Getting close to closing the football.  Note the two small screw holes in the white strips.  As you build, it is very important that the strips are kept tight to the stations.  As you begin your bottom rounding, you will need to check them closely. Occasionally I had to add a small drywall screw in a strip here and there to pull it in tighter to the station.  Don't forget to pre-drill so you don't get a split strip. The holes get filled later.

        As you get closer to the football, the work becomes quite tedious.  You must cross hatch the strips so that they intertwine.  This requires very close tolerances and each strip must be fit exact. This is another time consuming job. Strips are cut slightly long, one end is inserted tightly and clamped and with the strip bowed test fit,  cut and sanded a small amount at a time until the strip finally lays tight and flat in place and both ends are tight to the other strip. Very much trial and error. A very fine Japanese hobby saw is very useful here and a good flat sanding block with 80 or 100 grit is also very helpful. This is one part of the building that you do NOT want to rush.

    As I said earlier, I screwed up locating my stem pattern and had to do more work than ordinarily necessary. So before installing the outer stems I had to make another pattern to get an exact match to existing inner stem.  I did this by cutting out a pattern from foam (gator board - but anything will do) to match the inner stem, then transferring that to another plywood pattern seen here.  The outer stems were made of ash also and were 1/8" each and there were 4. Also, as you can see, I really like this type of squeeze clamps. They are a lot cheaper than "C" clamps. They are FAR easier and MUCH faster to use than fiddling with a "C" clamp. They also seem to be reliable. I have about 40 of them and in all the use I put them to on this project, I only had three that slipped.  After the stripper was done, I disassembled and cleaned the shafts, and they worked fine afterwards.

      Bow stem installed but yet to be final thinned. second photo -- Sanding completed and ready for base epoxy coat before glassing.

   These out of build sequence to show stern stem - One base coat of epoxy. No keel yet.     Originally planned on 3/4" keel but later changed my mind to the minimum amount of keel needed to add some protection to the bottom. The stem area located at arrow (second photo) was modified to flush and the keel was terminated approximately 8" forward of stem. (better shown in other photos) Good move since the handling and maneuvering are outstanding. Made the maiden voyage of one week on the river and came home without a scratch on the outer hull. Had a small scratch on the inside where my ammo box (cameras) got off the protective cover. Had expected many more. Thanks again Joe.

    Starting smoothing the first coat of epoxy to get ready for the glass.  Started out gingerly with small hand block then switched to a new B&Decker orbital sander with 100 grit and a hook-it  3/4 rubber adaptor I purchased from Newfound Boats which prevents gouging at the edges of the sanding discs. It speeds up the sanding operation at least 400%.  Made the job go much easier, faster and was a far smoother surface job. This is especially true of the inside.    ONLY way to go!!!!

    My friend Joe helping set up the first coat of glass.  Since he had more experience with glass, he laid the glass and I did the mixing of the epoxy.  As stated above, when glassing, you really should have two people.

      Glassed and first coat of epoxy. This is a good view that shows the unbelievable amount of tumblehome this design has.  Great lines and as said before, handles like a dream.    Thanks Gil! Great design. Love it!

  Epoxied, sanded and ready for keel and another coat of epoxy.

     Getting ready for keel. An alignment block is carefully hot glued in place at each end, positioned exact so that a carpenter's chalk line will lay flush with the bottom of the canoe when pulled tight.   When the chalk line is snapped, it leaves a perfectly straight line from one stem to the other.  After removing the line, carefully eyeball the chalk line to make certain it is perfectly aligned to the center of each stem.

  After getting keel alignment, lay the keel in place and eyeball it to make sure it is straight and centered on the line. Making sure there is no movement, mark with sharp pencil the outline of the keel at four or five evenly spaced points along the keel. Next, take two each (precut) 3-to-4" blocks and hot glue them to the side of the keel opposite each other, making sure the keel does not get moved, by watching your marks. Again eyeball for perfectly straight keel, If satisfied all is straight, you can now remove the keel and add your epoxy.  Time to put on your latex gloves again.

     With the bottom of your keel well covered with epoxy,  put the keel back in place between the hot glued blocks making sure the keel fits tight inside them and also tight to the bottom by installing temporary weights.  Weights are OK for temporary but for final clamping, strap clamps far better.  NOTE . . . You will never get them tight enough by only hand tightening so get them as tight as possible then add a couple healthy wedges under each strap clamp, making sure the wedge sits perfectly on top of the keel.

      Keel all done.  I elected to just cover it with four coats of varnish and not epoxy it in case I have to replace a section sometime in the future. Joe's idea again.   Don't know what I would have done without his experience and advice.

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