SCAMP gets a nose job (solving a problem with a custom router jig)

To the extent I can in my small shop, I like to take a step back from time to time and admire my progress.  Generally I am well pleased, but recently something a bit out of line caught my eye.

I think this had been hiding until the contrasting paint showed up the unevenness in the trim piece I had installed at the top of the bow transom last September (see this post: <rubrails>). My intent was to have the bottom of the trim match the curve of the deck, but looks like that didn't work out:

I thought about this for a while wondering how I could most easily correct the problem.  My planes would not work on this concave surface.  A curved sanding block beveled to match the edge angle could work, but that seemed like a lot of work and not guaranteed of success.

I finally hit on the idea of making a custom router base to which I could attach a fence curved to fit the deck, and a leg to hold the bit at the correct angle.

Here's a shot where you can see how this fits against the bow of the boat.  The bit is 1/2 inch diameter, and set to the correct depth will give me a nice radius at the bottom - I won't even need to re-fillet this joint.

Here's a first pass on one side, showing the amount of material that needed to be removed.

And here's the final result before painting.  I feel good about getting this evened up.  Clicking on any of these photos should show you a larger view.

Upside up again - fairing and finishing

With the centerboard slot gasket installed I completed turning the hull right-side up again.  I grabbed a couple of the stands that were under the building jig and screwed parts of the jig side panels to them to make a stand to raise the hull off the floor, and it sits nicely on the skegs. I expect to put similar cross members on the boat trailer for support there.

I had noticed while installing the centerboard slot gaskets that the uphaul line for the centerboard was not going to line up as I expected with the hole in the front of the centerboard case, being an inch or so too low.  Not sure how I messed that up.

I decided to fix that by routing the line out of the back edge of the board vs. the top.  That position comes around higher when the board is raised.  I bored the new hole.

And filed a rope channel.  On what is the front face of this photo you can see the old hole filled in with epoxy.  This should put the rope close to the right height when the board is raised.

With the hull upright I proceeded to trim and round over the top of the rubrail.  Always satisfying to make curly shavings with the plane.

Here's a view from the bow of the result after routing off the corner and doing some sanding.

And then I worked some more at fairing the deck/cabin joint.  This was necessary because of the fiberglass tape that I applied on the exterior to strengthen that joint.  I iterated a couple times on this and then decided it was good enough.

I also finished up the fillet and fairing of the top of the mast trunk.

And then I could move on to paint.  I had done the cuddy interior and the floor while the boat was upside down, so now I continued with the seats and seat backs on the inside, and the deck, cabin and roof.

I was second guessing my choice of color for the deck and cabin roof until I layed out the sail for a color comparison.  The sail and the roof/deck are in the same color family and should look good together.

Here's what things look like after two coats of paint. 

And here's a view towards the bow.  It's fun to see the finish going on.

I've got at least one more coat of paint to apply, and will need to be a little more careful at the line where the two colors meet to get that looking good.

Next up I'll be laminating the top trim for the seat backs.  That will add about 3/4" more height to the seat backs, and I'll be able to put a generous round over on the edge for back comfort.  I'm planning to have the top 2 inches wide to make a comfortable arm support.  Stay tuned for that.

Rubrails installed

Rubrails are just about the last structural item to install.  

But before doing that, I put on this trim piece on the bow.  The plans call for the bow transom to be completely flat, but when I installed the deck I noted that I had a bit of extra length, and so left it in place.  I now cut this piece to finish off the bow.  No steam bending or anything here, it's just cut to shape.  It has beveled edges top and bottom and fits in nicely.  There will be a shadow under this and I think it will look better than a completely flat front.

For rubrails I elected to use some clear fir I had on hand in 14' lengths, old floorboards. They were pretty dirty to I cleaned most of that off with a sander, then ran them through the surface planer, and cut them to width with a circular saw.  The sheer curves horizontally, vertically, and twists, so I had to soften these up with the steamer.  It took a lot of steaming, and even then this wood didn't bend too well, but it was enough.  

I clamped them in place below the gunwale to hold their shape.

And after they cooled down removed the plastic back and reclamped them to dry.

Then installed them with epoxy and used screws to clamp them.

All trimming and rounding of edges will be done with them installed on the boat.