New Daggerboard

When I built the boat I was very budget conscious, so I was using wood that I could secure from any source. I bought a good bit of wood off Market Place and Craig's List. Some used (like the douglas fir from the defunct bowling alley in Kingston), some bought and never used (like the sheets of OSB), some abandoned (like the cedar from the building next to church), and some used (like the plywood used for shipping). Well, that last one... that's what I used for my daggerboard. It was JUNK! I knew it at the time, but by the time I figured it out I was in the sanding/planing stage and decided to finish. I thought by glassing it, it would protect it and I'd get some time out of it. I figured at some point it would need to be replaced. That time came. The board suffered water intrusion, delaminated and swelled up to the point it wouldn't fit into the trunk anymore. I discovered that on my trip to see Peter Frank. I cut it in half to see the inside.

Time to build another board. I gave it some thought as to how to build the new one. I considered three ways: plywood, solid timber, strip built. I didn't want another board to delaminate again. I looked at a  decent piece of oak. It looked like it has a little twist in it and I didn't relish the idea of planing/sanding oak. So I went with the third method.

Off to Lowes I went. I found a ten foot 2x8 (first one on the stack!) that was totally clear and looked straight as an arrow. The grain was much tighter than typical box store lumber too though not as tight as old growth. 

The board is very thin (7/8"). I made a mistake when I built the first one. Somehow I only used two layers of ply instead of three. Of course, I built the trunk to fit the board, so building a thicker board is not really practical. I could redo the trunk but that would be a huge undertaking and would be quite invasive! My only option there was just to build another thin board.

I started by cutting the 2x8 into 7/8" strips. 

Can you see a daggerboard in there somewhere? I can!

Here's a pic of the grain in the strips.

The next step was to epoxy them together. My epoxy was old. I had some left over from the build but it was over 2 years old. It had crystalized a good bit. I had heard that if you warm it up, it will liquify again. So I got out a heater and went about heating it up. 

Success! Even the crystals in the pump liquified. The hardener was OK. 

I mixed my epoxy, pre-coated the edges of my wooden strips, thickened it with wood flour, and then glued them together.

After some sanding, it looked pretty good though there were some "low" spots. 

I figured with shaping the board, most of those would disappear. 

My goal was to shape it as close to a NACA foil as I could. I got a recommendation from another builder on the dimensions and printed a full scale template.

I took measurements on the depth of cuts at intervals that I could make in the daggerboard blank, cut them into the board as guides for planing/sanding, then spray painted the cuts.

Then came time for the planing and sanding. Gotta be careful and not take off too much. I used my $100 table saw as a work top so I could do it outside. After several hours I got a decent shaped board.

I covered it in glass and painted it with oil-based Glidden Porch and Floor Urethane which I have used on all my builds.

The trim came off the old board. One side is screwed while the other was epoxied in place. I simply cut that piece off and redid it the same as the first board. 

And my new board!