2014 Fall /Winter and 2015 Spring boat projects
- Thread starter Sculpin
- Start date
bigbruce
Crew Member
Nicely Done, Bruce, what Material did you use?
I might copy it
Tim
It's called Sanalite - or butcher block. 1/2" you can buy it at Industrial Plastics. Very easy to work with. Plywood blade on the table saw and normal router blades.
SteelyDan
Well-Known Member
Had some spare time today so I concentrated on revamping my old kicker steering linkage to work with the new Vrod. Had to cut a mounting bracket for the pivot ball out of 4" aluminium angle to mount on the motor. Then my old stainless linkage rod was too short so I welded stubs of the threaded rod to 3/4" mild steel round bar with 309L stainless rod. You can weld stainless to low carbon steel with this rod. Happy with how it turned out and saved a few bucks doing it. I'm having the linkage rod powdercoated black. Should do the trick!
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Fishin'Zinn
Active Member
^ I have to fix my tie-bar as well. Such a rattly damn thing! 
Getting rid of my scotty rail mounts and affixing a more 'permanent' solution! Had some downrigger brackets welded on.
They are very strong... Had a bit of an incident last year where I hooked a 15lb ball into a reef (trolling tack, behind this one guy, suddenly found out he happened to be jigging, awesome!), brake was set a bit tight on the rigger and almost said goodbye to a few hundred dollars when the rail mount bearing block gave out and rolled over! Yikes.
Unfortunately the way the rails are centered in the boat, the brackets couldn't really be cleanly welded into them (like you see on production boats a lot with inboard offset rails). It's not the best looking but its functional and they are strong!!! (I personally would have done them a bit different but I can't complain!). A nice part is that it puts the downrigger at a good height in terms of accessibility! No bending over or anything.
Blue seas ACR realay and switch going in, kicker charging, and new prop next!
Getting rid of my scotty rail mounts and affixing a more 'permanent' solution! Had some downrigger brackets welded on.
They are very strong... Had a bit of an incident last year where I hooked a 15lb ball into a reef (trolling tack, behind this one guy, suddenly found out he happened to be jigging, awesome!), brake was set a bit tight on the rigger and almost said goodbye to a few hundred dollars when the rail mount bearing block gave out and rolled over! Yikes.
Unfortunately the way the rails are centered in the boat, the brackets couldn't really be cleanly welded into them (like you see on production boats a lot with inboard offset rails). It's not the best looking but its functional and they are strong!!! (I personally would have done them a bit different but I can't complain!). A nice part is that it puts the downrigger at a good height in terms of accessibility! No bending over or anything.
Blue seas ACR realay and switch going in, kicker charging, and new prop next!
SteelyDan
Well-Known Member
Thanks. Here it is in action
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Gypseas
Active Member
Don't know how I missed on this post but them rails look pretty cool indeed. Great improvement!
Oddly familiar though
Good job as usual John
Cheers
Oddly familiar though
Good job as usual John
Cheers
The rails are done. Turned out pretty good me thinks
We added toes rails to stabilizes your stance when fishing in the rough stuff.
Had to go look at a job this morning and went for a rip.
The visibility with the taller rails is a big improvement.
Just have to add the roof rails and non skid on the gunnels.
To be continued.....
bentley
Active Member
Finally got around to making up a cleaning table, I used 1/8 alum, and sloped it to the back, with a couple of drain holes in the corners and a handle up front so I can Easley grab it. I welded up a mount to fit the Scotty bracket, think I might powder coat the alum table to Finish it up, now to just get so blood on it. 
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bentley
Active Member
Thanks guys !
The mount is sloped, so everything will drain to the back side of the table and hopefully over the side of the boat!!!, how much would you pay for something like this, Bones. Maybe I will mass produce a bunch ! I routered all the edges of the cutting board tonight, to give it a nice finish.
Fishin'Zinn
Active Member
Last weekend got a day away from home renos, had to get the boat polished before it goes back in the water for this season!
