Commander 147

[ebb]

Jerry, Excellent,
spiffy companion way there!

And the new proposal for the compression beam and bulkhead is obviously a vast improvement.
It'll be a perfect upgrade.

[Tony G]

Nice work, Jerry! She is looking F I N E!! Having the wood prefinished before final install ought to really speed things up in the assembly phase. And I can't say enough that your expert craftmanship shows in your work.

What's the plan with your mast beam and main bulkhead? Solid beam? Laminated beam? Laminated beams are easier, in my opinion, but solid may have less integrity concerns when it comes to glue choice, water intrusion, etc.. And how about the bulkhead shape? Honestly, I kind of like the shape you got in the photo with the pieces, that I assume are braces, meeting the existing Commander style bulkheads.

P.s. 'Glad you have the surgery behind you. Post procedure recovery really throws me of kilter for a while.

DOH! I just saw the yellow overlay on your photo. Looks fantastic!

[Commander 147]

Tony

I would love to get your input on my plans which by the way is an open invitation to everyone else also. The best part of this or any forum is getting insight and ideas from others on what you are trying to accomplish.

My plans currently are to vertically laminate white oak for the strong back. I'm using resorcinol glue to eliminate water and glue issues. I've kind of drawn in the new bulkheads in the photo below to better illiustrate the new look with the new bulkheads. Then I drew in some sections so you can more easily understand the plan of what I'm planning to do. Please feel free to offer suggestions.

I plan to use 1/2" marine ply for the bulkheads and cover it with 1/4" mahogany ply for looks. For the trim material on the edge of the bulkhead I plan to glue up thin strips of mahogany (as thin as 1/16" if necessary to make the curves) that will end up 3/8" thick and follow the curves of the bulkhead.

[Tony G]

Jerry,

My input is start right now. What you have planned is fantastic. Clean and functional and why ask for anything more? Maybe Ebb has some wisdom on the vertical laminated beam he can add but it seems a ok to me. I never thought of laminating in that orientation... And resourcinol is the glue to use. (I wish I had used it so that nagging fear would go away)

I am already envisioning the pictures. She is going to be saw-weeet.