Beating the cold

I had to find a way to keep up progress even thought the weather is getting cold. It's still nice during the day, but the nights are cold. I have to put the epoxy in the sun to warm it up so it mixes well. The wood pieces can be harder to get up to temperature. I got some tarps and a space heater to build a heated area for the parts I am working on. I have a digital thermometer to keep an eye on temperature.

As long as it stays above 70F I think the epoxy will dry just fine. I finished the scarf joints on my redo with this method. On my new scarf joints I also used some finish nails to hold the joints together. I shot the brads through some thin pieces of plywood. The plywood spreads the pressure to keep the whole joint smashed evenly. It also makes the brads much easier to remove. So all of my scarfs are done now. Since I broke one of my sheers I decided to take some pro builder advice. I band sawed my sheers into thinner strips so they will bend easier. Then after I sawed them in half I realized that they might break just as easy now that they are thin. While I was pondering my next move I decided that maybe it was time to try some of the bending methods suggested by other boat builders. Since I still had not fastened the front end of the chines to the stem, I figured they would work as test pieces. I wrapped the chines in a beach towel and doused them with boiling water. I pulled the straps tight to bring the ends together at the stem. No problem at all!

I wish I would have tried out this advice before I broke my sheer! I put bend and twist in the chine in about 45 minutes.

Now I wish I hadn't sliced the sheers. If I build another one I'll know better. The weather was great this weekend so I wish I had more pieces ready to glue. At least I have my tarp/heater method.

Bad scarf

This is what a bad scarf looks like. That lip is about 1/8" tall and the gap extends 1 1/4" into the scarf. My first scarfs had a small gap, but this was unacceptable. I am unwilling to put myself into a dry boat that has only 2/3 of a 1/4" plywood bottom scarf. Too much potential for wetness. Actually, I considered just packing the gap with epoxy and forgetting about it. The outside gets another coat of epoxy and fiberglass and the inside gets at least one more coat of epoxy. But the still, small voice inside said that I should do it the Right Way. So I measured the length of plywood that I would need and lucky for me I could still make one more scarfing attempt! I cut out the bad scarf and am in the process of re-sanding the angle so I can try again. I am not sure what I screwed up last time. It seams like there are two possibilities, the alignment and the squeeze. The alignment means getting the two angles matched up correctly. If they were too on top of each other it would cause the lifting of the tips. But the rest of the face would match up and there wouldn't be a void, provided there was sufficient pressure. The squeeze refers to the pressure applied to the joint during glue time. I think you can compensate for some mis-alignment with enough pressure to smash it all together. The problem lies in too much squeeze, which would push all the glue out, making all my hard work for naught. Since the lifted tip runs the whole length (almost) of the scarf, I assume that pressure was approximately even but maybe just not enough. It's worth mentioning that my sanded angles were not perfect, but not that bad either. Like I mentioned in my last post, I didn't use two mixes of epoxy. I have learned that epoxy covers all mistakes, and in this case the extra might have filled in the gap I left. Since my angles are much closer to perfect this time, I will have to load up the epoxy, crank down the clamps and triple check the alignment. A dry fit might be in order too.

All good times must come to an end

I never thought I would be waiting on the weather so I could work on my boat. The Charleston summer was long, hot and humid as always. Plenty of building time that I squandered doing who knows what. But since it has gotten much colder and I am pretty sure epoxy doesn't like the cold, I wait for better weather. I suppose at some point I will just get a space heater so I can make the garage warm when I need to glue something. Today while I waited I moved on to the sheer notches. The first thing I learned is that I should have at least cut the base notches while the frames were upright. Upside down, while laying on the cold concrete, when you can't move to see both sides of the wood to check your line is not an easy cut. I did manage to get all the notches cut in one afternoon. And they were close to what they needed to be.

