I found marine plywood!

[Mama H Chicago]

Chicago is home, but I’m in Michigan this week taking care of my niece and nephew while parents are on business trips…. Lo and behold! I just picked up the two sheets of 1/4” marine plywood I have been trying to source locally with zero success, for months. This is to replace Red Rubber Duck, the 1950’s Sailfish’s deck. Saved myself around $600 in shipping costs!
Now to perfect the art of scarfing them together on plain old cheap plywood before I dare try doing it on my scarce mahogany.

 

[Fremont]

Nice! Where's the plywood shop?
Oh, I've scarfed okume plywood together, I'm trying to remember the easy method I found...

 

[signal charlie]

One easy method is a lap joint, which Alcort used. You carefully cut out 1/16th inch with a circular saw on each panel, about 1 inch worth.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

One easy method is a lap joint, which Alcort used. You carefully cut out 1/16th inch with a circular saw on each panel, about 1 inch worth.

Is 1” enough? Most of the YouTube videos seem to be saying a minimum of 3 inches?

 

[Mama H Chicago]

Nice! Where's the plywood shop?
Oh, I've scarfed okume plywood together, I'm trying to remember the easy method I found...

Public Lumber in Detroit.
Public Lumber & Millwork
(313) 891-7125

Public Lumber

Detroit's Specialty Lumber Yard

publiclumber.com

Public Lumber & Millwork - Google Search

 

[signal charlie]

1 inch is all that ALCORT did...as confirmed when we removed the deck and hull panels on our 1963 Sunfish CHIP. Youtubers are blabbing about a 12:1 scarf that is common for a constant angle scarf.
With a LAP JOINT, you'll have a nice straight seam showing.
With a scarf joint you'll get a ragged feather edge.

By the way that BS 1088 (British Standard) is very good marine ply, almost the best. 5 layers of ply vs 3 like you find on average fir ply. And much tighter grain that will not check. Suitable for a bright finish.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

Aha! Now I understand why the joint is so odd looking! The original seam appears to wiggle all over the place. Mystery solved, and I really appreciate the knowledge before I hit my boards with a hand planer or worse. I feel more comfortable doing a lap joint.

 

[LVW]

Somebody in your neighborhood should have a tablesaw or a router to make those cuts. Planing by hand is not efficient for this kind of cut.

 

[Wavedancer]

For some encouragement, watch these craftsmen:

 

[LVW]

Try your woodwork with scraps first. With five plies in only a quarter-inch of plywood, the final finishing/faring of a lap joint can still wander. A quarter-inch of plywood, divided by five equals...um...um...only one millimeter!

Surely, there's a High School "wood shop" that can handle this cut at no expense for you.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

Oh I’m definitely going to be trying this many times on scrap first! Great idea about a high school wood shop. My youngest goes to a very very well appointed school. Resources unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’ll reach out to them too!