Ceiling in A Chris..

[Kelsey]

I am toying with the idea of installing 2 and a quarter inch, tongue and groove mahogany strips on the ceiling of my 26' 1957 Sea Skiff. What thickness should they be? I am guessing 1/2", considering I am going to counterbore and bung all the screws holes. Will I be able to bend the planks to shape of the hull without having to steam them? The lengths of the planks will all be just about 8 ft. And what about ventilation? I was planning on leaving an open space at the top and also down by the cabin sole, so air could move freely up and down beween the frames...does this sound correct? Finally, stainless seel screws as opposed to bronze...this okay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[JLM]

sounds like it would look nice.not knowing the radious of your ceiling 1/2 mahog should bend easly.but 1/4 thick mahog would bend alot better
and insted of drilling through the board and plugging them try nailing in the toung with a galvinized finish nail so the grove of the other board hides the nails.it would look nice and smooth with no plugs.

good luck and happy holidays
JLM

[Bryan Mehus]

Kelsey,
I think your idea would look great.I believe I have seen a picture of a Corvette done that way, I will try to scare it up.
Imho I think it would be best to stick with a method of fastening that allows you to open up an area when necessary. Even though the hidden nails would be very clean looking it might be a bear to get at or inspect your frames and inside of the planks. Further to that, it is nice to get in behind the ceilings once in a while to kill any mildew that has taken hold.

Bryan

[whb]

Kelsey, is your cabin roof already finished.

If not you may want to install the finish grade material to the tops of the structure and then put your outside material over that. It should make installing the mahogany easier.

Howard

[ishmael]

Kelsey,

Is this going up forward, by the v-berths? That is where there is the most shape in the entire hull. hhhmmm. What is the layout of the boat?

I think I'd be tempted to use 1/4, and to fasten with bronze oval heads set flush, to match the rest of the boat (if it's like our old SS). 1/4 would be economical as you could get two pieces out of a 3/4 board. And yes, a space at the top and bottom creates a nice chimney effect and keeps the space ventilated.

[Kelsey]

Thanks! All your advice has really got my brain going now...one question though, if I go with flush mounting, say SS screws (to match the SS trim), I just simply set them flush, then put my varnish over them? Or, do I cut the pieces to length, put ALL coats of varnish on (front and back), then install..I think I just answered my question. Do I need washers? And, what size screws? I am just screwing right into the white oak frames. Thanks in advance...

[On Vacation]

Many people use small ss finish washers with ss screws to allow for a dressed up appearance. This will allow for easy removal to inspect the area and to revarnish the strips if desired at a later date. They come pretty small also. This will solve the issue of varnish in the heads for down the road. I also use a small flat rubber style washer behind these like are used on faucet fixtures. We buy them at the hardware stores or you can make them out of rubber hose with a pvc cutter. This keeps the water from laying behind them and stops the cutting in the wood when tightening the screws up for the exterior ones.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/store/pix/FSSCW.jpg

[ 12-30-2002, 02:55 AM: Message edited by: Oyster ]

[ishmael]

Kelsey,

How is the rest of the wooden trim on the boat fastened? Ours, the same vintage, was fastened with a bronze oval head, set just flush. I suspect the trim was varnished first, but after awhile the screws just got varnished over...with refinishing and all.

For this app. a small brass oval head would fit, but bronze would be preferable.

I think stainless w/washers might be out of place, but I haven't seen the boat.

Jack

[Kelsey]

Thanks...yeah, ya' see, the whole interior is painted white, I am in the afwul process of stripping it down to the bare mahogany, to make it bright. So I am taking out the screws (bronze pan head) counterboring, re-installing, then bunging. So there was nothing ever in the boat to match really. I am going to eventually have all the hardware stainless, so that's why I thought of using the ss screws for the planking.
The hull lining was this horrible peg board, that I have ripped off, leaving the exposed frames. I am going to try and upload some images..

[Buddy Sharpton]

Lots of folks advise to leave a 1/8th to 1/4"gap between the strips, not just for more ventilation, but to prevent a lot of god awful squeaking and creaking between those varnished/painted edges ( you will do this before you install won't you?) of those parallel strips in relative motion to each other as the hull "wracks". This lumber would have rounded over edges, not tongue and groove, in this case. By all means, don't bung over fasteners; someday, someway, someboby, probably you will need to get at the back side of the hull planking or the frames and you forsight will be fondly remembered.
Oval headed screws set flush are good practice.

[Kelsey]

Thanks Buddy.
I think, however, I am going to butt the planks against each other...butt I am leaving the top and bottoms open, so air can circulate up and down between the frames. And the squeaking, well I don't mind it too much. I am thinking of using a lap joint on the planks (as opposed to tongue and groove)with a small v-groove. I feel that the lap joint will allow me to remove individual planks easier down the road (should I need to), more so than the tongue and groove...what do you think?