I thought I was about finished...

tinted glass ready for install.  done on the kitchen island and drying on the
dining room table.  Much darker appearance laying down than  installed.

A few thoughts. I haven't posted in a while...
I thought I was almost there.
I try to make a move toward a new stage in the build and realize that I still have some things to do on the previous stage before I can do this. They all build on each other.. Definitely a sequence that has to be followed.  It's not a huge deal, I've brought this on myself as I have turned a fairly simple design into a much more complex one. BUT... I really like doing this so my project fatigue has been more impatience than frustration to get onto the interior finishing and fitting out the various systems.  As I am writing to catch this up, I am actually working inside the pilothouse on the dash so that wiring may commence. Like I said, I haven't posted in a while. I left off on the last post with some of the larger anchoring and hardware construction being completed and since then the glass is mostly in and a lot of painting is done. The glass adhesive doesn't store well and the glass primer once opened is bad after seven days so I have one last round of glass setting to go (side glass, back door glass and a viewing porthole we've added to the settee location which was a suggestion by my Dad that will make thing much more comfortable... I'll save that for a future post). 
So lets take a look and I'll talk about the work, maybe get us caught up closer to Miss Addy's present state.
Glass is in... mostly.

Unfinished rings showing rabbets on backside.

Drying 3M primer on tinted porthole glass

A few decisions has to be made on what to install in the way of glass.  I looked around at the options (polycarbonate, acrylic, safety glass).  They all have some real merits.  
Glass was heavy, expensive to get in custom shapes and maybe a little susceptible to impact trouble.
The plastics were a little cheaper because it could be cut at the shop but all were susceptible to UV damage and scratching.  I rationalized that something could happen to glass if there was an accident, but, I knew for a fact that the plastics were eventually going to fog and craze.  I decided to send my shapes to One Day Glass in Washington state via CAD file and order, this was early on. The well packaged crate of glass sat in my shop for months.  My trepidation grew over time as I finished frames and wondered if this stack of glass would actually fit or was even close to what I had sent as a CAD file.  I guess smart money would have been to open it up when it arrived nine months ago, but, I feared more that our construction activity would potentially damage the securely crated fragile investment.  

Porthole and windshield glass installed

So, the outer rings of the portholes are in place (epoxied in prior to paint on the exterior) and interior rings needed to be constructed.  It was generally the same procedure using the circle cutting jig and router with an outer rabbet to set them flush to the glass and overlap the interior wall.  The install of the porthole glass was accomplished using 3M Window Weld adhesive first primed with a proprietary black fluid that was wiped around the outer 3/4" edge of the glass.  The adhesive is a black moisture cure rubber that is applied using a caulking gun.  We picked up a pneumatic gun on eBay for $25 and so far has been great for this super-thick bodied adhesive.  One unusual note about the bead of caulk.  Online pros suggested cutting the tip straight (not the normal angle) and then cutting a triangle shaped notch on the front of the nozzle about 1/2" tall and 1/4" wide.  Holding the gun perpendicular, drag the nozzle around the edge of the glass leaving a long, wedge shaped bead of adhesive on the glass edge.  My wife prepped the pieces and helped hand them in and out as we laid each porthole circle of glass down and I mashed them in place.  To temporarily hold them I used glazing points.  The 3M adhesive grabbed pretty well on its own.  The next day we just went around the glass and cut the rubbery adhesive squeeze out with an X-Acto knife. It scraped off the glass with a razor.  

cabin painted and trim rings in... note that the mahogany beam has been
arched across the bottom in place... was straight (ugly).

The inner rings were then just finished clear and screwed in place.  While a lot of this was going on, we were spending a lot of time starting the interior painting.  We used a top quality paintable window and door latex caulk and worked out way around the cabin and pilothouse filling and patching the seams and joints.  The paint chosen for the interior was a Sherwin Willams exterior semi gloss white and was laid on with roller and brush.  It really brightened the interior and made us glad we had taken the time to laminate the plybead and marine ply together.  The texture was amazing and the contrasting mahogany really looked clean.  

