DM

The title pretty much says it all. The stem is a fairly large piece and there are three of them to sand. Furthermore, Ive been somewhat limited this week on the time to spend working on the boat. But I am getting there slowly but surely.

I did purchase two fine pieces of mahogany last Saturday which will be used for the remaining frame parts and the keel. I havent gotten to the point of laying anything out on them yet. Probably not until early next week with all the sanding I still have to do.

The sanding process is fairly straightforward. All of the parts are cut wide of the mark using the jig saw. Since most parts are made in pairs (or more), I start with the first part and carefully sand it down to the drawn lines. I try to maintain nice straight edges on the straight parts and smoothly flowing curves on the curved edges. I also strive to keep the edges nice and square in relation to the sides of the part.

Next I take the first part and align it to the drawn lines on the second part. The second part is on the bottom. As long as there is overlap all the way around the part this doesnt need to be perfect. I clamp the parts together and then run a few drywall screws through them in order to hold them together after I remove the clamps. All screw holes are pre-drilled with a smaller drill bit to prevent any possibility of the wood splitting when I drive the screws.

The last part of the process is sanding the bottom part until the sanding belt reaches the already sanded upper part. I need to be careful in the last few passes so as not to damage the first part. What Im striving for here is two identical parts that almost look like one part. There should be no ridges when running my fingers up and down the edges between the two parts.

So as to lend some visual interest, here are a couple of update photos. Dont mind the ogre in the last photo. He only charged me a small amount of money to work in his garage!