What Knot

I had two pieces of wood in mind for the keel. 3.5x1x20. One piece was free of knots but a poor grain orientation. The other piece has a nice flat grain but a knot or two. I decided the knots were too small to matter and went with the nice grain.



I waffled awhile.


Then I finally took a saw to the board and cut the knot out.


This kind of angled cut is not easy to make.


The saw roughs out the shape.


The plane brings the slope down to the lines and corrects any misalignment.

Many boatbuilders use an 8:1 scarf. The Gougeon Brothers recommend a 12:1.

The lower the angle the more difficult the scarf is to make, the more you shorten your board and the stronger the joint.

I went with a 10:1

The second photo shows the rough cut.

Then planing.

And the final fit.

Now with a little glue I will have a keel with nice grain and no knots.