Taking a break from painting the interior, allowing for cure time, I turned back to the brightwork and established the fastener holes for both the starboard and port rails - toe and rub rails. The fasteners will be #10 pan head wood screws, through the outboard edge of the deck and along the sheer line, and will be covered with 3/8" bungs. As the factory did, I set the forwarded most fastener, just aft of the stem fitting, to just over 1" and all subsequent fasteners 8" apart as I worked my way aft.

I began with the newly fabricated toe rails. I set the table-top drill press more or less in the center of the bench that runs the length of the shop wall. With the drill press in this location, I could drill out for a fastener and its bung, and then advance the rail for the next. I supported either end with some material or object serving as surrogate to achieve a planate surface with that of the drill press - this was done to support the rails as I advanced it through the work area. I clamped a makeshift fence onto the small surface of the drill press, locating it so that the drill bit plunged directly on the center line of the rail. The drill bit was marked with tape to act as a guide to achieve a predetermined depth of cut. I utilized a 3/8" forstener bit to drill out the rails for their fasteners and bungs. Bungs will also need to be cut from the scrap mahogany pieces, set to the side, and used for the many fastener holes.

The four rails, two rub rails and two toe rails, were processed without any issue. The work was careful and deliberate, stopping to vacuum shavings after each cut was made. Monday afternoon will be a bung day!

Total Hrs: 3