Since my chines needed no steam to make their bends I figured that the sheers wouldn't need it either. NOT a good guess. I just wanted to see how it would look (I am sure I am not the only one who has done this,) and, SNAP! The sheer snapped right at frame 5. It didn't break completely through, it just split the outside where the wood was being stretched. No creaking, no cracking, just SNAP.I don't know how I can fix this one. This piece is perfect for the sheer (well, before I broke it,) So I would love to salvage it. I could scarf on another piece since the break is toward the end. I thought about packing the break with epoxy (lots of surface area in there) and flipping the sheer around. The break would be on the compressive side and I would be sure to steam the sheer before I tried to bend it again. I will actually steam the sheer anyway before I try to bend anything again. I guess I got lucky with the chines, but I am not going to rely on that anymore. To add insult to a bad work day I found one of my chine glue joints with a crack in it.

I don't know why it cracked, it just did. Maybe it was too cold to dry right. Maybe it was mixed wrong (nah.) Whatever the case, since the crack is only on one side of the joint, I don't think I need to worry too much. I will probably just sand it down and re-filet the joint to make it look nice. So, all in all, a productive weekend. I love when work makes you've done makes you think about how to fix it.

Gluing Chines

I decide that if I ever want to get this boat done I had better start really working on it. No nights off for Monday Night Football! This was reaffirmed when I was mixing epoxy tonight and something just didn't feel right. It was 65F in Charleston, SC, a sure sign that fall is coming quick. Epoxy has a different consistency when it is too cold; it really liked our 80F+ summer days. I was mixing epoxy for the chines. After many hours fitting, clamping, marking, un-clamping, chiseling, rasping, fitting and clamping again (and again) I decided that enough was enough. I drilled the pilot holes (not without incident) and set to mixing the epoxy. I made up some shims so the chines sat in their notches perfectly. These got coated first and set in place. Then each of the notches and the chines got a dousing with epoxy. I wanted to make sure there was plenty to go around. Then I sunk the 2" bronze screws and removed the clamps. I fit and cut the chines from the front so the length and angles would be correct. Now that I am actually gluing them up I am starting at the back.

Looks better without the clamps. I glued the chines from the transom all the way to the front of the centerboard trunk. Since the front parts of these get really tweaked on, I will wait a few days before I do that part. In the mean time I still have my wide bottom plywood panels to get scarfed and the sheer (upright to deck joint) notches cut out. Knowing what I do know about fitting the chines, the sheers should be easier...

So you are probably wondering what this is. The picture actually doesn't do the MASSIVE hole in the chine justice. In fitting the chines I actually dry fit and screwed them in so I could make shims. Turns out that 2" #10 screws don't want to come out so easy. This one (of 4) was finally stripped so bad that there was no saving it. I drilled out the head, but still it held. I tried to drill out the shaft and broke two drill bits, and still it held. I switched to drilling out the wood around the shaft, broke another drill bit, and still it held. I used a screw driver as a chisel, mangled and enlarged the hole until I was sure that I was endangering the integrity of chine, but still it held! Finally, after about 30 minutes of work I loosened the screws dead grip on the wood enough to pry the chine away from the frame. Then I still had to get the screw out of the frame! I really need some vice grips. Since I am now confident that this particular piece of mahogany is pretty much indestructible, I drilled a new hole right next to the gaping wound and filled the gouge in with epoxy. Due to the close proximity, I also filled in the screw head. I actually thought to myself that that simple action may not have been wise, "just in case" I needed to unscrew this particular screw. I should have known that my much under developed boat building senses were picking up a problem. I didn't fill any other screw heads. As I was wiping up the excess epoxy and making each joint look good, I felt a small protrusion behind the mangled chine/ frame joint. The shim that was supposed to be underneath the chine had somehow slipped behind it. So now not only was the space underneath the chine all epoxy, but the shim was trashing my hard work to make the back side of the chine fit the frame snugly! Double whammy! Lucky for me I was way ahead of that slippery shim. I had packed that joint (all of them actually...) so full of epoxy that I am sure it won't make much difference. And while the excessive use of epoxy may have contributed to the shifty shim's quick escape, I think I still won this round.

