Acorn to Arabella - Journey of a Wooden Boat - Episode 66: Installing Pocket Keel Bolts

Now that we have all the floors fabricated and the majority installed, there are 4 more very important ones to focus on. The ones that tie the ballast keel to the keel timber. These four floors in the middle of the vessel will hold the bolts that capture the 4.5 ton keel and keep it connected to the center line. We will be installing these very important bolts using a keyhole slot method instead of drilling all the way through to the bottom of the ballast keel. This will allow us to have access to the nuts and washers in the future, if needed, without having to dig a hole under the keel or jacking the entire vessel up. To cut the keyhole slots, we drill into the lead and chisel and carve out a pocket large enough to accept the nuts and washers before tightening the whole thing down. Not the easiest of tasks! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hn3Qyv Acorn to Arabella is a boat building project taking place in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve and Alix started as amateur boat builders building their own 38' wooden boat in their backyard: designer William Atkin's Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel's gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and beyond—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project will continue well past launch, when they will travel and learn to cruise aboard the boat that they've built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acorn to Arabella wishlist: http://www.acorntoarabella.com/acorn-to-arabella-wishlist And if you are going to shop at Jamestown Distributors, please consider using our Total Boat referral code: http://totalboat.refr.cc/steveandalixa?t=tg FOLLOW US: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acorntoarabella Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acorntoarabella/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acorntoarabella Website: http://www.acorntoarabella.com