Keel Odyssey 2

After fairing the keel, which took me a great amount of time, I built a jig to make laminating the keel a bit easier. Tim Ford did the same and the Swift Solo web site has a tutorial that describes that jig.



I just tweaked it a little bit so I could take the keel in and out of the rig by myself. That was important because I did all the sanding on my working table and all the laminating and painting on the jig. Coul not have done it without the jig. Great stuff.Here is a shot of it.

Lamination was pretty straightforward. 2 layers of 6 ounce fibercloth took care of the job. I cutted all my cloth layers before hand and marked the center line (that is the purple marks you can see on the leading edge in some pictures. Marking that center line was important to make sure the cloth was applied correctly, as measured during the dry run.

I also used the squeegee more than ever before to make sure the lamination was lighter. The result was good with no dry spots.

After the keel was laminated and cured , I gave it a quick sand and added a thin layer of thickened epoxy. This assured me a very smooth surface without any thread of the cloth to be seen. Of course that final surface was sanded as well before I moved ahead and gave it its first layer of primer......and THAT is another story !