Scarfing

I began the sanding process for my scarfed panels about two weeks ago. I have one set for the sides that is 19" wide and one set for the bottom which is 29" wide. The 19" ones were shaped first so I decided to put my scarf jig to the test. The jig can be seen it a previous post, but it consists of a 4' x 4' piece of 3/4" plywood, a 6' piece of STRAIGHT el cheapo pine and a 2 x 4. To get even pressure on the joint I planed down the ends of the 2 x 4 to enhance the boards natural camber. I used two bolts to hold it all together while the epoxy dried. Since the exposed part of the plywood is essentially all end-grain (likes to soak up epoxy) I mixed two successive batches. The plywood didn't soak up as much as I thought it should, so next time I'll just mix up one slightly larger batch. Epoxy will chemically bold to itself if it is not cured yet, so pre-coating with one batch, then using another to actually stick the pieces together produces a very strong bond. You get about 45 minutes from what I have read. Since My plywood didn't look like it was going to soak up any more epoxy I only waited about 10 minutes between batches. After clamping it all together I had to stay out of the garage for a day so I wouldn't be tempted to release it early.
The finished panel is 15'9" since the two 8' panels overlap 3". That is a pretty long panel to move. Since the epoxy won't be at it's ultimate strength for about 5 days (maybe longer, it's getting cooler here) I was worried about moving them. Even with the widest grip I could manage I still had visions of plywood snapping. The scarf joints actually look pretty good. There are some spots where glue didn't squeeze out, but when I tested them with my finger they are hard about 1/4" under the edge. I will fill these with epoxy before I put the panel on the boat (and put that side toward the inside.)

More chine work...

I worked on fitting the chines better this weekend. To add on to my last post, I needed a way to fix my wavy chine. After some thought, advice from those who have gone before me and looking at how the other side fits, I decided that the best way to fix the problem was to add some material to the frame. That way the bottom of the hull will be supported and everything will have a nice "boatly" shape. Boat building, like life, is all about the recovery. I think that the problem actually stems from not getting the angles exact enough when I made the frames. Since that was a long time ago, I'm going to let that one go.

The chines match well across the hull. There is about a 1/8" difference left and right. Both chines make a nice curve and hit the frames at all the right spots. I am working out where the chines will intersect with the stem.They are very well matched at the stem so I won;t have to adjust them too much.

I am also setting up to cut the chines for gluing to the stem. The angle is tricky and compound so the best way to cut it is to pull the chine tight to the stem and use the stem as a guide. I just have to find a way to keep the chines tight while I start the cut. This picture was taken with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of twist put on the chine. The trick is to hold it there while I cut it. Anyone have a hand to lend?
Once again my boat work timeline is more optimistic than life really allows for.

Chine fitting

I started fitting the stbd chine I quickly found my first chine problem. Either the angle that I glued frame 1 at is wrong or something else doesn't line up right. I cut the notch in frame 1 first. Of course when I made the frames with plywood gussets six months ago I was not as careful as I could have been. I had to cut right through a nail. This was not starting well. Since the nails are made with rings shanks, ribs around the nail shaft, they don't want to come out easily. A hammer, screwdriver, sliced thumb, chisel and two sets of pliers later the nail was finally out. The chine looked great fitted between the transom and frame 1. But when I cut the notch in frame 2, (working forward,) the chine didn't fit into frame 2 so well. I continued cutting the rest of the notches thinking that once I bent the chine into place it might be tweaked into the notch better.

That was not the case. The chine rides high in the frame 2 and 3 notches. If I clamp it down tight to frame 3's notch then it fits from frame 3 forward just fine. But it still rides just less than 1/2" high at frame 2. If I clamp the chine into the frame 2 notch then it has a nice wave shape, not the "flowing curves" that the plans call for. So I have to think this recover through. Frame 1's notch is holding the chine too high as it comes off the transom. If I cut the notch deeper into frame 1 then I will have to take off a lot (1/2" maybe?) of frame 1 material to make the top of the chine match the frame. I could let the chine ride high since there is plenty of chine material and fill in the 1/2" gap at frame 2. Either way I want the curve to be nice and smooth and I think both will accomplish that. I wish I knew which was the offending piece. I (briefly) thought about remaking frame 1. Since it is already EPOXIED to the keel, that thought passed quickly. Not impossible, but thats the first word that comes to mind.

