In the mean time, reading through the plans, I decided that now was a good time to get started on the deck beams. There are five of them, identical, made from a lamination of 1/2" plywood.
Step one was to cut some boards out of the ply. These are 72" x 6":
The actual beams are 1.5" wide, so I needed to rip four strips out of each of the boards:
The result was a big pile of sticks:
Next, it was off to Home Depot to get an 8' 2x8 to make the bending form. The making of this is pretty much the same process as I used for the strongback back at the beginning: Mark the offsets, tack in a finish nail, use a limber batten to establish the line, cut it off. The only think I noticed that was different is that this curve is too sharp to cut easily with a circular saw. I used a jig saw.
I grabbed a piece of scrap plywood and screwed it to the bottom of the bending form so I would have a good surface to clamp to the sawhorses.
From there, it was just a matter of mixing up a batch of glue, coating the sticks, and clamping them down. I was trying to be careful...applying just enough force to bend the beam into position, but not so much as to squeeze out all the glue. Not sure there is any getting that right.
You'll also note that I put some plastic over the bending jig first. We will be doing four more of these beams, so I don't want the jig getting munged up when I take them off.
On a totally unrelated note, I sold the Evinrude that came with the "throw-away" boat that I bought for the sake of getting the trailer. I put it on Craigslist for $100, and the guy handed me a $100 bill. Somehow, at that moment, that didn't seem right, so I gave him a $20 in change. I wasn't trying to make money on that. I just wanted it to go to a good home. I feel better at $80, since that's pretty much what I had in it.
I did a little research on it, and it turns out its a 1957 "Big Twin", 35 HP. Pretty cool. I hope the guy gets her running.
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