What have i been doing?

Well, to be honest not much.  I finally shaped the keel, using two different methods and a multitude of tools.  On the first side, i used the old auto body trick of spray painting the surface, then planing/sanding the high spots until the paint is gone, then repeating the process until there are no more high spots.

On the other side I used saw cuts to the depth of the wood I needed to remove.  Both methods worked well, although I had a little trouble with the leading edge when I used the sawcuts.  The final thickness is about 1 and 3/8 inches, a lot less than I was expecting.  So just to make sure, I put the keel across the sawhorses and sat on it (210 lbs).  Very little flex, and the piece you see in the pictures is 8 feet long!  I wanted some exta so I can have cutoffs to play with when I cast the bulb.

Speaking of the bulb, I finished the bulb plug, and this weekend cut it in half.

I made the mistake of making my first plug too short, so I scrapped the mold and started over.  I should have paid attention when everyone was talking about the extra piece the first time!  But it's finally done again, and tomorrow I'll be setting the plug.  I've been using mortar mix, it works well and has few voids, and it's cheap!  Downside is you really have to fight the boyancy of the plug.

This is my bandsaw setup cutting the plug.  Portable bandsaw clamped to a piece of wood!

And here they are, ready for tomorrow!