Floor #3 - cutting and shaping

Before I build myself a proper woodworking bench - with pigs and side-vise - I need to improvise when holding big timber for plaining. Using some clamps and portable vise solves this problem although it is far from perfect.

After squaring and dimensioning the laminated floor #3 I could move on and transfer cardboard patterns onto the wood. Aligned against their top edge - with centre mark scribed before on the boat - they should hopefully reflect 3D shape of this piece.

The reason for using top edge for alignment is that not only the sides are different but also the bottom, where it sits on oak keel, is tilted due to the hull shape. Top edge is really the only place where both faces can be referenced.

To transfer also keel bolt position I’ve used a wooden block with 20mm diameter hole as a template. It was aligned on the keel, with drill bit serving as a guide. Then the position of the block was transferred to front face of the floor pattern.

Having all that done I’ve transferred shapes onto wood. The very bottom wooden piece is not yet glued hence I still have the assembly clamped.

Then to cutting! Bandsaw to which I have access is in poor condition so I decided to use my trusty jigsaw. The longest blade was just enough to bite through this oak. It was a tough job - with many stops to protect the machine - but finally I got the rough shape of the front (bigger) face.

I was cutting as close to the line as I dared - due to timber thickness the blade had a tendency to skew so I wanted to have some margins and not cut too much. Anyhow the back face is at least 5mm slimmer so there is still a lot of wood to be removed.

To clearly mark the edges of the back face I’ve chiseled a chamfer along the line. That should give me a clear mark when I start to remove the wood between both faces.

The bulk of the wood now needs to be removed. I’ve chosen non-sporty way and used angle grinder with 40-grit, aggressively cutting sanding paper. One needs to be very careful when using this tool - it bites through the oak like through butter - very easy to remove too much.

For fine-tuning the profile I use spokeshave and grinder with less aggressive paper.

Now it is time to go to the boat and try this piece.

Hopefully the weather will calm down a bit - right now it is too dangerous to drive due to huge amount of snow and ice on the roads.