1/2 Round-over on Keel Assembly done!

I used a router today to cut a 1/2 round-over on the bottom of the keel and on the inside edges of the centerboard trunk that will be inside the cabin. I borrowed a router from my dad to use and this was the first time I have used one.  I used a scrap 2x4 to practice on, before cutting into the keel assembly. The router was pretty straight forward. I had to play with it to get the right height. Not too high, not taking off too much. I was a little concerned with the doing the edge on the bottom where the centerboard comes out. There is not a lot of wood on either side and the rolling bearing that prevents you from cutting too deep was barely touching enough wood. The setup and practice took a hour or so. The cutting on the final too about 10-15 minutes. I then sanded the edges and the holes I filled up yesterday with epoxy. Below are couple of pictures of the inside edges.

I still need to fill some of the holes with more epoxy. I tried to use a syringe I purchased to fill the nail holes I drilled earlier, but the epoxy was too runny and didn't fill all the way. I think I will just fill like I normally do with a scrapper and force thicker epoxy down the hole. Besides that, I think I am ready to start pouring lead. That will have to wait until I get back from vacation.

Inside edges with 1/2 round-over

Cleaning up Centerboard and Sanding Keel Assembly.

Not a lot to show. I removed the clamps from the centerboard and keel assembly. I then spent some time today sanding both and cleaning up some of the epoxy squeeze out. Where the lead is supposed to go in the centerboard had a lot of epoxy, so I used my heat gun and scrapped as much as I could. I also took the time to fill up the holes with epoxy that I will drill out at a later date.

Centerboard sanded with 80 grit. Getting ready for lead pour.  

Filling up the centerboard holes with epoxy hardened with cab-o-sil. 

Cleaning up the epoxy squeeze in the centerboard.

I used my belt sander to clean up the big globs. You need to be careful with a belt sander. It will take more off more than you think!  No trouble done, but something to be aware of. 

We are supposed to go out of town on vacation this weekend, but they are calling for a tropical storm possibly???  We may delay the trip a day or two, but if so I will try to work on things. Next up is taking the router and doing the 1/2 on the edges of the keel assembly.  I am going to try to do as much as possible before we leave for the week.

Its straight now!! and Centerboard glued up.

Yesterday I unclamped the keel assembly and everything looks to be straight. As noted in my previous post, it was very unnerving cutting something you have worked on for weeks. In the end I am getting back on schedule. Next steps is to put glue in all the holes I created to align things. I ordered some syringes to help with that and they should be here early next week. I am going to let the epoxy cure for a few days before sanding and using the router to do the edges.

Picture below shows keelson is straight with keel.

I also took time to glue up the centerboard. This took two batches of epoxy with cabosil to glue things up. I made sure I coated both sides of the centerboards with plenty of epoxy. I used an olde trowel I had to laying mud for tiles. That helped to even out things. I used a brush to get around all the edges. As the manual says, you will need a lot of clamps. I used every one I had. May need to pick up more at Home Depot today for future use.

Keel curve fix?

Here are some pictures of the the keel fix. Notice the curve right after the centerboard trunk.

I didn't want to do it, but I had to cut the entire length of the keel block in half. It was hard to do, but I don't want a curved keel.

Here is the keel ready to be reglued. Notice the nails I used to line things up. I forced the keel to where I wanted it to be and then clamped it. I then drilled holes through and inserted nails. This allowed me to get it where it was supposed to be and I only needed to apply glue and squeeze it shut. That way I knew it would align up right and I would not have to fight with it after applying the glue.

All glued up and clamped.  It is sitting on 2x4's with plastic, so I could sit it upright and still get the clamps under the keel. So hopefully this weekend when I remove things I will have a straight keel.

Keel and Centerboard trunk glued, but now a curve!

I had to go out of town to an event, so I was not able to work on the boat this past weekend. I did manage to take a 1/2 day off before going and glued up the complete keel and centerboard. I did my best to make sure I was careful to shim the back of the keel up with the pieces I cut off from the lower long blocking. When I unclamped things, I seem to have a little curve to the keel. One side is straight back and the other is a little curved. When I did a dry fit of the keelson, it is off about 1/2 inch in the rear. I think it is due to using a 8 foot plastic work table that sagged in the middle. Probably should have used my temporary saw horse bench I originally built.

I called my good friends at CLC and they assured me it can be fixed and gave me suggestions. I will be trying that this week and will post what I did. I did some measurements last night, started to build a little jig to re-glue things and have a positive outlook that everything will be fine. At least that's the story I am sticking with now. 😀

Will post the outcome and  pictures later this week.

