Curved floor

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Andre205th
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul 31st, '18, 12:11

Curved floor

Post by Andre205th »

Has anyone installed a floor/deck that curves? I followed the top of the chine with my new bulkheads on my B25. This means the floor has a slight curve as it moves from the stern to the bow. The floor has about a 5 inch bend at the center of the boat. I can install it in sections but I'll have a lot of fairing i think.
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ktm_2000
Posts: 1000
Joined: Jul 17th, '18, 14:46
Location: Central Mass

Re: Curved floor

Post by ktm_2000 »

Andre,

usually if a boat has a curved deck it is side to side with the highest point being in the middle of the boat I think the term is called camber and it's done to make water run to the outside of the boat. I'm guessing what you are not describing camber but are describing the relationship of the chine to the top of the stringers.

boat building is not like houses, nothing is straight or level, I struggle with this. The only thing I know should be straight on our boats is the relationship of the stringers to each other.

My suggestion is to try and make the deck flat for ease of fabrication. To figure out how to make it flat, find a straight 2x4 and cut it shorter so you can rest it flat on top of both your stringers and have one end go up to the chine, mark where the bottom edge of the 2x4 comes into contact with the side of the boat. Scribe the line from the transom all the way to the bow, I'm guessing that if you do that exercise you will find that the chine of the boat is not the same distance to the marked line through the length of the hull.

In my boat I saved the edge of the deck, I'm going to raise the height of my stringers to match the top of the old deck then have my nida core panels sit on top of the stringers plus the outside edge. I wouldn't doubt that Bertram put camber in the deck but I didn't want to figure out how to fabricate curved panels so I'm taking the easy way out and making the deck flat.
Andre205th
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul 31st, '18, 12:11

Re: Curved floor

Post by Andre205th »

Thanks for the info KTM. I don’t have any camber, my bulkheads are flat on top from one chine to the other.
The floor has a slope from stern(lowest point) to bow(highest point), not linear, curved.
I can glass and install floor sections individually, I’ll just have to add some fairing compound at the joints/angle changes to smooth them out.
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ktm_2000
Posts: 1000
Joined: Jul 17th, '18, 14:46
Location: Central Mass

Re: Curved floor

Post by ktm_2000 »

Andre,

I think we are having a tough time trying to describe the same thing, just to get definitions right, what I believe the definition of chine is the point where the bottom transitions to the side of the boat.

Here is a pic I've saved from another person's project. If you look at this one, and imaged a flat plane at the height of the stringers, it would go from above the chine to below the chine around where the blob of beige material is on the bottom of the port stringer.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Umytapz4h9eVd7EX6
Yannis
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Joined: Oct 23rd, '13, 09:41
Location: Athens, Greece

Re: Curved floor

Post by Yannis »

Guys,

One idea. Why don't you just ignore completely the chine? Build your deck onto the stringers and wherever it meets the sides it's fine.
In this way, if you don't like the deck slope (because the stringers may be leaning in one direction-fwd or aft), then you build height onto them to level them at your desired slope and then you place your deck onto them.
I 'm not a 25 owner nor have I understood all the steps in your build, but from a third party point of view this solution seems the simplest.
1973 B28 FBC/2007 4LHA STP's - "Phantom Duck" - Hull "BER 00794 1172"
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CamB25
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Joined: Nov 10th, '10, 08:11
Location: Wilmington, NC

Re: Curved floor

Post by CamB25 »

I agree with Yannis. The stringers form a nice plane to set a flat deck. If you want it raised, just add a spacer on top. And you don't really need bulkheads outboard of the stringers. There is no significant volume outboard to worry about. The only outboard bulkheads I used were around the fuel fills to give a clear path for the hoses. All other areas outboard of the stringers are foamed.
1963 Bertram 25
1973 Boston Whaler 13 - sold!
1998 Scout 172 SF - beach taxi
Andre205th
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul 31st, '18, 12:11

Re: Curved floor

Post by Andre205th »

Thanks for the input. Modifying what I have to make it flat.
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