Construction Journal

4/15/01 - The Complete Frame

I don't really have much to add about this except to say that once I got everything screwed together and after checking and re-checking that the damned thing is really square, I took another hard look at the plans and found that I got the after set of legs mounted too far back, so I had to re-do that part of the project.

Now normally I'd just call it a job done well-enough, but it turns out that the frame needs the gap I eliminated to mount the transom mounting boards (don't worry, we'll get there) so I had no choice but to do it right.

If this pesky need for getting things right is an absolute requirement, I'm going to have endless amounts of trouble. Anyway, here's the completed building frame. The astute will notice the couch behind the frame. That's going to the Salvation Army on Wednesday. Apparently they are in dire need of couches, so off it goes.

On to the moulds.

4/16/01 - Marking Lines

As I read the chapter on laying up lines for plank lands, I came to the conclusion that I'd be lofting and laying up lines for the next two years. Iain Oughtred could not possibly have made the process for doing this more confusing in his book, and the photocopy instructions simply say there is no foolproof way to do it. This was beginning to cause no small amount of panic until I realized (no thanks to any documentation) that I didn't have to do this step because the plans came will full size mould patterns.

I have to say that my confusion resulted not because Iain is an incompetent writer (on the contrary, his book is well-written and engaging.) Rather, it's because he assumes that I already know a great deal about the process, so many details that seem intuitively obvious to him become matters of earth-shattering import to me. At some point I will have achieved a level of familiarity with all things boat, and then I too will exhibit impatience with raw newbies. RTFM, buddy!

So here are nails pounded into the wood marking the outer perimeter of the station 6 mould. When I'm done, I'll wrap a flexible metal strip across the nails and mark the fair line it describes, then cut the board using the resuling lines.

4/17/01 - Moulds partway done

And here are several moulds already cut. I should point out that I used a jig-saw for cutting the moulds, which was a first for me. The last time I used any kind of saw to cut a line that was supposed to curve around, I was in seventh grade woodshop and I used a coping saw. At this point I have two more moulds to cut, then I will begin adding the spalling and mount the moulds on the building frame.

4/19/01 - Mounting the Moulds

The moulds are all cut out and now it's time to begin mounting them. The plans call for a 7/8" x 7/8" spalling to mount the moulds, but I was unable to find anything like that, so I first tried 3/4" x 3/4" stock. It seemed a little too wimpy, and as it turned out, I was right. When I put in the screw, the rail split. Time for another trip to Home Depot.