Laying the keel
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Construction on the full scale Weekender has finally commenced.
Mini-me has been helping quite a bit and is most proud of the progress made so far.
If you click on the photograph in the upper right, you will see my first mistake, or what I like to think is a deficiency in the plans.
The three layer keel lamination is started by lofting and cutting the shape of an outer slab, which is then used as a template for the other two layers. The long horizonal portion of the keel template has a flat spot at the front top edge where the stem is attached. This flat spot is formed from a factory-milled edge of the plank. When aligning the template on another plank to mark the other outside lamination of the keel, it is natural and correct to make sure that the factory-milled edges of the planks line up before tracing around the template.
For the center lamination, you are supposed to let the plank run long at the stern to form a base for the center lamination of the triangle shaped deadwood that supports the transom. There are two possibilities for aligning the template with the center plank.
- Align the factory-milled top edge of the template squarely with the top edge of the center plank.
- Align the very top front corners of the template and plank, but push the rear of the template downwards on the plank so that the natural extension of the top surface of the template intersects the top of the plank at the finished length of the keel.
The second option did not seem to be correct as it would create a thin wedge of a triangle at the base of the stem that would have to be planed down to lie flat with the two outer side peices (the template and it's identical partner). However, if you go with the more natural first option and align the milled edges of the template with the top edge of the plank for the center lamination, the portion that runs long under the transom will have a nice straight edge, but will be missing two or three degrees of inclination, and it will impossible to cut the three triangular bits of deadwood at the stern as per the plans. It was very difficult to obtain that 112 degree angle at the stern post shown in the plans. (And where exactly do you measure that 112 degrees? The top edge of the keel has a gentle upwards arcing curve. Protractors and angle-finders with different length sides will measure that angle diffently as their ends will land further out on that curve. As the measuring device gets longer, the measured angle gets more acute.) I made two sets triangles before I discovered the error. In the end, I simply cut the outside triangles as per the plans to obtain the proper angle at the transom, and then assembled the layers with an oversized center section to be planed down flush after gluing.