I still have some cleanup work to do on the notches. On my frame 1 notch I was super careful to mark the angle of the chine as it was clamped around the outside of the frame before I cut the notch. The notch was off anyway so I decided that the others would start with a rough cut and then I would fine tune the notch once the chine was closer to it's final resting place. A few more hours of work and it might be ready for some epoxy. Maybe even this weekend...

Keel glued in place!

I took the plunge and glued down the keel. I have spent about a week (ok, maybe only 7 hours or so) fitting it along the frames and centerboard trunk. I cut the centerboard slot with my jig saw. The jig saw (or maybe it was me) didn't make the straightest cut so I also had to spent some time with the rasp. I checked the alignment once again and clamped the keel in place. The plans call for 28 screws and two 7" bolts to hold it all in place. I pre-drilled all the holes, being sure to recess the screws deep enough to allow for planing the keel to a point. Then I roughed all the glue spots up with some sandpaper and set to gluing. I put the clamps on for good measure, but they are mostly show after all the screws.

I had a little gap where the keel attached to the stem so I made a shim piece on the sander to fill the gap. Gap + shim + lots of epoxy = (look deep into the epoxy)The gluing was a little hectic with this piece. I knew it was going to take a good amount of epoxy but the pieces were not very big. It's time consuming to spread the epoxy on the thin sides around the centerboard hole. I kept checking the clock and time kept marching on. I put the transom end in first and the keel to stem bolts didn't fit into their holes. So I had to un-clamp the transom and knock it into place a little better. The I bolted the keel and stem together. I worked back toward the transom with screws. I finally learned to slather the epoxy on thick so it will fill all the nooks and crannies. Epoxy squeezed out all along the keel so I must have used enough. With the keel in place it is starting to look like a boat. I can move on to fitting the chines and sheers now. I am also starting on my scarf joints. I ripped two 4x8 sheets of 1/4" plywood to make the sides and bottom pieces. I set them up stepped back 3" each and sanded down to a smooth angle. Now I have to glue them up. I got a straight piece of wood for a guide and fastened it to some base material. Now I have to figure out how to put some pressure on the joint as it dries. Then it's just a matter of epoxy.So a little more work and then the pieces will need about a week to fully cure before I try bending them too much. I am hoping that they will cure while I fit the sheers and chines. That's the plan anyway.

Let's talk about a mast

About two months ago I was looking for an outboard, a trailer and a mast on craigslist. I found a mast which is a definite start. The ad was for a Hobie 14 mast. A little research found the lenght of a Hobie 14 mast to be 22'3". That's close enough for my purposes to the 22' spec on the plans. $200 got me a mast, 10' aluminium boom (exactly lenght the plans call for,) an old sail, the standing rigging, some jib tracks, jib block/cam cleat combos and a swivel cam cleat for the main sheet. Not a bad haul I thought.
Since the mast is made for an all aluminium framed Hobie I will have to adapt it to my purposes. I sketched out the shape on a block of wood that I will mount to the keel. I have to sand it down to shape it. This is the base piece that mounts to the Hobie frame (my keel.) The hole in the back is for a connecting piece that is used to step the mast. Once upright and stayed, the pin can be removed and the mast is free to rotate. This rotating action increases the performance of the Hobie sail. I don't think that my boat will tap the high performance aspect
This is a little graphic of the process. My Picassa skills are unrivaled even by professionals. The sticker reminds you that aluminium will indeed conduct electricity if you happen to hit a high voltage power line.

I am still searching for a trialer and an outboard. You never know when the wind may die.

Keel work

I finally got the piece of wood I needed for the keel. Mahogany is not getting any cheaper. I still don't have a table saw so I used my trusty saw guide. The rip process generates a colossal amount of sawdust, (reference earlier post) so I cut the piece outside. South Carolina's weather is perfect for boat building right now. Not too hot, lots of sunshine.

