Trimming the Keel

While waiting for the arrival of the Mahogany for the 2 layers of 1/8" thick diagonal veneers, Richard decided to start trimming the excess planking along the keel, bow, transom, and sheer. Doing this was one of those "Do I do it now or later?" type decisions. As it happened, he had the time over a weekend, while waiting for materials and tools.


This job turned into a physically demanding marathon.


Im not sure if a hand plane, that has hit a few bronze screws was the easiest tool for the job, but I suspect a slight amount of Holiday purging was involved.


And once he was up on the keel, he thought twice about coming down for a different tool, or to sharpen the blade. The heater is off, even though the outside temps are in the teens, but the light keeps things warm and tight up there.


The hand plane did remove the risk of "over cutting". That is another way of saying "what an incredible amount of manual labor!"

This view is from the untrimmed stern. It turned out that trimming the cedar without the added hardness and potential for directional tearing of the mahogany was the best way to attack this step.

The transom is awaiting a good trim job. The Saws-All was used to remove large ends in readiness for planing.

The bow is looking good. Note all the scaffolding is gone to be replaced by a simple 6 ladder.

Oh, to have a real boat barn!.....that light placement seemed great at the time.

Here you can see the planks of cedar meeting the V.G. fir bow inner stem, all trimmed in readiness for mahogany veneers and ultimately the deadwood. The deadwood is a build up of wood that creates the lines of the keel, flowing into the lead ballast.

A view of her shape towards the bow.

She has a fairly plumb bow. The outer stem, which is a curved piece in the shape seen here, will be applied after the veneering. A bow-sprit will add several feet to her length overall.

It looks like a photo prospective issue, but the trimmed sheer does have a beautiful swooping line toward the bow. Trimming the sheer after planking, but before the application of the veneer was a good choice. Less material to remove. Trimming the 1/4" of veneer and epoxy should be a breeze, but may warrant a sharpened blade.

The sheer is trimmed toward the stern, with a less pronounced curve.

A small amount of tumblehome really adds to her classic shape. Tumble home is when the sheer (deck line) slightly rolls toward the centerline. This can be accented by the line of the bulwarks, the raised trim edge around the deck that becomes the visual swooping deck line from a distance.

We couldnt be happier with her classic shape.

Related Posts by Categories