Alaskan Benroy

[ratrod71]

Looking good!
Looks like you have the same gaurds as me,mine were imported to aussie from so cal

I got mine from a local utility trailer sales business. I believe they got them from Redneck Trailer Supply. I plan on painting them Chevy "Hugger Orange".

[dales133]

Havnt decided on mine yet but black i think

[ratrod71]

Havnt decided on mine yet but black i think

Never can go wrong with black! Always classic. Bryan

[ratrod71]

Removed the temporary screws from the roofs 1/8" plywood. Then took a router and trimmed all the edges and opened up the roof vent hole.

[KCStudly]

Sweet!

[dales133]

Looking good

[ratrod71]

Just wanted to post a helpful tidbit photo of the screws I used to fasten down the 1/8" plywood on the top while the adhesive was curing. The self drilling feature and large head desgn worked very well. I bought them at a local industrial supply store here in Fairbanks. Happy building, Bryan

[ratrod71]

Finished coating the roof with "West System" epoxy. That completes applying epoxy to all the exterior surfaces. Next item on the agenda is the dreaded hatch. With fear and loathing I began. I made the first rib which will be the Master Rib. My intentions are to rough cut all the others and router them to the Master. I chose to use "Apple Ply" for the ribs which is a brand of hardwood plywood that has 15 plys. The kind owner of Superior Hardwoods here in Fairbanks made me a deal on it I couldn't refuse. I am hoping to reduce springback by using this type of plywood. I stole the idea for the scribe tool from this website. Thanks to whoever first put forward the idea. Happy building, Bryan

[ratrod71]

Got all the hatch ribs identical and ready to start putting them into place. Pictures show them just in a mocked up position to make some final calculations.

[ratrod71]

I have a hatch! Finished the framework for the hatch and so far so good. Major milestone for me. This was an area I was dreading. But slow and steady payed off. I am going to let the TiteBond III dry overnight then unclamp it to see what I have. Materials are... ribs made from 15 ply hardwood "Appleply", spars are mahogany, and the corner gussets where the latches will be mounted are poplar.

[dales133]

Nice one
Not half as bad as you think is it
How are you skinning it and finishing it off?

[ratrod71]

Nice one
Not half as bad as you think is it
How are you skinning it and finishing it off?

I think I dwelled on it about 50 times more than it took to build. Kinda fun building it in retrospect. I plan on skinning it on the inside and outside with 1/8" birch plywood. Then .040 aluminum on the outside. Two slam type latches, and offset "T" molding. Inside will be Spar Urethane Varnish on the birch plywood.

[tony.latham]

Nice stout but light-looking skeleton.

Wood is good.

Tony

[mediczach]

This is exactly what I'm planning on doing, keep up the awesome work

[S. Heisley]

I plan on skinning it on the inside and outside with 1/8" birch plywood. Then .040 aluminum on the outside. Two slam type latches, and offset "T" molding. Inside will be Spar Urethane Varnish on the birch plywood.

...Sounds good to me! Your hatch framing looks excellent.