Thursday, March 25: Today's job was to screw and epoxy the keelson in place, but there were several preliminaries which had to be done first. I built a low sawhorse to support the boat in place. Under the stem I set up jack stands with a plank between them. And I blocked up the skeg to the right height. I measured and marked carefully where the centerboard slot in the keelson will be, to know where not to put screws. I notched the #4 mold for the keelson so I could clamp it in place to hold the hull shape while fastening the keelson. And I taped off the area on the inside bottom where the keelson is to lie, to keep the epoxy from making a mess. Finally I wet out the keelson and bottom with unthickened epoxy, mixed up a thick paste of epoxy and spread it on the bottom, and laid the keelson in place. I screwed it down, working from the bow aft, and when I reached midships I was able to clamp the mold in place. The keelson is now laminated to the bottom panels and to the gripe and skeg. The centerboard trunk will be the last piece of the backbone. That's it: a day's work, at my pace. One reason each step takes so long is my reliance on epoxy adhesive; it takes a while to mix and apply, and once a piece is fastened with screws and epoxy, I need to leave it alone to cure. Makes for slow progress, but it's worth it to get a strong and long-lived boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment