You know those beautiful decks......

[sjptak]

Springing deck planks to shape and holding them there as the glue cures can be a difficulty to over come, much like remembering your wedding anniversary without a date tattooed to your wrist.

We married on the Fourth of July so if I forget our anniversary, I'm a dead man!

PAR, I really appreciate your thoughts and advice on this along with every one of the responders. After seeing what goes into something like this, I think it would be best for me to concentrate on building a quality and functional boat for my first build and if I decide to build another, then I can try the fancy stuff. I'd like to get back out on the water. Thanks to all of you for your input.

Stan

[gonzo]

This is a deck we were replacing on a Freedom 40. The fitting of the small pieces is what makes the job look right.

[PAR]

This is a veneer deck I did recently and it's a fiddly thing, all about the details. You can do it Sjptak, just take your time, do plenty of dry runs and careful fitting before you glue and/or fasten it down. This deck has no fasteners at all, just epoxy.

[2mcsdad]

Originally Posted by sjptak

......on the mahogany power boats? The ones that sort of appear to be planked, but are more like filled in groves and then covered with nice shiny varnish? What is that called and is there a web demonstration on how it is done? I'd love to learn how to do that style of deck.

Stan

Lapstreak is the word you are looking for I believe.

[PAR]

2mcsdad, I'm really not sure what a "Lapstreak" is, but it sounds like a what happens when you wipe your greasy hands on your legs, while you're sitting down. Lapstrake on the other hand, is a hull planking method that hasn't anything to do with the decking choices this thread has entertained.

[ancient kayaker]

Why can't he just groove some mahogany-faced plywood while it's flat, before building the deck with it, using a router, or a skilsaw with a clean ply zero clearance baseplate to the saw to protect the ply face and avoid splinters?

[PAR]

You can do this Terry, but a laid deck is in the details, not the main deck grooves. Covering boards, king planking, nipped ends, notched scarfs, radiused corners, bevels at the appropriate locations, etc. The actual "grooves" are a minor issue really, depending on the deck type. On a sprung deck, the grooves are more of an issue, but veneer and strip planked decks the groove is "manufactured" or somewhat faked, so it's a non-issue. Lastly the face veneers on plywood aren't usually very thick, so they'll wear out pretty quickly. A good compromise between the options is a base substrate of plywood and a thick veneer or thin plank (1/4"). This has to be glued down, but offers enough thickness to have a reasonable life span and makes installation fairly easy too. The veneer deck I show above has 1/10" teak and 1/8" mahogany, which was epoxied to 1/4" Okoume.

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by PAR

... A good compromise between the options is a base substrate of plywood and a thick veneer or thin plank (1/4"). This has to be glued down, but offers enough thickness to have a reasonable life span and makes installation fairly easy too. The veneer deck I show above has 1/10" teak and 1/8" mahogany, which was epoxied to 1/4" Okoume.

That would also look nicer because of the grain changes from plank to plank: the perfectly-matched grain across a sheet of ply would be a dead give-away!

[islandteak]

There is an easier way, but not as good.
Adhere your teak or mahogany strips (1/4" x 1-7/8") leaving a 3/16" gap between each strip. Clamp them down using 1" dia fender washers and wood screws. You screw these temporary clamps between the teak or mahogany strips and remove them later. Instead of using white maple to fill the 3/16" gap you can use a white polyurethane adhesive, the same as you would use black adhesive when caulking a traditional teak deck. You will want to experiment with whatever finish you will be using, as varnishes will yellow most white caulking.

Both Island Teak and Jamestown Distributors sell teak and maple decking that is tongue and grooved.

regards...Ken

[michael pierzga]

Goo' decks are guick and dirty. The "Goo" white seams UV burns or gets discoloured with varnish. "Goo" is difficult to refinish. Teak and maple or holly is the better way to go for longevity and value.