9 June 2014

Cutting first panels for dinghy

I have cut out the templates for all of the internal panels and transoms in thin ply and MDF. Careful cutting with Japanese saws and a fine jig saw seemed to work pretty well. All of these will be in 12mm marine ply, so I fixed all the templates to one end of a full sheet. This leaves me with nearly half a sheet for future projects. I stapled the templates on, which seemed a good idea, but the MDF was a bit thick, so I had to use nails in the end. Then carefully cut round all with a fine jigsaw blade. I left a good margin, but it would be worth cutting closer, with care, to save on the final routing.

Next each panel was clamped and cut around with a guided router. The principle works very well. You get an exact replica of the template. It is slow work, so a fine line of waste to cut away would be worth aiming for. The staples got in the way more than I thought they would, and resulted in one wobbly edge to the bow transom. Fortunately this will be buried in the joint, but shows you need to be very careful.

Once all of these internal panels and transoms are finished and shaped, I will cut out the main strakes the same way. I should be able to cut them two ate a time, which should result in perfect matches...

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