Installing the keel

Finally, I've reached the point of installing the keel on my Glen-L Zip.

Let's pick up where we left off: the transom knee needed a 7-7/8" tapered shim.

I made the shim, trimmed it to length, and epoxied it to the transom knee. After I sanded away the epoxy mess, it looked like this...

Trimmed & drilled

A little more primer...

Countersink the holes for the carriage bolts, so that the washers can land on a flat surface...

So, when I trimmed the shim, that obviously left a bit of a leftover piece. Keep that in mind. It comes into play later.

Now let's get to the keel installation. First, the prep work:

I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to Google how to properly install a carriage bolt in wood. But, one of the tenets of this blog is that I will openly share both my mistakes, and what I've learned, in an effort to help others. Surely I'm not the only person in the world who didn't know how to use a carriage bolt!

For those who don't know... the whole point of a carriage bolt is that you don't have to hold it with a wrench at one side while you tighten the nut at the other side. That's what the square part at the top is for. Drill a hole the same diameter as the bolt. Then, countersink the hole with a drill bit that is the same diameter as the width of the square part. Make sure you don't oversize this countersunk part. The square will drop right in, and grab hold when you tighten the nut. Pure genius.

Carriage bolt & countersunk hole at the keel-to-stem joint.

Marks on the keel, showing where to put the epoxy. This is the keel-to-transom joint.

Marks on the keel, showing where to put the epoxy. This is the keel-to-Frame #4 joint.

Marks on the keel, showing where to put the epoxy. This is the keel-to-stem joint.

I took someone's wise advise to cover all that finishing work I've done on the dash so far.

Safeguarding against gluing the frame to the construction form. Trust me... I learned from the Utility that it doesn't take much epoxy to cause you a real problem. If you use blue tape like this, be sure to remove it before the epoxy cures. Otherwise, it'll leave you one unholy mess to clean up.

Making sure Frame #2 is vertically level.

Okay. Remember the leftover piece from the transom knee shim? This is where it comes into play. 

I had tapered the very front of the keel, where it butts against the stem. I thought, "how could I possibly mess up a simple 45° cut with a mitre saw?" Well, I did. I wish I had waited & cut this after the keel was installed. In any case, the leftover piece of shim was perfect to make... well... another shim. I just cut it at 45° with my mitre saw, then marked out & cut a "baby shim" for the front of the keel.

Oops. Well, not the end of the world.

"And shim begat baby shim." —Michael 6-9: 18

Now then, time to attach the keel with thickened epoxy:

I clamped my 4-foot level to the keel to keep the aft flat.

Front of the keel, clamped and bolted into place. Here, I've got the shim epoxied and clamped into position on one side. I'll do the other side later.

This is how I clamped the keel firmly into the transom notch. The cross-board is not attached to anything, so it won't get in the way of attaching the transom knee later.

I carefully scraped away the epoxy squeeze-out... especially at the keel-to-transom joint. This is where the knee must fit, as precisely as possible.

Peace, brothers and sisters.