Channel Cutter

Continuing with the rudder build today I did a test fit of the basic rudder shape on the boat and marked the location of the drift pins on the lower rudder shaft.  Once I had those marked off I laid out guide boards for the router with a 3/8 inch channel bit.  The guides are offset by 2 - 26/32 and it was important to get them correct on both halves of the rudder.  I screwed down the guide board and starting from the middle, cut a channel in each half of the rudder.  The total depth of the rudder determined the length of each channel.  So, I ended up cutting 2 - 5" channels, 1 - 12" channel, and 2 - 16" channels.

Once all the channels were cut, I screwed both halves of the rudder together with temporary screws and cut out the ends of each channel with a 2.5" hole saw.  These holes will form the pockets where the washers and nuts fasten the drift pins.  I ordered those today and hope to see them by the end of next week.