TOPIC: Got clamps?

I'm sure glad I have a lot of clamps left over from building my wooden airplane years ago. Yesterday morning I laminated the two transom pieces together for the Sport 16.



This afternoon I'll take the clamps off, clamp the transom in a Black & Decker ShopMate and have at the edges with a belt sander. When they are all evened up, I plan to use the router to round off both the front and rear edges to fit the interior of the transom well. The old resin and cloth is a bit rugged where the sides meet the transom and I think that will make the wood fit in better.

When I am working on projects like this, I am always mindful of the time I was shopping for a new sailboat. I had the chance to visit the factory where a popular (but pricey) brand of boat was built.

I was inside an almost-finished 40' hull and saw a fellow inside a closet, sanding the wood inside of and adjacent to the door. I asked him, "How come you're sanding that? No one will ever see it." He replied, "God will." There's a guy who sleeps good at night, I'll bet.