keel instalation

Dave Aukes

Curious about Wooden Canoes
When installing a keel on a canoe with an uneven surface what is the best practice used to deal with the gaps between the canoe bottom and the keel?
 
I posted that before I was finished. Sorry

It looks like the options are, grind and shape the keel to fit the bottom, fill the gaps with shims or buy a gallon of 1/4 inch putty or maybe all of the above?
 
Unless there is something really strange going on, the keel will conform to the bottom when screwed on. Bed it in bedding compound, like Dolfinite.

The bigger question is why is the bottom so uneven?
 
If this canoe was built on a form, I'm guessing the form fell off the second story factory balcony and the form was used as is. Or it was built without a form in a back yard in an attempt to copy a production canoe. Whatever it was I'm stuck with it and would like to finish it, so maybe use all three options and live with it.
I thought about not using the keel but it's 18' with a 41" beam square stern and I thought it would be best to use the keel for strength. It will be used to haul a lot of outdoor gear plus three adults.
 
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