Blackwood Decking

I was unsure of what to cover the deck with. I had always said that if the timer work turned out poorly then I would paint the deck white! The dashboard had encouraged me to continue with a timber top and I quite liked the strip plank look of yesteryear. There were also some others builders that had put solid timber strips on top using various means. I just had to find the method that would work for me.

Finding the timber was the problem. After much searching and asking dumb questions at timber yards and hardware stores I eventually stumbled upon someone who could produce exactly what I was after.

There were strips of Tasmanian Blackwood about 95 mm wide and 4mm thick along with thin strips of Celery Top Pine at 6mm square. The plan was to lay the Blackwood with the Celery Top Pine in between and then sand down the Pine strips until they were flush - it worked out perfectly.

Here is the first strip going on. They were mainly all epoxied on although I did use some single pack glue.

Ta da! Here is the first one in place. I used a staple gun to hold them down. Seemed to work pretty well but I had to be careful not to drive the staples in too far or else it made them hard to get out.

In this picture you can see the strips of Celery Top Pine between the planks of Blackwood. I used the paving blocks to hold the Pine strips in place.

Here is the completed deck after being sanded with a belt sander (this took a fair while). I used a router to trim the inside and outside edges off. Bits of Blackwood went everywhere and it to ages to clean all the bits from within the boat.

On with a couple of coats of epoxy.

Looks nice and shiny now!