Testing the dovetail jig and then doing the upper half of the opening hatches and more laminating of door curved beams and painting hatches

Before starting to do the upper half of the hatches I did a dry run of the dovetail jig to make sure it is set up correctly fr the job.

The upper parts of the hatches ready to use the dovetail jig to joint the ends then once they are all done glue the corners together.

More doorway curved beams being glued up and once the glue has cured then it will be time to clean up the curved parts of the doors.

Some I prepared earlier just waiting to be cut to length and rebated into the fore and aft rails 

The lower hatch all primed up and ready to get fitted to the boat

Now both of the hatches are primed so they can be refitted to the boat.

The fore and aft hatch bases made and glued up and making more curved doorway frames and other jobs

Just making the final adjustments to the base frames for the fore and aft hatches 

Then gluing them up 

Making more curved doorway parts for the sliding doors on the lifeboat sides

Another curved frame member being glued up and the process keeps going on until we have enough frames members to build the sliding doors

The first few cleared up and primed ready for the next stage

Testing out the dovetail jig to make the upper part of the hatch frame.

Making the mortise and tenon joints for the aft and fore hatches for the ifeboat project

Marking out the mortise half of the joints

 and drilling them out so they can be cleaned up with a chisel.

Then dry fitting the tenons to ensure a good joint

All, done apart from one side, once fitted glued up and start on the second hatch 

First set of curved door framework sorted and primed and ready for the next stage 

"Taking living trees & make them into living boats "

Our company was founded in 1981 & has over the last 35 years being giving boat owners the benefit of our vast experience.

Our aim is take the stress out of getting your vessel build or repaired in the shortest time scale for the boat owners.
J-Star Boat Services are custom boat builders & have established a reputation as being quality craftsmen and are the builders of the bespoke Mai-Star Class clinker dinghy & restorers of all types of traditional wooden craft.http://ow.ly/vDLCV

Making door framework for the lifeboat to make it easier to get in and out of it.

Production line of making the ends of the framework 

Gluing up the laminates of hardwood after they have been steamed to help take up the curve, so making the bending round the jig easier to do and with less stress in the wood  

Two down six more to make and steam and glue together 

The cut to length pieces to make the fore and aft hatches 

Moulding a new 8 foot dinghy

Having purchase the mould tooling, J-~Star Boat Services will be moulding a new 8 ft carvel dinghy with a number of different wood trims. So it will be up to the individual client which trim he or she wishes to have and whether it is going to be just a rowing dinghy or a outboard and rowing dinghy, there will be a choice of hull colours so the client can have their dinghy to match their main motor boat or yacht.

We are taking orders for this new dinghy and will start production in a months time with the first dinghies to be ready for delivery in August.

The first dinghy is already moulded and is ready for fitting out  

A blank canvas to make the dinghy your own 

The dinghy comes with a good size beam and will be very stable when coming from the dinghy to the main boat. 

A productive Saturday on the lifeboat

Yesterday was a productive day with a number of jobs being finished off and systems being tested. The main job was to sort out the charging system and change it from its lifeboat system to one that could be used day in day out as a liveaboard boat which is its new role from now on. The main difference now is that it as a powerful inverter to run any amount of 240 volt systems the owner wishes to use without the need to connect to shore power to get his 240 volt equipment to run.

This is helped by having a large number of batteries in system and a alternator that can pump out a good amperage. The main part of the lifeboat conversion is now done apart from the new doors and hatches that have to be made and fitted.

Starting to finish off the toilet compartment and make a start on doing the wiring of the boat's electrical systems

The toilet is now plumbed in apart for the fresh water feed pipe.

The vanity sink is now fitted just need to connect up the taps 

The waste pipe is now fitted with a good fall on the pipe to the grey water tank 

The shower tray is now fixed in position and is ready to be flow coated to seal the fibreglass and wood 

The fusebox panel is now fixed into position and now ready to start wiring up the boat;s systems.

Making a shower tray to fit into the new toilet shower compartment on the lifeboat project

Cut all the plywood to make the tray, now just a matter of fitting it all together 

So it begins a bit at a time

Now the box is made it will a matter of covering it in matting and epoxy resin.

Just working out where to fit the scum box to pump the tray out 

Made the grating to fit in the shower tray

Glassing the shower tray with epoxy matting and resin before putting on a sealing coat.

Making a custom made fuse panel to go in the life boat project.

Having made the joints it was time to dry fix the box together

Then clamp it together and then wait for the glue to go off  

Now time to clean up the joints and get it ready to prime

First making sure the fuse panel fits in the box

Just now needs a coat of primer before it gets fitted on the lifeboat