I measured and marked the plywood sheet for the sides on Saturday afternoon, and then cut the pieces on Sunday afternoon.
I screwed up marking the starboard aft side at first, forgetting to mirror image the already marked out port side, drawing the line parallel instead. This was after I had mistakenly marked the starting point at 4-5/8″ instead of 5-1/4″. Oh well.
I was a little perturbed by my inability to measure accurately across the 8-foot length with a single straight edge. The drywall square is only 4 feet (actually a bit less than that). So the 16-inch thirds didn’t quite meet exactly right in the middle. So just tried to approximate in the middle.
I did a thorough re-measure, and then a re-measure after that, before cutting.
Stopped to commemorate the occasion after the first cut.
I found a thin piece of wainscoting to use as a batten to mark the rocker curve.
And, now, I have some parts.
My cutting was very much not straight enough. The matching pieces are not exactly symmetrical. I’m trying to not let this bother me.
Lesson: Maybe the circular saw wasn’t the best tool to use. Or maybe I was up too high. Or it was too dark. Anyway, I didn’t like the quality of the cuts. Maybe the layout wasn’t as precise as it should’ve been. I could have use mason’s cord to stretch a straight line across 8 feet. Or used the laser measure to see exactly how each side was.
Thinking more about this step, I’ve decided that measuring each side and angle would be a bit of overkill. The 4×8 sheet was close enough to 4×8. It was definitely my marks and lines that were somewhat sloppy. And then the cuts were sloppy.
Next time I would use a laser line level to project a dead straight line across 8 feet.
And then I think I’d use the jig saw or buy a compact circular saw. Something where the blade is easier to see.
And, finally, I would put the plywood sheet on the 2x4s on the ground, to be able to see above more when cutting, rather than it being so high up on the sawhorses.