FS18 Straight Sheer, Round Chine

[Aripeka Angler]

Reid,
Nice looking cuts on the glass You have a great plan for the layup!
I'd snag a helper if you have one available. Also, pizza and beer make a great finish to big layup job

[Browndog]

Looking good!

[Aripeka Angler]

Can you bolt 2 circular saw blades together to make that cut?, maybe an arbor spacers required ? just a thought...

Actually, this will work if you follow a couple of important steps.
1) Make sure that the arbor or arbor sleeve is big enough to safely accept two blades and a spacer.
2) Stagger the teeth on the blades so that they are not damaged when you tighten up the arbor nut or bolt.
3) Set the saw depth so that the blade only cuts through the ply by a 1/4" or so. This is important, if you set the depth correctly you can almost cut circles with a circular saw. The thinner the ply, the easier it is to cut arcs and curves with a circular saw.
4) If you can put a smaller diameter blade set on your saw, you can even cut a tighter curve or arc. Example, 6" blades on a
7-1/4" saw.
What you describe is basically a textbook dado blade setup. We use this method in our shop mostly with stationary equipment but we do occasionally put two blades on a circular saw. It's actually safer than trying to freehand a curve with a high speed router.
To do a safe, proper job of cutting a curve with a router- you really need to be using a jig of the shape you are cutting and a router base template guide.
I'm not a big fan of jig saws, they tend to do more harm than good.

[seaslug]

If I had known prior to cutting the bow section on my FS18 that a wider cut was nessecary I would have definitely used the stacked blade technique with a circular saw as opposed to a jig saw. That being said, a jig saw is one my favorite and most utilized power tools, but if you're going to own a jig saw, buy the best. The Bosch is absolutely one of the finest tools ever built, and I've been using mine commercially for over 17 years, and it runs as good as the day I bought it. They run as smooth as a sewing machine, are variable speed, and vibration free.

[Aripeka Angler]

Mike, I'm not trying to discount the value of a jigsaw. We have more than a half dozen of them which include Bosch, Porter Cable and Dewalt.
We use them every almost every day in our business. Mostly hacking oval sink holes in plastic laminate vanity countertops.
They do tend to be more destructive than a router or a circular saw when cross cutting a slot in plywood.
All of these tips are relative I suppose, we all have to figure out what works the best for us

[stickystuff]

I thought I new about this trick. ???Never even conceived of the idea to use two or more stacked blades on a skill saw. I have cut circles on a table saw by using a jig to hold the center part of the radius. Then adjust the height of the blade as you spin the plywood around.
I cut inside radius on some high density foam on a table saw when I made 3" inside radius when making tunnel forms on XF @0 and PH 15.Make an angle guide at a 45 deg. Use it like the fence. Take the main fence off. You have to play with the angle until it falls center of the piece. I used 4" widw foam and cut it at a 45 deg all the way through. 3 ft. long piece. Do this first on reg straight cut. Now remove the fence and set up your aangle fence. Set your saw depth to zero. Raise the blade up 1/4 " and push the flat part of the angle through just enough so you can adjust the fence where the piece is centered. Now you want to do two pieces at a time . run first one through at this depth then run the second one through. Crank your blade up another 1/2". Run your pieces through again. Crank up blade another 1/2" do this every time until your radius hits the outside edges of the angle piece of foam. Do this slowly and make shure all fingers are clear. make your self a push stick out of some scrapWhen you build your tunnel mold then lay in the radius angle pieces and you will have a perfect round tunnel. You will have to make some compound cuts to make rad. parts blend in with the start of the tubbel. Some place in the archives when I built the PH 15 ther are some pictures. Lots of fun to do but go slow and be careful . Do not raise the blade to high. Just a little each time as you go deeper in the radius cuts.

[Jeff]

StickStuff, nice to hear from you!! Hope you and the wife are well!! Jeff

[Reid]

Reid,
Nice looking cuts on the glass You have a great plan for the layup!
I'd snag a helper if you have one available. Also, pizza and beer make a great finish to big layup job

AA,

Thanks! As far as help goes, I am bringing my dad out of retirement for the layup. I'm sure there will be a beer or 6 involved along the way! (After the work is done of course )

Reid

[gonandkarl]

Hi,
I follow this build all the time not only to see how easy it is to build from a kit but also because of the tips being mentioned. I have a question for my build which fits in here well because it is straight sheer and chine or round sheer and chine ? My problem is I am at the fairing and sanding of my Adelie 14 and I do not know if I should try for a sharp edge at the sheer and chine or a little bit round like a radius chamfer. Sofar I am battling with a sharp edge having to always put fairing on again and then sanding. I think a small chamfer would maybe easier to achieve with a hand sanding block.
I am sure one of you experts can help me.
Greetings from Karl

[Fuzz]

Hey Karl,
You only need sharp chines for a planing hull. For your boat I would make my life easy and round them over.

And Reid it is about time for an update don't you think