Today I started to get the garage ready and started to prep for cutting out the frame. I cut the bottom plank using the table saw, and the frame timber by using the jigsaw.
I didn't get a lot done because I spent time reorganizing the garage and bringing some of the heavy tools in from the shed.
It is also 105° here in Dallas Texas area so I've decided I'm going to install a couple fans.
I use this little RC propeller to trace the lines from the tracing paper to the lumber it actually worked pretty well.
Okay so I have cut out all the pieces for frame #2. The bottom member or crossmember I accidentally planed that down to 1/2 in and so things were not fitting correctly so I scrapped that wood and recut a new piece as that particular piece needs to be 3/4" thick, which was the actual thickness of the wood that I bought so I did not need to plane anything.
I've got to say, this would be a tough job without a planer. Unless you are lucky enough to get the wood in the correct dimensions, you might need to purchase a planer. It saves so much time being able to get it down to the 1/2" that you need.
Overall I would say that the gussets are cut very close to the plan and the overlap is very close, lumber frame is lacking a little bit, but with glue and nails the entire frame should be very strong.
Note on the bottom battens: I bought 1x2 timber at the store but forgot it's not actually 2 inches — it's more like 1¾ in. I ended up planing everything down to ½ in, so the final dimension is ½ x ¾ in instead of the original spec. Should still be plenty strong.
Current Status
Waiting on bronze nails to ship from Glen-L before I can start assembling anything
Honestly feeling pretty lost on the build right now — I've stared at the plans for a long time, looked at pictures online, and I'm still not totally sure where some pieces go
Can't seem to find the template for the runner planking
Plan for the Rest of the Week
Since there's not much else to do until the nails arrive, I'll probably just focus on cutting out all the remaining pieces.
I think at this point in the build I'm just getting comfortable over the fact that I've probably made mistakes and nothing seems to fit perfectly.
I have stare at the plans countless times and I still don't understand how some of the pieces are off in some cases about an inch. I know the one mistake I made which was cutting the AFT side too short by 2 in, that one was on me. But the rest I would expect should all be within reason.
Anyway, today I glued on the chines. Technically the plans say to put the chines on the side planking and then mount it to frame one and then mount everything to the boat, but I really wanted to make sure I had a straight line for the side planking and so I did it this way.
I don't know if the plans call for fiberglass taping the joints inside, but I'm probably going to end up doing that just to make sure everything is super strong. I don't like the small gaps, even though I know they will be covered with fillets, seeing as how this is going to be a boat for my kiddos, I want this as strong as a brick.
And also I stepped on the coaming, so you can see my Band-Aid there.
Today I put on the sheer clamps and mounted them to the side panel. The sheer clamps are 3/4 in by 3/4 in so I basically took a 1x2 and cut it right down the middle. I also had to cut out a little bit more in those grooves so that the plywood would correctly set on the bottom panel, it does not have to be perfect as this is what fillets are for. Anyway, so all I really did today was glue the sheer clamp and tomorrow I think I will finish mounting the sheer clamp to frame number one and frame number one to the actual boat.
