Centerboard Case Installation

I spent a lot of hours over the past couple of weeks making sure the centerboard slot is plumb and square, and that it is wide enough to accommodate the board with one or two barnacles, a bit of swelling, or a few grains of sand.  Having done that, I moved on to the case itself.  Building the case, plus continuing cleanup and sanding inside the hull have occupied me pretty heavily since my previous post.

First installed was the much discussed and debated head ledge at the aft end of the case, notched to abut the forward edge, and rest atop frame 6.  Fortuitously, I happened to be at the ISM boatshop the day before, and observed my buddy Newt (no, not that one) applying bottom paint to the inner surfaces of the case to be installed in the Charles Beetle whaleboat being built there.  Usually, we forget to paint the inside of the case until it is assembled, and then we struggle with a skinny roller on a long handle.  Doing it first is a much easier and cleaner approach, and I was lucky to get a timely reminder of that.

 

 

Head Ledge, prepainted, glued in place

A better view of the notch, ready to accept case sides

 I gave the head ledge the night to rest so it would be rigid in the morning, and would give me an absolutely plumb surface to glue the case sides.  Fortunately, we have had a few fairly warm days, so that, with the additional heat from my halogen worklamp and the propane heater, I have a very nice gluing (and working) environment -- especially for mid January in an unheated garage.

Gluing up the sides was pretty easy, since I had test fitted them many times, predrilled them, and anguished over the entire process.  To my way of thinking, few things could be more frustrating that finding that your 300+ pound steel centerboard does not slide freely in the case after the whole affair is assembled permanently.

Starboard side of case glued and screwed to keel and head ledge

The starboard side went so well, I moved right on to the port case side, which also fit perfectly (well, perfectly when mated with thickened epoxy.)

Both case sides glued and screwed in place

Being a finish carpenter at heart, I could not resist pre-installing the mahogany trim on the case sides, and completing a nice shouldered round-over.  I will probably be sorry later, but it was fun to do and gave me a momentary sense of completion.  I think it looks pretty good too, and will likely carry that profile forward to other trim parts.

Moulding trim on case sides will hopefully be finished bright

Next up if the warm weather holds, will be the laminated sub-floors (or partial frames) at stations 4 1/2 and 5 1/2, which are notched into the case logs and will carry the floors of the cabin sole.  Otherwise -- more cleanup and sanding.