Bit o' Progress

So, again, nothing terribly photogenic to report. I've been working on getting bits and pieces glued together, but nothing boat-shaped has occured yet. I got the stem laminated together this weekend, and got the chine doublers stuck onto Frame 1.

One task that's been intimidating me for a while has been the centerboard. Getting it shaped properly is going to be a bit of a job, and even getting the lammels all glued together seemed like a mountain to climb. This weekend I realized that I didn't have to glue all 23 strips together at once, so I started with gluing 6 together, and it seemed to go all right. I'll glue the other ones together similarly, then glue 6 to 6 and 5 to 6, then finally 12 to 11.

(By the way... made a rookie mistake. When I was coating the lammels with unthickened epoxy, I laid them down on a sheet of plastic atop some plywood to cure. Well, all the extra epoxy dripped down and pooled under them, leaving 1/4 thick nubs of plastic all over the place which I then had to remove with an angle grinder. Would have been smarter to lay them on top of wooden dowels, or even leave them on-edge rather than on the flats. Something to remember when I put the rudder together.)

I saw where someone on the Welsford builder's board made a negative template of the centerboard profile out of a scrap of plywood; basically cutting a foil-shaped hole in the middle of it. They could then slide the template onto the board while they grind/sand/plane away at it to see where the high spots are. This is what I'll probably do.

I've found that if there's a task in front of you that seems like a big deal, it slows down the whole process. I've been intimidated by the whole centerboard/centercase assembly for a while, but I have to have it finished before I can start making the boat look like a boat. Now that I have a plan in mind for how to actually do it, I think my progress speed will increase.

I heard from Gary at CC Fasteners this past week. They had to have some of the screws I need custom-made since they don't normally stock #8 and #10 silicon bronze screws in 3/4" length, and I need a bunch of each. Turns out the screw threading machine at the manufacturer is giving them trouble, so it's going to be another week for my screws. Okay by me, as I have other glue-related tasks to finish. :)

So, to-do list:
Finish centerboard laminations
Get some 9mm somewhere I can draw/cut on it, build centercase.
Finish putting 20x20 and 20x45 bits on the frames
Drill / cut drain and ventilation holes in the various pieces.
Find a long enough batten to finish tracing the outline of the bottom panel, then cut it out.
Clean up scarf joint on bottom panel.
Make up bottom panel spacers, attach to building jig. Attach bottom panel to spacers.
Get lead for c/b weight. (This thing is going to be HEAVY. 45lbs of lead on top of the solid oak centerboard.)
(a miracle happens)
Launch boat.

Piece of cake, eh?