The topsides have been double planked and the polysulfide has cured, it is now time to clean up the excess. To accomplish this task, I used a very small circular saw that allows me to carefully and neatly cut away the excess planking. Since the small saw uses what looks more like a abrasive disc instead of a toothed blade, there is little risk of the teeth causing the wood to split or chip as I trim the edge.
The saws light weight allows you to control the cut much better, and the lack of power in the saw will let you know if your deviating in your cut. The friction from turning the saw mid-cut will cause the blade to stop. This is annoying and good, all at the same time. It is annoying because your cut got stopped partway through, but good because it alerts you that your cut has begun to deviate.
The top was sawn off, resulting in a nice and smooth sheer. The cut was made a bit proud for a few reasons:
- It allows me to sand it smooth to result in a perfectly smooth finish
- It gives me some wiggle room in case I mess up the cut and deviate into the sheer strake
With the top cutoff close to the sheer, I took a sander with 60 grit paper and sanded the topside planing down to the sheer.
