1970 ish Mirrocraft 14 Deep Fisherman Project

[DesertRAT]

One more pic of the front.

 

[DesertRAT]

This weekend I started working on the fishing deck. I tried using cardboard to outline the curve of the boat but had no luck. I couldn't get close enough with my templates to make it look good. I ended up going old school by using Joggle Sticks (pattern sticks). I went to the dollar store and bought two yardsticks. I made a 6", 12", 18" and 36" joggle sticks. These take a bit longer to use when cutting curves but well worth it. You're almost dead on with the first cut and maybe only need minor trimming to get the boards the lay perfectly.

All I did was take a junk piece of plywood, that is smaller than what the final deck will be, and layed out my joggle stick by placing the point of it on the curve and then tracing the joggle stick pattern on my junk plywood. I went around the entire curve, left and right side, about every two inches or so. I then used the sticks to find where I wanted the rod and cup holders to be. Did the same process for my ice chest and so on.

I then layed this junk plywood with all of the joggle stick tracings on to my larger deck plywood and placed the sticks on the traced pattern and marked a dot at the point of the joggle stick.

Then all I did was connect the dots and cut. It takes about two hours to do each deck. My front fish deck consists of two large pieces of plywood.

 

[DesertRAT]

Here are a few more pics of using the joggle sticks. I spent all weekend on this boat and got the front deck done and ready for spar urethane and marine carpet. I am going to start on the back half of the boat next and carpet all the pieces at the same time later on down the road.

 

[DesertRAT]

My bimini top came in this weekend. It went on pretty easy. I had to have one so at least there will be some shade while fishing.

 

[Johnny]

lookin good lookin good !!

I like the bimini !! I have been trying to figure out a way to
mount the big 6' beach umbrella in the center of my boat -
or at least on the side of the console. The obvious problem is
there is not enough firm structure for the mount and a puff of
wind could tear everything out.......

good job on your project !!

 

[Ictalurus]

=D> =D> =D>

Boat looks great man!

 

[DesertRAT]

The Bimini Top is a must here in California. It gets brutally hot in the summer. The boat is coming along, between work and family I have a hard time getting in the garage to work on it on a regular basis. I am hoping I can get it all done before Christmas this year.

 

[RandysJav]

https://forum.tinboats.net/download/file.php?id=70634&mode=view/5.JPG Pressure treated wood BIG NO NO. Water will soak through carpet and leech copper sealent out of wood and eat up your shiny aluminum boat bottom. Randy

 

[DesertRAT]

Thank you Randy for the reply. Yeah, I caught my mistake early on, after reading up on a few more builds here, I realized I used the wrong wood. I took the trailer all apart again and used non-treated 4x4's and some new carpet.

Got a quick question, I need to take the boat off the trailer again to re-do some wiring on the trailer itself. While I have the boat off, can I float it in a swimming pool to check for leaks? I don't think I'm going to make it to the lake again this year and wanted to check the boat one more time before I carpet and finish it. My pool is an in-ground, plenty big enough to float this thing. I was just wondering if the chlorinated water would affect the aluminum hull.

Any feedback would be great!

 

[DesertRAT]

Been working on the second half, back half, of the boat for the past few weeks. Making some progress. The hardest part is getting the measurements right.

 

[DesertRAT]

With the help from my son, we managed to get the deck cut. I'm down to the end of the boat now. I also got the graphics in yesterday. I'm done for this weekend, hoping to get some time around the middle of October to finish decking it out.

 

[Shaugh]

Very nice work. The joggle sticks are a revelation to me. I had never seen them explained so clearly before. Definitely going to try that the next time I need to duplicate a large curve. I had always tried to do it with stiff fabric stapled to the junk plywood, but there was always a lack of accuracy.

Bimini tops are nice but create so many obstructions. In Southern TN some shade is an absolute necessity as well. I started using these EMT fittings that they sell for flea market canopies. I actually tried the umbrella idea before I found these.

https://www.tents-canopy.com/canopy-fittings.html

With them you can make your own T tops and canopies that are easy to put up and take down in seconds if it gets too windy. They give you less obstructions to cast around:

3/4" on ultra light boats:

1" or larger on bigger boats:

 

[DesertRAT]

Very Nice! That's a great idea Shaugh. I may have to try your idea, my bimini is sitting kinda low, I should have gotten one that was a few inches higher.

 

[Shaugh]

Some people get worried when they see the single vertical, although I've never had a problem with 1" conduit, you can always design it to have 4 verticals like these:

https://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Smith-Stainless-Steel-T-Top&i=72546

For a lot less money... fittings are dirt cheap.. making your own fabric top on a sewing machine is easier than you think too..

 

[Johnny]

DesertRat said: can I float it in a swimming pool to check for leaks?

LOL of course you can !!