I have the aft bulkhead just about fitted to the right size in my ‘loosely stitched’ Mill Creek 13 and when I went to stitch on the hanging knees I found they don’t seem to fit at all! I’m building the Mill Creek 13 from the kit. Anybody have any advice/tips about how to cut down/shape the hanging knees to the hull - I have included a URL to a picture that shows how out of shape they currently are. I am a novice at woodworking and
would appreciate any advice on this.
Are you holding the hull open with that stick? You may try letting it relax a bit and it should assume the correct shape.
Thank you Jon, that’s a good suggestion. It didn’t seem to work though, I think because the stick is doing minimal work now and when removed it did little to change the hull shape to conform to the hanging knee shape. I think I’ll just begin shaving material off of the outer upper side of the hanging knee adjacent to the sheer panel; this should lengthen that side and bring in the lower part of the knee toward the bilge panel and the upper notch toward the sheer clamp. But I’ll do this very incrementally so as not to take too much off. Thanks again.
I’d give CLC a call before trimming anything. They will have someone familiar with that design talk to you.
Agreed with Mark and Jon, but John another thing I’d highly recommend is to trace your stock ones onto cardboard (preferably cereal box type) or posterboard before you start shaving them down. That way if you find out you accidentally got a bit too aggressive with the trimming you have a template to use to cut out a replacement!
Great idea, thanks! Done.
Grain of salt because I’m just building my own boat and it isn’t this one. But, you could loop a ratchet strap around the hull here and very gently snug it till this part lines up.
