteners and bungs in place, and all of the deck seams having been routed out.
What remains? As we explained in earlier reports, both decks were flying loose and sagging where they met the gunwales. That droop hid the fact that the deck boards we removed were actually thicker than are the covering boards. As a result, the new planking is proud of the covering boards now that the framework has been completed.
We use the Veritas Detail Flush-Cutting Saw, with a 26 TPI blade (05K34.10) for trimming the bungs fair with the surface. It is the first flush-cutting saw we’ve used that absolutely will not scratch the surface around the bung.
John’s final challenge, one that begins with 40 grit paper on our longboard sander, and ends with 80 grit, is to sand the decks fair with the covering boards.
Bleaching will follow as will follow, which we will chronicle for the community.