Now that PEO's professional practice exam (and the associated study time) is out of the way, I can get back to boatbuilding.

At least, that was the plan....

The next item on the long to-do list for the Starwind 860 is the crossbeam centre blocks. These parts house the centreline hinge of the trimaran's crossbeams.

They're carved from laminated blocks of cedar, and serve to transfer loads from the crossbeams to the centre pins that secure them to the main hull. The crossbeam webs and flanges, laminated from double layers of wood and plywood,  will be epoxied to the mating faces on these blocks.

By far the most convenient tool for shaping these is a power plane. Unfortunately, mine just gave up the ghost.

Note the shredded metal around the inner rim of the bearing race. These bearings were nowhere close to adequate for this kind of service. Thankfully, the tool was only six months into its three-year warranty, and Canadian Tire is pretty good about honouring their warranties..

I will have to find a new one before continuting with these parts (this model is no longer manufactured). There are, of course, other subassemblies that can be worked on now....