Laminating a sheer clamp:
Wait. The MF14 doesn't
have sheer clamps.
From the examples online, Moonfish builds end up with a noticeable gap between the deck and the side panels. The gap dissapears after it's covered with fiberglass tape, epoxy and paint. But since the deck and sides of this Moonfish will be finished bright, a gap won't do. Shear clamps on each side will replace the cleats outlined in the Build Notes and allow the deck to be firmly affixed to the side panels. They will also fill any gaps that might appear when I radius the deck/side joint.
The sheer clamp is 3/4" x 3/4", laminated from three cedar strips, on the left side of the assembly. I'm laminating because a solid piece of cedar or cypress won't take the bend by itself. And I'm not about to build and fire up a 15-foot steam box when I have easy access to cedar strips and epoxy.
To the right of the lamination, the large strip you see with the shiny top is my fairing batten covered with packing tape to keep epoxy from sticking. It's held firmly against the edge of the deck template by pine cleats screwed into the worktable. This forms the basic shape. The deck is also screwed into the worktable, under the poly sheet, to make a rigid jig. Spring clamps and a sprinkling of quick clamps hold the cedar strips against the jig while the epoxy sets up.
I'll make two of them, one for each side. The sheer clamps will be trimmed to fit and glued in place just before the deck goes on. In theory I could wait to laminate until then. But, being in uncharted waters, I didn't want to risk distorting the boat with wierd stresses. Not to mention this is a sloppy process and cleanup is way easier at this stage before I have to work around a whole lot of structure.
Hope this works. Where's the "Cross your fingers" smiley?
