Fairing, Day 484: Tribulations of a Transom

Finally... another minuscule milestone along our far-flung foray into fairing.

I've finally got the port side of the transom even with the chine. Behold, the glory of it all:

This view...

That view...

And also some good progress along the chine, with the "wrinkles" fore and aft of Frame #2 mostly gone.

A brief waste of time down memory lane

The transom for my Glen-L Zip still has a long way to go. But, it has come a long way, too...

From cutting the parts out of rough-cut mahogany

To sanding them smooth, and saving the mahogany dust

To shaping them symmetrically

To the initial cut of the transom knee, and the first layer of 1/4" plywood

To rough-cutting the second layer of plywood

and laminating them together for the first 1/2" piece

To sanding away the Raptor staples

and test-fitting the pieces

and gluing them together

and sanding the transom cutout at 5:00 am

and trimming the top edge

and sanding the faces of the frame pieces

To making the 10° cutouts for the chine and sheers

To the 12° cutout for the keel

To fitting the keel

and fitting the transom knee

and drilling the transom knee

and installing the transom knee

To marking the notches for the floor battens

And making the 12° cuts for the floor battens

and fitting the floor battens

to installing the floor battens

and installing the starboard chine

and fairing the starboard chine

To installing the port chine

and fairing the port chine...

...and fairing the transom to match...

It has been a long journey. But, there is still much, much work to be done.

So, what's next? Currently, I'm back to working on the keel, trying to flatten it out a little more. 

It will get there, too.

Eventually.

Fairing Diary: Day 480

The vertical fairing of the port chine at Frame #2 left high points in the chine aft and forward of the frame.

Over the last few days, I have been working to sand those high areas down... kind of like working the wrinkles out of a blanket — made of mahogany.

Working the aft end of the chine has also increased the importance of fairing the side of the transom. It extends outward, past the chine, and hasn't been touched in a while.

I've been working on that, too. 

So, here are the progress photos at Day #480:

Close, but no cigar... just yet.

Slowly making my way into that transom.

Fairing Diary: Day 476. Contact!

Day #476... We have chine contact at Frame #2.

In this fairing phase, where progress is measured in tiny little fractions of a millimeter barely noticeable to the naked eye, and too small to measure with any instruments that I own... I'll celebrate every milestone I can. 

My tired and sore, half-century old shoulders tell me I'm making progress. My sore back tells me I'm making progress. The absolute mess of red dust all over everything, including myself... tells me I'm making progress.

Today, that little overhang on the chine, where it extended past Frame #2 on the port side met its end. Hurrah.

Now, back to work... 

Fairing Diary: Day 472

Day # 472. Fairing... what can I tell you? It's slow.

Although I hadn't written any posts in the blog since the summer, I have actually been working on the boat. Not much, mind you.

I had mostly been fairing around the forward port end of the boat, in the area represented by "Zone 8" of the graphic. That area is making pretty good progress, but in the last few days I've returned my attention to other parts.

My two main goals for the short-term are to flatten out the port side of the keel and trim the port edge of the chine.

Currently, there are two main trouble spots: 

• A high point on the port side of the keel between Frame #4 and Frame #5-1/2, (represented in "Zone 7" of the graphic). This high point is coming down, slowly. I'm hand-sanding all of this.
• The overhang of the port chine at Frame #2. I've had to adjust the angle to match the angle of the side of the frame. It has visibly improved, but still has a long way to go.

Okay. À la prochaine, mes amis.

Fairing Diary: Day 469

Day # 469...

It has been a long time since I last posted. Fairing work continues on my Glen-L Zip. Here's a review of the current state of things:

First of all, here is the zone graphic for reference as we move along.

A little bit of fairing has been done along the port edge of the stem, between the keel and the chine. There's still a way to go before the chine blends seamlessly into the bevel of the stem.

The fairing on the stem is a little more pronounced at the junction with the keel and frame #5-1/2.

Here, you can see that the bevel along the port side of frame # 5-1/2 has a bit more to go until it blends with the angle and curvature of the chine.

The port-side floor battens still aren't quite even with frame # 5-1/2, either.

There is still quite a bit of overhang on the chine at frame #2 (port side).

Conversely, the port side of the transom still extends past the chine and needs to be faired to match.

Here's a little issue brewing at the junction of the keel and frame #2. As I have faired the keel to match the angle of the frame, it has offset the centerline of the keel noticeably far to the starboard side.

Fairing. What can I tell you? It's slow.