This was a fun little repair!

There's nothing more invigorating than a woodworking challenge - and this one was an interesting one!

A very sweet couple brought this stand into my shop. 

It holds a wooden boat - the San Filipe 

and it needed repair.  These two small turned pieces hold the keel,

 and one was broken. 

Simple enough... one would think!

This was a collaboration - since my buddy Jeff has been teaching some pen turning classes at the shop, his lathe was handy and he volunteered to turn some new supports, with beefier tops, so they wouldn't snap like the old one did.

 But the big question was... how do we cut a slot into it, to hold the keel?

 A little brainstorming was involved, and with some experimentation, we figured out that a 7/8" hole would hold the piece. 

 Jig time! 

I marked the center, and since the slot was 5/16" wide, I put a dado stack in the saw, and pondered how to hold the piece whole it was being cut. 

That's a really tricky cut, and could possibly ruin the piece if it wasn't supported properly while running it over the blade. No - I wasn't about to hold it!  So I decided that a simple temporary brace would work well to hold it in place while being cut.  

A few lines for centering, 

and I was ready for the cut. 

Although it ended up being slightly off-center, I'd say this piece came out exactly as I'd hoped. 

I did a little staining to match the rest of the base, honestly, they matched perfectly.   

The attachment? Some epoxy and a screw... better than new!