Turned out even better than last year, it gets easier each time (the first was awful, the mill scale was the worst to take out, sanded and probably about 5 passes with buffing/polishing total). This year was a simple 3-stage cut, polish, then finishing pass. My good buddy helped me out too which was nice. Definitely a lot of square footage
Some of you might not agree an aluminum fishing boat should be 'Shiny', but hey - It's unique! I like to have it looking good, or at least differentiate from the rest; Most importantly it just makes me feel good!!! Something I used to be very passionate about was cars, and detailing for a nice paint finish is part of that, this has somehow transitioned to boats, and I discovered polishing aluminum (Look up polished airstream trailers - same deal). Only takes me 1 full day a year to re-polish it all (yes it takes effort, and the salt does etch some nasty water spots into it after awhile, but it all comes out with a once over!) and looks good for the season on the water. I make a joke with my buddy that it was a 'mistake' because you become obsessive with the shine, it really is ridiculous in person in full sun - just a giant mirror. Also pretty hilarious however when people ask where you get a 'chrome' boat!!!
I bet it might be the shiniest boat on the water
Few more things left yet, just waiting to hear back about a kicker steering system, better prop, and a revised downrigger setup!
PS: I hope last year was just a bad year and the boat doesn't scare away the fish thinking it's an orca or something (looks white from far away) LOL
PPS: Really need to figure out a name for the boat still
Turned out even better than last year, it gets easier each time (the first was awful, the mill scale was the worst to take out, sanded and probably about 5 passes with buffing/polishing total). This year was a simple 3-stage cut, polish, then finishing pass. My good buddy helped me out too which was nice. Definitely a lot of square footage
Some of you might not agree an aluminum fishing boat should be 'Shiny', but hey - It's unique! I like to have it looking good, or at least differentiate from the rest; Most importantly it just makes me feel good!!! Something I used to be very passionate about was cars, and detailing for a nice paint finish is part of that, this has somehow transitioned to boats, and I discovered polishing aluminum (Look up polished airstream trailers - same deal). Only takes me 1 full day a year to re-polish it all (yes it takes effort, and the salt does etch some nasty water spots into it after awhile, but it all comes out with a once over!) and looks good for the season on the water. I make a joke with my buddy that it was a 'mistake' because you become obsessive with the shine, it really is ridiculous in person in full sun - just a giant mirror. Also pretty hilarious however when people ask where you get a 'chrome' boat!!!
I bet it might be the shiniest boat on the water
Few more things left yet, just waiting to hear back about a kicker steering system, better prop, and a revised downrigger setup!
PS: I hope last year was just a bad year and the boat doesn't scare away the fish thinking it's an orca or something (looks white from far away) LOL
PPS: Really need to figure out a name for the boat still
Gypseas
Active Member
PPS: Really need to figure out a name for the boat still
"The Silver Bullet" comes to mind
If you don't mind me asking what did you use to paint the bottom, is it ep2?
Cheers
Fishbreath
Member
Nice Job on Polishing that aluminum Fishin'Zinn.
Do you put a sealant or wax on the aluminum as a final coat, or just leave it raw metal ?
Do you put a sealant or wax on the aluminum as a final coat, or just leave it raw metal ?
Fishin'Zinn
Active Member
Not bad! - Something like that would be good. I don't want to be labeled a "Coors light drinker" however
It is E-Paint! Wish it was red, but apparently the lighter tones work better. This one:
http://www.epaint.com/index.php?id=19&prod_id=19
Epoxied first. My father wanted to be 'eco friendly' and 'aluminum safe' and do with an ablative paint vs using a copper based anti-fowling. Have to re-coat the sides every year but it works awesome!
Thanks! I sealed it with opti-coat last year. This year we will see how the nuvite final finish holds up. Plus I use a really good sealing wax that I use for cars as well (Synthetic based, not carnuba; which only lasts about 30 days, synthetic lasts for months!).
Either way, it will take a beating, so other than clear-coating there's only so much you can do! The opti-coat worked great I think, just more meant for smooth automotive finishes I think.
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