The only exception to this was the bathroom.  We used the same System # WR-LPU paint as the exterior due to the obvious wet environment.  The joints were also sealed with epoxy fillets for the same reason.  Maybe this is overkill, but it looked like an obvious place to start rot.
The worked progressed in the shop for a while and this was a welcome change to crawling in and out of the boat using the two foot step and one very long step over the coaming... it gets old.  















Shop Work... for a welcome change.

Load of 8/4 Mahogany and a piece of Tiger Maple outside Kroger on
the way home.  It had the Frontier squatted down pretty good.  I wish I had
my big 3/4 ton back... sniff, sniff.

Now it was time to get on with other pieces of construction centering around the side windows and cabin ventilation. Earlier we picked up a load of 8/4 Mahogany that was to be transformed into trim, doors and window frames. Some of this had been converted to the interior porthole rings seen above.  The side windows are next and they are actually a three piece system, one of which was installed much earlier in construction before outer hull painting. 

The other two parts of this are the interior ring that actually holds the glass, hinged by piano hinge at the top and and inner ring that will serve as a coaming with a silicon gasket. I constructed these parts as a solid unit and cut the radius corners after they were assembled.  Pocket hole plugs are glued in with Tightbond glue and stainless Kreg screws used to pull them together. I used CAD to layout the angled corner pieces and measured these out on the bench cutting them at the required angles on the miter saw.

Assembled inner coaming before radius

Radii cut and obvious pocket holes that will be hidden against
the wall.  Opposite face will be the appearance side.

Four heavy coats of WR-LPU clear

Inner Side Window Glass Frames...

You can't see the inner glass holding rabbet. This side faces out.

These are 1-1/2" thick pieces of frame-work that actually holds the glass and hinges at the top.  I evidently didn't capture the process on camera, but the previous process is the same and if you look close to at the sides, you can see the oval pocket hole plugs.  Again, 4 coats of WR-LPU.

Inner Coaming Ring installed.

This mahogany had a purplish cast when finished.  It has since started to
amber but may benefit from sun exposure. 

To install, we used a 2" piano hinge, pre-drilled using a center finding drill bit (absolutely essential and cheap).  You can see the silver edge of the hinge in the picture.

On a side note, be careful of finishing mahogany with soem of the water based finishes.  they don't amber like solvent based clears and can leave some weird tints.  I have since started to finish with a few coats of tinted finish, then clear.

The inside of the windshield needed trim rings too.  These were epoxy glued together as an over sized rough glue up and cut using a pattern.  Since there wasn't a straight line in the piece there didn't seem any other way.  Again, a big rabbet to slip down to the glass.

Installed rings.  Took a little fitting, but heck everything takes a little fitting on a boat.

Cabin Ventilation...

Ventilation is a big deal.  The lack of it can rot a boat like cancer from the inside out and, at the least, make for an uncomfortable and smelly interior.  So in an effort to ensure good ventilation, regardless of the Wabasto Heat Pump Install under the settee, we thought it would add a classy touch to build a genuine Dorade cowl vent complete with scuppered box.  Under the forward end of the box is a 4" piece of Sch 40 pipe that sticks about 2" above the deck and is flush with the interior cabin roof.  A ring with a butterfly vent and bug screen with regulate air flow.  The box is simple and time tested.  Lots of info out there on how to build one, mine is no different.

The hatch follows one suggested by Mate in his book "From a Bare Hull".  It uses an inner coaming and a outer hatch coaming that will be gasketed.  Between the inner and outer coaming is a channel scuppered outside.  The hatch serve double duty as an escape hatch in the event of an emergency and access is blocked to the aft door.

Note arc bottom...  it was taken to the boat and scribed.  Back at the
bench a jig saw got it close and a belt sander finished it off.

The hatch is two pieces of course.  A lower portion that is shaped to fit the contour of the hull with an inner coaming about an inch tall and a mating upper section that hinges off of the deck.  The lower portion is caulked and screwed securely to the deck.  The plexiglass was installed with countersunk stainless steel screws set in a bed of black poly caulk.  The painted matt border hides the black squeeze out. I used the existing protective film as a mask, scuffed the glass and sprayed a coat of rattle can flat black enamel.  Sticks well.  Again, a heavy bead of PL roof and shingle has created a nice rubber seal.

Note routed scuppers on underside of lower hatch frame

Upper frame with center support being attached

Assembled prior to plexiglass install.