I left the frames un-notched as I aligned them on the building form, so I had to notch the frames to accept the keel. The notches were layed out in pencil first.

Then cut and chiseled to their final shape.

And of course I don't have a picture of the final product. My initial pencil was a little off from what I ended up needing. In order to make a nice curve I had to bevel some of the notches. I also smoothed them to make a nice flat surface to bond to. I really don't want to screw this one up.

This is the keel dry fit along the frames. I think I am going to need more clamps, in addition to the screws I will use, to hold the keel to the frames and centerboard trunk while the epoxy dries. It takes a fair amount of force to make a tight fit right now so I probably need some more fitting work. Witness this section at the stem.

I also need to cut out the hole for the centerboard. Since the bedlogs that run the length of the centerboard trunk are bowed out a bit the slit may have to be egg shaped. I thought about pulling the bedlogs together with a clamp while I glue and screw the keel, but I think that when the clamp comes off the bedlogs will try to split the keel at the front and back of the hole. This requires more though before I proceed.

Alignment continues

I finished the transom blocking. The blocking might not stand up to severe abuse, but it only has to last until the keel solidifies the arangement. All the measurements stayed the same overnight so it works well enough.

I also layed out the stem and frame five. I had to make this good looking piece of blocking to hold the bow at the right height. I only wish I could make it a permanant piece. It really turned out good. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the stem.

Unfortunately the stem is a l-i-t-t-l-e twisted. It took me a little over two hours to figure this out. I don't know if the humidity did it but the stem is curved to the right. With a straight edge across it there is a 1/4" gap in the center. I tried to align frame 5 off of frame 4 and hope that the stem would be close enough. I found out that frame 4 is not quite perfectly square. But the transom through frame 3 are spaced perfect! So I spaced frame 5 off of frame 3. Now all I have to worry about is getting the stem square. I tweaked the stem and blocked it in place. If you look close you can see the block. I think it is a little closer than before, but I need a plum bob or some such item to make sure it is actually straight now. So the quest for the final alignment still continues. As for frame 4, it's only off a little bit, so I think that mistake will fade under the epoxy.

Keel. Chines. Sheers. Battens. Planking. Glass. Flip. Sail! So close.

Alignment

I am pretty sure that this next part is the MOST critical. The old story goes like this. The frame alignments are off a little. So the planking doesn't go on right. Then water leaks in unbeknownest to the captain. Soon enough the fasteners rot, the epoxy comes unglued and the boat sinks. So, that's what I am up against. Needless to say, I don't want to rush it. So I started with the frame 2, 3, 4 and centerboard assembly. This part was easy; all I had to do was L bracket it in place. All the dimensions are set in epoxy already, so there's no going back now. There is about 1/8" to 1/4" difference in distance between the left and right sides of some of the frames. I will either have to live with it or put the frames at the right dimensions and hold them with the chines and sheers.

Frame 1 had to be notched into the building form so it would sit level. I measured the distance from frame 2 to locate frame 1. You can see the L bracket used to hold it down.
The transom was the next piece I set up. It has to be at an angle and it doesn't touch the rest of the frame. So I had to align a free floating piece with the rest of the frame in three dimensions. After several tries I came up with a workable method. I attached two 2x4 blocks cut at the transom angle on one side and vertical on the other. Then I used some 1x4's to adjust the vertical dimension while using a level and tape-measure to align the distance from frame 1. Left- right was taken care of by extending the sides of the building frame with a square and checking the distance from centerline.

On the far side of these pieces are the marks I used to set the vertical height. Basically it was a ruler drawn out on the 1x4 and an alignment mark on the 2x4 block. I still have to finish up by bracing it all in place. I will have to do some final chisel work on the chine, sheer and batten notches so the transom will have to be held in place pretty well.

I had to add these little pieces of floor timber back to frame 5 to allow it to sit on the building form correctly. I cut them off to allow the floor timber to attach to the frame without interfering with the gussets. I tried lining up frame 5, which also has the stem attached to it, but I think that the stem may not be exactly square. I can't get the frame 4-5 distance equal on both sides while keeping the stem aligned along the center of the boat. I hope it is because I haven't tried hard enough.

