Gluing Up

The first real step is gluing up the top and bottom deck planks. I laid the planks out as bookmatched by the Grain Surfboards staff, taped the seams, then applied glue and clamped. This was a fairly easy step and it was satisfying to see some progress.

Horizontal pressure is applied with bar clamps, while vertical pressure to keep everything level is applied with strongbacks applied across the planks.

I made one mistake here. I may have been a little careless with the vertical alignment of the planks near the tail on the bottom plank. It came out a bit uneven. However, it is over the slot where the finbox will eventually be. Instead of freaking out and shaving it too thin, I trimmed it down enough to accommodate the keel in the next step.

I cleaned up the interior face of the planks and trimmed the bottom planks to allow for easier clamping.