FRAME MAKING

We started with the transom (the back of the boat), which was one of the more interesting as far as frames go. It has the most glue joints. We laid it out on the pattern lofted onto the plywood then glued and clamped.

The plans call for butt joints, and no screws as the whole transom will be skinned with 3/4 inch plywood (actually the piece it is laid out on). We assembled frames 1-9. They went together quickly. The color coding and the lofting were really helpful techniques. The completed frames were stored on the strongback while the glue cured. The plans layout the frames using dimensions but not angles. On one hand, this simplifies the instructions. However, it would be nice to know the angles for double check and for setting the chop saw cuts.

After cutting the channel for the keelson, we scarfed the keelson, glued it and admired the joint. The keelson is analogous to a spine and the frame like ribs so that once the strongback is removed, the keelson supports the entire boat. The jigsaw is a quick and accurate way to cut the channel. We agreed that this scarf came out better than our previous. I learned that the electric planer and the belt sander are my preferred tools for quick and clean scarfs. No more messing around with saws.

We fell into a rhythm with this part of the build. Communication was easy and the workflow came together. We pretty much are following the recipe at this point so not a lot to negotiate.