These last two give an overview of what the whole thing looks like so far. I cleaned up all the tools from between the frames. I need to lock down the transom and the frame 5/stem assembly and I will be bending chines. I have read that epoxy covers a multitude of mistakes. I hope it will cover mine. And be waterproof.

Timely advice saves fingers (maybe)

Beyond being ingeniously executed, my table saw plans may have lacked a little bit of practicality. The table itself was a little undersized. And a little light. And TERRIFYING to use. And the battens are only 12 ft long. So I needed a better method to cut the 16 ft chine and sheer I had left to do. The method suggested by a commenter was exactly what I was doing before, but it made me rethink how I was doing it. I realized that I could cut off either side of the wood. That allowed me to set up the guide on the other side of the saw so I could finish the rip. Putting the workpiece on sawhorses also makes life easier. Why didn't I think of that earlier! Cutting these last pieces was much easier than this weekend's adventures.

This is my straight edge clamped to the work piece and some scrap support 2X6's. For this last cut the straight edge was actually off the work piece due to the warp of the wood. To keep it all together and hold it stable I put a drywall screw into the edge of the work piece. Drywall screws are the most versatile faster ever made. If I wasn't sure they would rust after about 5 min of water contact I would have used them for this project.

This is a detail of the straight edge setup. I measured the distance between the edge of the saw blade and the edge of the foot of the saw. I had to think about which side of the blade I should be measuring to for about 5 min to make sure I got it right. Then you add this offset to the width of the piece you need. Set the straight edge up with a few clamps and you are in business. I cut about 3 inches into the piece then checked to make sure my width was right.

This is my workspace right now. The next step is clean up. Then I will align the frames and start bending the chines and sheer into place. I didn't realize how much bend these pieces will have until now. Wait, I still don't have a keel! AHHHHHHH! So the next step would be to make the keel. And brace the frames and transom in place so I can bend the chines and sheers around them. I feel like I've been here before...

Necessity is the father of invention

Not the typical way you see that quote, but since I'm on my own this week I found it to be true. Between pool, school, parks and the grocery store there wasn't much time for boat building. At nap time I felt like I needed a nap too! Today I was determined to get something done so I set out to cut some of the pieces I still need. I am still waiting for someone to donate a table saw to my cause so I went with my trusty saw guide method. Check it out from a few months ago when I started with these pieces. I have the wood for the chines, sheers and battens so I thought. "Why not." I started with the 16 footer; I was cutting off a 2 in. chine from it. The setup is the long leg, the cut was quick. One chine down. But now there was not enough board to clamp the guide to. So I needed a new plan. Out came the idea that my Dad told me about from when he built his boat. A table saw, in it's most basic form is just a saw, held upside down, on a table. I have a saw, a piece of 1/2 in. oak plywood and two saw horses. Mix it with some leftover bolts and drywall screws and you get:

So now I have a table saw. (But if anyone wants to donate one, feel free.) It is a little rickety and the fence is not the best design, but I thought it would get the job done. I added two small pieces of 1/2 in. plywood to the saw horse for supporting those really big pieces. Most (good table saws use cast iron; the weight makes the table wobble less so you get better cuts. And check out these other features!

That's what the wood working community calls a "zero clearance throat plate." To make the hole for the blade I put the saw on the wood and lowered it through. There is quite literally zero extra clearance around the blade. This keeps the small bits from being sucked into the gap. I don't really need this feature but it is was the only way I knew how to get the blade through the table. Also note the recessed fasteners. The table is 1/2 in. thick and the head on these bolts was about 3/16 in. This doesn't leave a lot to support the saw, but it doesn't have to last forever.

You can see the bolts I used here to hold the saw in place. The saw only had two holes the right size originally so I had to add some more to make sure it didn't jump off and chase me. Also note the romex wire twisted around the trigger. This makes the power cord you see in the first picture the on/off switch. So far, so good. Now to put it to the test. My first fence extended past the edges of the table itself. I set up an "out feed table" to catch the board as I cut it. Here goes nothing.

