Keel fabrication

For anyone thinking about doing their own work on the keel, here is what I know so far ...

I used the CAD file that Don provided and had a local fabrication company cut out the keel from 44W plate. Initially, I thought I would have a friend of mine that has a CNC mill, machine the profiles on the leading and trailing edge. After we discussed it a bit, there was definitely a time advantage to having them machined but there might be a chance I would have to do some grinding to blend in some areas when he was done. ( Small amounts )

Anyway, I have decided to start grinding the trailing edge by hand with an angle grinder. As much as that sounds like a task that would take a ridiculous amount of time to complete, it actually wasn't that bad ! I have bought the proper grinding discs that are a fast cutting disc from Pferd. They tend to wear out fairly fast but do they ever remove material. So far I have completed 1 side of the trailing edge. Based on the time it took to do that, I would not be exaggerating if I said that I would have no more than 6-7 hours into it to have everything done. ( Grinding that is ) That might even include drilling the holes for the bulb ....

A builder can decide for themselves whether that is a reasonable amount of time and effort for them to put into this area of the build. Here are a couple of pictures of what the results look like.

Cheers !