> I did the same on my Chesapeake 16 last year. All came out great. One note
> I found - don't put much curvature on the outside half edge(plane it but
> keep it rather a flat bevel)as the plywood top doesn't curve any between
> the ring nails and the outside edge. I just used a small plane and planed
> down the outside half edge and curved the inside half of the edge. If you
> put too much curvature in the sheer clamp's outside edge you will have a
> small gap to fill in. I had at most a 1/16 th of an inch gap which was
> easily filled with epoxy.

Wish this thread had been around about 3 days earlier (just attached the deck on my Chesapeake 17 this weekend). I too had too much curvature on the clamp's outside edge and have a slight gap. I know better now for the next boat (my wife's).

Did you round off the gunwales, and if so, how much of the epoxy was left in the gap afterwards? I initially thought about filling with epoxy, but my current thoughts are to go ahead and round off the gunwale and re-examine whatever gap that was left. I was thinking that maybe a high build primer would fill what gap there still was, and save a couple of ounces and a little hassle.