Hi John,

> 3. Remove the braces as above and find another method for making the
> covers curved.

The CLC hatch braces stink. I had a lot of problems with them myself. They kept falling over, and the clamp would pop off. Not to mention the fact that you had to clamp so hard the joint was starved of epoxy. I finally used a piece of 2x6 cut to the radius of the hatch and then clamped the hatch to that radius. I then clamped the braces to the precurved hatch.

Someone on this bbs suggested earlier to throw away the CLC braces and use some pieces of 1x dimension lumber for braces. I'd have to second that suggestion. I have not done that, but if I were to build another Chesapeake, that's what I'd do. The dimension lumber wouldn't have to be as deep, and it would offer 3-4 times as much clamping (and gluing) area.

Shawn