Bamboozled by Skegs!

[dndrich]

SCAMPers:

Moving forward with the build of #330. Now, one thing that has me worried is skegs! I have no idea what to do. I have a pattern that I got at SCAMP Camp, so I have at least the outline. I don't have a band saw, and am not really a woodworker, that is for sure. What would be the easiest way for me to make some skegs? I could probably cut 3/4 inch plywood with a jig saw, and glue together, and shape it. Would that be adequate? I am worried about trying to work with hard woods. I am not sure how I would do it. Furthermore, what will be the best way to attach. Should I screw through the hull into the skegs once they are built? Thoughts for simplicity here?

[pocketyacht]

Daniel
Hi
You can cut out and laminate plywood to make skegs. The method is quite simple.

Cut out the pieces from the pattern I supplied you but make the cut out just a tiny bit larger (like the thickness of a sharpie pen, good for drawing the pattern) so when you go to shape with a sander you have a little wiggle room. Wet out the pieces, glue up as you would any other element of the boat on a thick flat bench with clamps, weights even some screws to temporarily hold them together or on a flat floor with adequate weight. Make sure the pieces align as you apply clamping pressure.

*Clean up squeeze out to leave as smooth and clean a working/shaping surface as possible. Come back to the laminate after about a half hour to clean up any additional squeeze out, it happens.

After the cure you can the then take the skeg laminates to a bench vice, clamp one in or both side by side for shaping consistency and shape with a sander. Careful rough shaping with belt sander if needed (go easy here a belt sanders can take too much off very quickly) is a possible start then you can refine with a palm sander, etc.

During the shaping take the skegs to the upside down hull and check their fit, shape as needed.

Also round over the lower edges with a trim router. Fiberglass the skegs with 6 oz cloth and finish as you would the hull with fill coat, graphite (if you are using graphite) etc.

If you want finger grooves let me know and I can walk you through this procedure. This will require a plunge router.

I suggest gluing the skegs to the hull and screwing them from the inside of the upside down hull with about 6 SS screws each to pull them down snugly.

I have noted your email to me on the other construction question.Look for my reply email. How about a phone call? It would be great to catch up in any case.
Hope this helps!
Best,
howard

SCAMPers:

Moving forward with the build of #330. Now, one thing that has me worried is skegs! I have no idea what to do. I have a pattern that I got at SCAMP Camp, so I have at least the outline. I don't have a band saw, and am not really a woodworker, that is for sure. What would be the easiest way for me to make some skegs? I could probably cut 3/4 inch plywood with a jig saw, and glue together, and shape it. Would that be adequate? I am worried about trying to work with hard woods. I am not sure how I would do it. Furthermore, what will be the best way to attach. Should I screw through the hull into the skegs once they are built? Thoughts for simplicity here?

[dndrich]

Ooh! Cool! OK, I would love to catch up. I will give you a call.

[ElHeffe]

I was advised to make mine from hardwood elsewhere on the forum. I started with plywood, but decided to use some rough red oak I found at crosscut lumber in seattle.

I drove through a few stainless screws from inside the hull as the glue was hardening. Make sure you measure correctly where to drive the screws and drill a pilot first.

Also make sure that the skegs will fit on your trailer. I extended the fat part of mine by just a few inches aft so that the skegs would for sure fit the rollers on the trailer.

I then epoxied the heck out of them to cover the rough cut and a nice big fillet.

http://building284.blogspot.com/search/label/skegs has my posts.

[dndrich]

So I thought I would follow up.

I glued the paper pattern I had for the skegs onto some 1/2 inch plywood and cut it out. I then cut out 4 pieces of 3/4 inch marine plywood from the 1/2 inch jig. Now, I tried with a trim router, and that was a mistake. With no table router I just cut them out with the jig saw. They were a bit uneven, but still pretty good. I laminated them on a very flat surface, and then shaped them with a portable belt sander, orbital sander, and hand sanding. Rounded over the edges with a 1/4 inch round over bit. They came out great. I then glassed with 6 oz and fill, sanded, and I had me 2 very nice skegs. I glued the first one to the boat today using 5 screws through the hull from the cockpit side, and that worked out great. I will attach the other this weekend, and then fillet. So, I am happy with this. I will then put on UHD plastic 1/4 inch stuff to them for dragging it over the sand etc. All is good.

IMG_2631.jpg

[dsimonson]

Yay, good job, they'll be rock solid, I'm sure! I bought a piece of Douglas fir for mine. It was the most expensive bit of wood in the boat! Used a jig saw to cut the shape, hand tools to finalize (ie: fix all the errors made by the jig saw), and a borrowed router to round over the edges. It was a very joyful job!!

[dndrich]

Figure I would show you how they look nearly completed. These are the 3/4 inch marine plywood cut and laminated, epoxied, shaped, rounded over, then glassed. Then attached to the boat, big fillets, and finally, the hull paint. I am now attaching UHMW plastic glides to the bottom of the skegs as seen here. These are the pre drills to get them to hold shape. I will then remove the screws, drill out to 1/4 inch, fill with thickened epoxy, re-drill, run some 3M 4200 along the line, and then attach the rails again with the stainless screws. I think this will work really well. Should be durable, slide on the trailer, and take a beating on the shore.

IMG_2683.jpg

IMG_2684.jpg

[Brent65]

Daniel,

Very nice work from someone who was initially bamboozled! Nice job.

[dndrich]

Daniel,

Very nice work from someone who was initially bamboozled! Nice job.

Thanks! This is a great community, and I got lots of ideas here. They came out well. Should do the job!