1956 Collegian restoration

That is simply a channel to prevent water from becoming trapped in that bay between the last frame member and the transom.  You can see all the frames have a similar notch at the keel so water can run to the lowest point of the bilge.

BUT, I'm going to side track slightly from boats and show a project I did over the Christmas break that got me back working on the boat.  It's relevant because up until this project I was in a bit of a slump with everything but my day job.

So short story, my son and I have a common interest in music and talk quite regularly about it.  He plays guitar and builds his own effects pedals.  He ended up buying a second amp to kick around with, it was a beat up old Peavey.  We started talking about making a new cabinet for it, one thing lead to another and I had a new project.   I had some Mahogany left over so we decided to try to build a cab that would have a sort of vintage look to it.  I also found some left over Lacewood so we added a new pedal board to the list.

I spent a couple of weeks in December on these two, collaberating with my son on colors, materials, hardware.  Love the way they came out but most of all it got me to pick up my tools again.  As soon as I was done I got back on the Collegian and started kicking butt again.  That was a deep rut that I hope I never fall back into again,  gotta stay busy.  Enjoy.

original cabinet

New vintage Mesa Boogie look in process

The finished product

and the finished pedal board

I so enjoy watching YouTube/Discovery Channel/... videos about craftsmanship and woodworking in particular.

I literally spend hours on end watching them. So I truly enjoy topics like this one. 

And since I moved to our new beautiful house outside the city centre, where I now have my mancave/hobbyroom, these videos got me into making my own hobby woodworking space. 

Up untill now I have been working on making my (mobile) workbench:

 I have a very nice table saw but other than that everything else is hand tools.  Band saw, thickness planer, jointer, shaper are all on my list but probably won't happen in this home shop because it's in the basement with limited access.  I can't even get a full sheet of plywood down stairs.  This is the main reason I stopped doing fine furniture work, boats seems to fit my shop and lack of equipment better.  

Besides trying to maneuver 4x8's on the table saw, there's also a weight issue. It seem that over the years, they are making plywood heivier!  Yes, the track saw sure is the way to go. I went the cheap route in getting a Kreg track that you mount your own saw on it's sled. But then, I decided I needed a new saw and felt cordless was the way to go. Add the saw cost to a decent blade and a 6Ah battery and I should have gone Festool!! Getting back to handling 4x8 sheets of ply, my recent purchase of cabinet grade was a special order at the Home Depot. My decision to go with the Depot was due to them having a panel saw. Once the order came in, we ripped the 4x8's down to 16" widths which fit my needs AND made the ply something I could easily handle. Then finish cuts with the Kreg track. 

You're killing me Roger.  My work neighbor just closed his cabinet shop and sold a large CNC like that,  I kept trying to find a reason to buy it, thankfully I couldn't.  

PS.  Never said I liked playing with Dovetails, LOL.  Those Leigh jigs are nice.  I use an $89 Craftsman that is one step from the trash can.

keep the pictures coming they go well with my tea... 

That is indeed the next on my list... Making a DIY dust collection system 

Next up will be to fair the chines in, fit and install the outer chines, CPES and paint the framework and then I'm going to try to get the inner plywood bottom fitted and installed.  Slightly optimistic but I've got a full head of steam so I'm going to keep at it.

All kinds of brands like Festool, Bosch, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Black&Decker, Makita...

I bought a brand called Parkside, made in Germany. These are good quality hobbygrade electric tools. Have made quite some projects with these tools and they never failed me. (I did look at tons of YouTube reviews on them before purchasing them). 

The good thing is that they cost a fraction of expensive brands like Dewalt or Festool.

And I am a hobbyist, not a professional carpenter 

I try to limit my moneypit to the boat and the model aircrafts 

I had to get Dana one so she'd stop driving mine!  155,000 miles and still running like new.  Her's is a gasser because the eco Diesel is no longer available in the JGC. Shame because it is without question the best vehicle I have ever owned.  Lot's of hate for the Eco diesel in the states but I must be the exception.

Are you still getting lumber from LL Johnson?

It sure looks good. I've never heard anything bad about their lumber.