Dale, I did not plane into the plywood at all when I planed my Chesapeake sheer clamps, because I wanted to retain the top outboard edge of the hull side plywood as the fair line where the underside of the deck meets the outside of the hull. I made sure that I planed off enough of the sheer clamp so the deck would make good contact with the outside edge of the hull plywood, all the way around.

In a few places I planed off a tiny bit too much sheer clamp material, so I made sure to apply an extra amount of thickened epoxy in those areas when installing the deck. Plastic packing tape on the sheer clamps made removal of the inevitable glue squeeze out very simple. I also later applied a very tiny fillet to the interior joint between the underside of the deck and the sheer clamp, everywhere I could reach, to prevent water from ever penetrating any small remaining gaps.

The fit need not be perfect when thickened epoxy is used. But a wavy looking line where the finished deck meets the hull is a thing to be avoided. Good luck.

Grant

Dale,

I faced the same thing on my CH16. CLC recommended planning any shear clamp that was still proud of the side panel down to the edge of the plywood. Yes, it took a lot of planning, especially at the bow and stern. I used the templates to make sure I still had the correct angle. After this, the deck went on smoothly.

Started building my girlfriend's CH16LT today, building two at once should be fun. Gluing the sheer clamps together at the scraf joints and reading the manuel it talks about the 1/4" proud part of the sheer clamps being planed down to the level of the ply. Now why can't that instruction be repeated in the section of the manuel on planing the sheer clamps?