I made mdf molds for the dagger cases today. I made 5 molds, but tracing the shape of the dagger profile onto a piece of 3mm ply then I added 16mm for the duracore thickness and 4mm for the glass on the dagger and traced that line and then cut it out with a jigsaw. I then used that to trace onto mdf pieces all cut to exactly the same size and traced the shape onto them in exactly the same position on each and cut them out with the jigsaw as close as possible to the line so that they are all as close to the same shape as possible.

I also cut out a 100mm x 16mm deep slot with rounded corners into the bottom of the molds in the correct position to align with the sheave and rope slot. This plank is lower in the mold (and the first in) then the rest of the mold half either side are built to the correct profile of the dagger leaving a slot either side that rope can pull through. In the past the rope slot was built into the dagger, now it is built into the case and makes much more sense.

Tomorrow I will set up a string line to set these molds to the bench level and plumb and start cutting the duracore centre plank with its corners rounded and cut the fore and aft parts to size and cut the kerfs ready to glue the first case half. When it has set to shape I will unscrew it and glass it hopefully also tomorrow.