Aft Keel Blocking

     Had to work and then family obligations yesterday with Mother's Day, so I only had a couple hours Sunday night to work. Making slow but sure progress. I was able to glue the back rear blocking for the keel. With all the stories about issues with keeping the keel straight, I have a been a little anxious about doing this part. But with anything, how much can I mess it up???,  so I proceeded to glue.
     I did use shims under the rear to adjust for the taper of the lower blocking. I just saved the parts I cut off and put them underneath to raise it up that amount. You can't seem them, but picture a long wedge about 2.5 ft. long. I think it turned out ok, but I will not know until I get everything glued together.

     I did find a good use for my free weights! :-) Otherwise they have been collecting a lot of dust.

Keel Blocking too short and Centerboard Trunk all glued up!

I have a created a new opportunity.  I was cutting the long tapered blocking piece on the keel last night and it looks like it is too short. I am using the wood timber provided by CLC. I also read another blog where they had the same issue using the pattern provided but CLC.  The pattern is actually long enough, but the piece of timber provided was about 1/2 to 1" too short. Now the question of what to do? Talking with CLC, they suggested filling it up with thickened epoxy or cutting a wedge and gluing that in. I decided to go with cutting a single piece of wood. I plan on gluing that hopefully later today.

Keel blocking too short. 

Modified rear piece out of some scrap.

Single piece of wood to fill gap.

I also finished gluing the Centerboard Trunks. As the manual states and other blogs, I have a BOX, but it won't float! :-)

I also filled the centerboard holes with epoxy for the centerboard to pivot on. They were only covered with fiberglass after I did that step. They should be filled in and later drilled out. I was a also a little worried about getting epoxy all over the place, but I was able clean it up pretty good with a stick and rag with acetone. It is hard to get the squeeze out on the outside, because the clamps are all in the way. I will just have to sand off any extra after the fact.

Centerboard Trunk all Glued up!

Nose Block glued to 1 side of keel. 

Nose block Cut!

I was able the make the nose block cut yesterday after work. It took a little thinking, since my band saw is only a 10" saw.  I followed the manual and temporarily connected the keels to the nose block. I used some smaller fine tooth sheet rock screws I had. The manual really didn't say how to do it, but to just connect it.

marking cuts

The manual suggests attaching a piece of scrap plywood which I did and did the first cut on the saw on the bottom/ straight part of the keel. That worked good. Doing the top was a different story. It as not able to do the size of the saw. I ended up flipping the nose block and cutting it in reverse. Only problem with that was the scrap piece was not there to stabilize during the cut. I then cut another scrap piece and screwed it to the part of the nose block that I was going to cut off. Took a little thinking, but everything ended well.

Reverse cutting. 

Below is after the final cut. You can see the other temporary pieces of wood I added to stabilize the piece while I cut it. 

Next step is to cut the keel blocking and start gluing everything together! 

Productive Weekend with Center Board Trunk and Keel Parts!

I was very busy this weekend and got a lot of things done and organized. Friday night after work, I made an epoxy station to store the 5 gallon containers of MAS Epoxy. I had been storing them in the house, but now it is staying above 60 degrees in the garage, so I should be ok.

New Epoxy Station

I have been using a cart I got from HomeDepot. It works pretty good, since it has wheels and I can move it around to make room depending on what I am doing. I am finding that a big issue with the build is the logistics of everything. Having things on wheels makes it a little easy to shuffle things around depending on what I am doing.

Epoxy Cart from Home Depot

 Friday I also finished putting the bandsaw together and made a few practice cuts. Since the bandsaw is new to me, I watched a couple of videos on youtube about setting it up. I think I did a good job, because it seems to cut straight. I think I am going to really like this tool with the build!

New Craftsman 10" Bandsaw

Saturday I had an event to do with the wife and didn't have but so much time in the morning to do anything. I finished sanding the nose block, so I am ready to glue it to the keel piece next week. I will probably do that one day after work.

Nose block finished! 

I also put one coat of unthickened epoxy on the keel parts. One of the keel parts was a little warped. Not sure how this happened, since I have been very careful with storing the parts laying flat. I used a new heat gun I purchased for the project and ran it across the wood. I then clamped it to a portable bench and puts some weights on it overnight. It looked like it fixed the problem for the most part.  I think I will be good.

Keel parts with one coat.

keel part a little warped. 

Today I sanded the 2 sides of the centerboard trunk and then used the bandsaw to cut out the blocking. I did a dry fitting and then mixed up some thickened epoxy with cabosil. I need to figure out how much to mix for board on board gluing, since I seem to be wasting a little.  I also think I am putting a little too much on the parts, because I seem to have some squeeze out. I wouldn't say it is a lot, but something I am not sure off. All of it is a learning curve since I have never done any of this. The next parts I glue, I plan on mixing smaller amounts.

Next week, I will glue the other side of the centerboard trunk and work on the nose block.