8) CD 27 - Preparing the G-10 Fiberglass Plate
February 2, 2024
On Friday evening, prior to heading out to continue work on the Cape Dory 27, I prepared the G-10 fiberglass plate - to become the CD27's new backing plates for the the shrouds and sidestays, as well as the supportive knees and backing plate for the backstay. On an earlier trip to the Cape Dory 27, I took measurements for the new backing plates and also templated the backstay knees. Transferring the backing plate measurements, as well as the backstay knee templates, to the 1.2" G-10 material was straightforward.
A roughly 8' length of 1/2" thick by 4" wide G-10 plate would serve as stock for the backing plates, and I had on hand a 1/2" plate used on another project that would allow for the backstay knees to be cut from. I transferred length measurements to the longer plate: 39" for the starboard backing plate, and 42" in length for the port backing plate. The width of the backing plates were reduce by 3/4" of an inch, for a final width of 3.25". With a jigsaw, I removed the lengths of G-10 required for each backing plate, and then ripped the plates to the finished width.
With the backing plates prepared, I then used the cardboard templates for the backstay knees to transfer the shapes onto the G-10 plate. This was easy enough, but what required a coupled blades in the process was cutting out the knees from the plate. The G-10 knees would serve well in transferring the backstay rig loads to the hull.
Total Hrs: 1.25