Cuts and more cuts

I did put in a day's work last Sunday.  Frustratingly, I spent a long time on a dust box made of particleboard, but the underside of the table saw is complicated, the fit is not too good and the contraption picks up some but not all particles of sawdust.  I suppose I need to tinker with it a little.  I also drew and cut the seat risers and the centerboard (CB) case sides and ripped some lumber into cleats.

This weekend I cut all the pieces for the CB case.  I need to assemble it before I lay out all the frames along the seat risers, because it will connect the three middle frames and stiffen the whole structure.  The centerboard itself I will make later, out of three layers of 6mm (1/4 inch) plywood glued together.  The middle piece will have a hole cut out to be filled with lead shot, and sandwiched in between two solid pieces.  This means that I had to draw and cut a mock centerboard out of thick cardboard, to make sure it pivots properly in the CB case.  That's one of a myriad bits of extra calculation and work that comes with a home-made one-of-a-kind design.  Before I put together the CB case, I will have to give the inside two coats of epoxy.

I also cut doublers for the tops of the two fore bulkheads, and the beam that connects the bow to them.  Finally, I cut a 13-inch-square opening in the main fore bulkhead: it will have a sliding door, opening onto a storage locker.  In coming days I will epoxy and assemble the CB case; laminate the two layers of the bow together; glue the doublers to the tops of the fore bulkheads and assemble the whole fore-end (two bulkheads and bow);  and butt-join the parts of the seat risers together.  Promises, promises, I know, but the work is slower than I had hoped.  I thought it best to do all the cutting I could before I started using epoxy: it's messy work, and I have to throw away the brush after less than an hour anyway, when it succumbs to rigor mortis so to speak, so it's a good idea to do as much as possible at the same time.  Plus I needed to clean up the sawdust lest it sticks to epoxied surfaces.  That I have done, so I'm ready for the sticky stuff.  Next time there will be some photos too.

So please come back to 176inches.

boatbuilder