The plans showed how to re-saw 2x6s or 2x8's into 1/4" sheets, but I'm lucky to have Owl Lumber in Lombard, IL ten minutes away. They've got many options of 1/4" cedar, birch, white ash, cherry, etc., although more expensive than re-cutting your own sheets. I chose Spanish Cedar and White Birch for the bottom deck which I'm setting up to glue together in the top picture. Both are fairly lightweight and free of knots.
The board I decided to make has lots of rocker (i.e., it curves up in the nose ~6" and in the tail ~3"). I made a rocker jig so that each rib can be braced at the proper height to get the right curve. Getting laminated decking to bend to that same rocker curve was important - it would crack if I didn't wet and bend the wood first.
In the bottom picture, the bottom deck laminate is already glued and I've placed it into the rocker jig to start bending it to fit the rocker. This piece was >9' long and about 23" wide so it was too big to steam. I covered it with hot, wet towels for about 10 minutes and then clamped it onto the rocker jig with pcs of 2x4 to hold everything down. Clamps are placed where the rocker jig supports each rib.
This shows the bottom deck clamped into the rocker jig so it will take the shape of the spar and ribs before I try to glue and clamp them all together.
This shows the bottom deck clamped into the rocker jig so it will take the shape of the spar and ribs before I try to glue and clamp them all together.
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