Frame assembly

This past week was very productive.  The entire skeleton of the boat is basically ready.  There it is on the right.  I started with a lot of cutting and joining.  I ripped inwales and seat stringers (tricky angles) and scarfed them together to a full sixteen feet.  I also scarfed together the keelson.  I cut a seat stringer for the transom (extra tricky, since the transom is not vertical).  Then I butt-joined the seat risers that serve as a vertical frame.  I cut round holes for inspection ports in the middle of what will be buoyancy chambers.  I glued cleats along three of their sides, and cut notches in the fourth for the transverse frames.  All this gluing went well.  I test fit everything many times.  Then I nailed the risers to the sawhorses to make sure everything stayed square and level. 

Then came the time for more gluing.  The day was very hot, and the behavior of the epoxy took me by surprise, although I should have known better.  While I was trying to attach the transom (it was messy, fighting gravity the whole time), the first batch of mixed epoxy turned very hot and solidified in no time.  You see, epoxy resin and hardener mix in an exothermic reaction, the heat of which needs to dissipate.  On a hot day it doesn't happen.  So with the next batch I put the measuring cup in a bowl of ice-water and it worked a charm.  Anyway, the fore-end assembly and the transom are on, the centerboard case is attached, and some of the frames (first and third forward of the transom) have cleats glued on that strengthen their joint with the seat risers.

All this time I was working with a respirator on, because my daughter the sculptor kept insisting (she has worked with all kinds of toxic stuff) and I kept getting throat irritation every time I used epoxy anyway.  That was fine, but on a hot day it gets sweaty, the glasses get in the way, etc.  The final ignominy was that I got some epoxy in my hair, and it was very hard to remove.

Another problem came from working alone.  Attaching the centerboard case (which is pretty heavy) to two frames was very difficult.  Trying to put screws into oak requires pilot holes of perfect length and diameter, or the screws break or strip.  Got it done, though.  

The next step is to strengthen the frame-riser joints with epoxy fillets and short cleats, and put on the keelson, which I have test-fitted already.  Then, once I bevel the keelson, I will be ready to start putting on the boat's "skin".  More fun and games, starting with scarfing together plywood sheets into 16x4 foot pieces, measuring and cutting etc.

Till next time,
boatbuilder