Keel work

I finally got the piece of wood I needed for the keel. Mahogany is not getting any cheaper. I still don't have a table saw so I used my trusty saw guide. The rip process generates a colossal amount of sawdust, (reference earlier post) so I cut the piece outside. South Carolina's weather is perfect for boat building right now. Not too hot, lots of sunshine.

I left the frames un-notched as I aligned them on the building form, so I had to notch the frames to accept the keel. The notches were layed out in pencil first.

Then cut and chiseled to their final shape.

And of course I don't have a picture of the final product. My initial pencil was a little off from what I ended up needing. In order to make a nice curve I had to bevel some of the notches. I also smoothed them to make a nice flat surface to bond to. I really don't want to screw this one up.

This is the keel dry fit along the frames. I think I am going to need more clamps, in addition to the screws I will use, to hold the keel to the frames and centerboard trunk while the epoxy dries. It takes a fair amount of force to make a tight fit right now so I probably need some more fitting work. Witness this section at the stem.

I also need to cut out the hole for the centerboard. Since the bedlogs that run the length of the centerboard trunk are bowed out a bit the slit may have to be egg shaped. I thought about pulling the bedlogs together with a clamp while I glue and screw the keel, but I think that when the clamp comes off the bedlogs will try to split the keel at the front and back of the hole. This requires more though before I proceed.