The strongback (Repair)

As happens, other activities imposed themselves on the continuity of the new kayak project (one of them, repair my original paddle). When I finally had the time to continue with the strongback, it fell on the ground, from just a meter high. But instead of falling flat, it landed on one of the feet of the sawhorses, and 'broke' in two places. (Broken isn't the right word - only the short sides really split).

Predicably, the problems appeared where at the 'butt-to-butt' joints of the larger sides. In hindsight, maybe it would have been better to scarf them together. The extra time probably would have saved me a day of repairing now!

I decided to make a scarf, and fit a piece of wood to fit exactly. I only had one piece of scrap plywood left, so, the other repair will have to be pine.

	With a lot of patience, using the band sander, I was able to get an acceptable scarf: about 13 mm deep, and 8 cm to each side of the the problem area. It is not long enough (13 mm x 8 = 104 mm) but I promised myself not to drop the strongback again.
The piece of scrap plywood being fitted. The dark lines are the glue lines between plies. They're useful to indicate if you're sanding parallel, and at the right slope.
	The other problem spot had to be repaired with pine. Here's the piece, already glued into place, and sanded down.
Another view, on the same side.
	The other side, slightly better finished. The break is still noticeable where the narrow strip split (lower part of the image). Mechanically, the short sides are not that important, so I didn't try to repair them.

Continues with mounting the forms on the strongback.

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(c) John Coppens ON6JC/LW3HAZ

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