Check out these beautiful cuts! I had no idea that wood had residual stress in it. I have actually read about air vs. kiln drying wood and how each effects the wood.. But I couldn't believe how much the wood moved when I cut it! As I was cutting, the cut end would look like it was peeling away from the main piece. If your fence is set up right this is not a problem. But mine was set up with the piece pinched between the blade and the fence. Every 5 inches the blade would bind up because of the curve that was coming out. The warp was so bad I had to drop the wood straight down on top of the blade. I left a few spots uncut so the warp wouldn't come out and bite me. Then I cut through these pieces and out came these pieces. The pieces I need all ended up with the same curve, so that is a plus. These are going to be the battens so I hope that they work out.

This one wasn't so lucky. There was a crack in the wood that I wanted to work around so I cut this small piece out of the middle. If you look (not so) closely you can see that it roves around all over the place. I think that this crack should have been a sign that a monster was lurking in this piece. Knowledge doesn't always come cheap. I still have to finish the chines so I hope they don't have that much twist in them too.

P.S. I tried the one chine I had cut in the notches I made. Bad news is the notch is too big for the wood (or the wood is not big enough.) Good news is this is not the first time I messed something up so I am already coming up with a fix. I'll probably just add some filler. The project moves on.

Frames glued and other progress

Never was so little work drug out so long. -Stephen Dyer, c.2009

Seriously, when I look at how long it takes to get even small tasks done on this boat it is really frustrating. But the key to finishing any project is perseverance, so I keep on pushing ahead. I finally finished (for real this time) gluing all the frame pieces. Frame 5 is at the front of the boat and attaches to the stem. If you look close you can see the shim I used to jam the stem to one side of the slot in the frame. The frames were glued to the backing first so a tight fit was not achieved. Hopefully what I have read about epoxy's gap filling ability is true.

Here is the deck beam that connects the upper edges of frame 5. This supports the deck in the forward area of the boat. It goes together with screws and a 1/4" carriage bolt, so it should be good forever.

I also fitted the frame 3 pieces to the sides of the centerboard trunk. These went on too easy, so I am sure there must be something wrong with them. They even came out square the first time. Something seems fishy...

Once I got frame 5 and the frame 3 pieces together it really is starting to look like it's going somewhere. The pieces aren't lined up yet but they do look like they are mostly symmetrical, a decent accomplishment.

It's time to start prepping for the keel, chines and sheer. My wife will be out of town for the next ten days so I need something to fill nap times while I watch the kids. Maybe I'll just put them to work too. I tried to match the bevel cut in the transom in my notch for the keel. I used a chisel for this job and I have to say that chisels are tough to use well. I really just freehanded this one and the results weren't the prettiest. The angle is a little excessive compared to the transome bevel. The notch is however the correct depth and I'll just fill in the rest with epoxy to make the keel fit right.

I figured there must be a better way to chisel out these notches, so I devised a little angle jig to help me out. I traced the angle from the tramsom to a piece of scrap 2x4 using a straight-edge. hten I cut the angle with my compound miter saw. Then I clamp the jig to the transom frame and square it up. Then I just let the back face of the chisel ride the face of the jig as I take off the material. I started out trying to set it up so I would nibble off small pieces at a time. The easiest way ended up being to freehand the begining, being careful not to gouge too deep or at too extreme an angle. Then finish up with the jig as your guide.
This one is a compound bevel at the corner where the chine will end. This illustrates how close to exact I can get with this jig. In reality I think that a person with better chiseling skills and more time/patience could get it really exact. The change in grain direction made it extremely difficult to cut this angle. One side went easy and the other was like trying to split rock. I am glad that there isn't much chiseling in my future.

Next up is to actually buy the wood for the keel. I have been lazy about this. I haven't cut into any of the other frames for keel, battens or chines yet because I want to have the actual pieces first. I think this will save me some rework if I cut the hole the right size the first time.