A small tip if you're building cradles

Headley Grange

Headley Grange

Member
I'm building cradles for my pickup truck. I cut out the profile of the bottom of the boat in a 2x8. I'm gluing some indoor/outdoor carpeting to the place where the boat will rest. Here's the tip: Keep the piece that was cut out. After you apply the glue and the carpet, clamp the piece on top to apply even pressure to the carpet.

 
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Great tip, but what I really want to know is how you cut the bunks to the right shape for a Sunfish in the first place. I assume you did not saw your boat in two to allow you to trace the hull shape. BB
 
I used the method shown in the diagram to create custom bunks for my trailer. The future bunk is positioned using supports over the upturned hull, then a stick or calipers with a pencil attached is used to transfer the hull shape to the bunk board. Once the line is drawn, saw off the waste and apply carpet. Repeat at different hull positions for the remaining bunks.
bunk.jpg
 
beldar boathead said:
Great tip, but what I really want to know is how you cut the bunks to the right shape for a Sunfish in the first place. I assume you did not saw your boat in two to allow you to trace the hull shape. BB
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I pretty much did the same thing as Kevin Mc did but a little more low tech. I put a 2x8 on top of the upturned hill, used a ratchet strap to hold it in place and used a golf pencil taped to a wooden yardstick to trace the profile of the hull to the 2x8.



I started by marking the center of the board. Then I eyeballed the placement of the center line to the keel. I also placed a slight angle on the jig saw when I was making the cut in order to account for the curvature or the hull. I didn't cut the entire profile of the hull into the board. Just the keel portion and about 1 1/2 feet on either side. Enough to keep the hull stationary. The technique that worked for me was to start at the keel and pull the jug towards the side using one hand on the pencil and one hand on the point where the yardstick met the hull. Then repeated on the other side.

One good thing about using my low tech approach is that I can tape the pencil to different marks on the yardstick to adjust how deep I want to cut.
 
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