simple front deck - how to frame?

[SlimeTime]

I wouldn't shim them. Do you have a local sheetmetal shop? See what they'd charge to shear some 1/8" aluminum & form the angles to your specs.

There's always wood :wink: ................

ST

 

[akjw7]

Yeah that's what I was thinking (wood). I guess for the front support accross the bow I could always just rivet the piece of angle on so that the height of the angle was where I wanted the deck to rest. Be kind of on a knife edge instead of the 1"1/4" shelf of the angle but given the short span I bet it would work just fine.

picked up my 25' of angle today...$30 didn't seem bad at all and I should have enough for some other projects! Need to get a timing issue on my outboard fixed if it goes well then I can start on the deck tonight, if not...well I need the outboard for moose hunting - the deck will have to wait!

 

[akjw7]

The customized aluminum angle seems like something I could probably do myself with the improvised break idea someone posted earlier in this thread...I might get a small piece of flat 1/8" stock and see what I can rig.

 

[BassNBob]

This is what I did to mine and then screwed the 3/4" P/W to the suprt. structure and then laid the carpet. If you need more pics just PM me a message.

 

[akjw7]

BassNBob - that first rib (the midpoint of your deck) is canted at an angle - how did you attach your vertical posts to that to get them vertical?

The bigger problem I have vs. your setup is that my front 'step' is out of the boat so I have to run my deck framing all the way to the front of the bow - problem being how to get from that angle to support the deck. See image if it helps... (the light green area is the very first rib...about where I'll end my deck, forgot to label it)

 

[bobessary]

put one more piece of aluminum channel like this rivet to the bottom and then use bolts to the 3 problem points that you pointed out easy removal

 

[akjw7]

ok yeah, not sure why I didn't think of that!

Really not much stress that direction either, probably could do 6 or 8" chunks too instead of one big piece...

I didn't want to rivet through the hull down close to the waterline, but can just gluvit the pop rivets if I have to get that low (The rear support at the first rib is the only one near the waterline on the bottom, so I will try to attach to the rib somehow even though it's canted, so I can avoid that issue altogether)

**** EDIT****
Thought about it some more and I don't think it will work - my drawing was a bit oversimplified....Small sections of angle may still work, but one long piece won't due to the curve of the bottom.

 

[SlimeTime]

Yeah that's what I was thinking (wood). I guess for the front support accross the bow I could always just rivet the piece of angle on so that the height of the angle was where I wanted the deck to rest. Be kind of on a knife edge instead of the 1"1/4" shelf of the angle but given the short span I bet it would work just fine.

Once you attach your angle, you could shim the top, so your decking makes full-contact. I think they make composite window/door shims now, you could cut a few down to fit the points you attach the decking to the angle. Or, if you've got a table saw, you could determine the wedge & rip a piece of 2-by, and seal it good.

ST

 

[akjw7]

I think ripping a piece of wood to the right angle is the best plan for the bow rail there....no table saw but I can do it with my circular saw...close enough anyway! Just use another board for a jig so I can get it straight!

 

[SlimeTime]

The customized aluminum angle seems like something I could probably do myself with the improvised break idea someone posted earlier in this thread...I might get a small piece of flat 1/8" stock and see what I can rig.

You won't be able to form a piece of 1/8" aluminum (of any length) by hand.

ST

 

[akjw7]

I did this one...not pretty but I did it.

 

[SlimeTime]

I should have added with a sharp form-line :wink:

ST

 

[BassNBob]

That's whats good about this forumn, alot of heads together can resolve a lot of issues. I'm glad you found a solution.

 

[akjw7]

Yeah the radius isn't very tight, I was actually surprised that I was able to get it as good as I was.

I made it to the boat launch and was able to adjust the spark advance on the 50hp - think I got the high end miss fixed!!! =D> I was able to run it in forward at full rpm straped to the trailer, but I forgot my hip boots so I couldn't take it for a spin (should have been my first clue that I was too tired to be working on stuff tonight!).

Got started laying the deck out tonight, but as I said earlier my brain wasn't working very well...and well...I built it to the second rib by accident! I would be ok with my mistake if A) I had the plywood to do a bigger deck and B) I didn't mind it taking so much of my space in the boat.

So...

Since I am leaving straight from work tomorrow for moose hunting and am out of time...I just pulled it all out, should be a pretty easy fix to shorten it up to my intended first rib. The sides are going to still take some figuring out - got an idea on the bow that I think will work. We'll see!

I'll pick this project back up next week, thanks again for the posts

 

[SlimeTime]

Best thing to do when you're that tired ......is to go fishing :mrgreen: Good luck on the moose hunt!

ST

 

[smoody]

AK, wow you got a steal on that aluminum, my locals just quoted me $2 a ft. seeing as you paid less then $1 a ft, you should buy all you can for future projects, heck where are you located? I may have you get me some and ship it.

 

[akjw7]

$1.20 a foot, but who's counting?! I may grab a little more because they had two 5' chunks they were going to sell me at $1 a foot.

I'm in Fairbanks Alaska - trust me you don't want to ship anything to or from here! :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[smoody]

$1.20 a foot, but who's counting?! I may grab a little more because they had two 5' chunks they were going to sell me at $1 a foot.

I'm in Fairbanks Alaska - trust me you don't want to ship anything to or from here! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Oh ok, my aunt took a trip to Alaska for a week. sent a card out to us the same day she arrived, we got the card after her return..lol

I found an old fab shop close by, was just quoted $54 and some change for 1 x 1 x 1/8". not bad.

I am about to start my 4th mod her soon, I am going to start a thread on it and post pics along with video on the process, im starting from scratch with a 1999 Lowe 1448.

My first mod was a 1987 Alumacraft 1232, I used all wood, it turned out ok, got really heavy when wet, thats the reason I suggest aluminum, thats the best option for any framing on a jon boat and as you see its not that expensive seeing it will last forever. Im even pricing 4x8x1/4 sheets of aluminum to use as the deck, may be to expensive though, either way all my under framing will be aluminum L.

here are pics of my first boat

 

[akjw7]

cool - nice job, I saw that boat when I was searching for ideas on how to do mine! (the postcard thing is classic and very true...gotta love it)

Boat is gased and loaded...once the whistle blows on this workweek I'm out the door and down the road. Only an hour to the river and maybe 20 minutes to my camp. Few other pics -

 

[hatch17]

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing. I wish I was fishing right now. :evil: