Slow, but steady progress.

Preparation is half of boat building.   The students in my class have been working diligently preparing materials to assemble into skin-on-frame boats.  We started with a half sheet of marine grade plywood and some western red cedar and pine lumber. Using a set of master patterns  (the light colored parts on the table), they traced the outlines of the shapes onto the ply.

 

Then,  they rough cut the outlines using jigsaws and bandsaws and cut the notches for the stringers.  

 

Once the outlines were rough cut, we used carpet tape to bond the master patterns to the rough cut frame.  We then used a pattern bit in the router table to make the pieces that the students were making exactly the same as the patterns.

 

After the frames have been cut, a finish fit is made for the stringers with a fine rasp.

 

Once the notches have been fitted, a test piece should fit smoothly into the notches.

The stringers were cut on the table saw.  We used full length pieces, but shorter pieces could have been scarfed together to make stringers of the appropriate length.  Once the stringers were cut, we used a router to round over the corners where appropriate.  This is for two reasons - to put a better finish on the stringers (finish thins out on sharp corners) and to put a rounded edge to protect the fabric that will be stretched over the frame.

 

 

Finally, we've assembled the strongbacks to build the boats on.  (Note the sawhorses from the previous posts.)  We've built a few new strongbacks, will try to re-use some old ones and 2x4's that are recommended for this build method.

Frames go together quickly once the material is prepped.  I expect to be able to show some mostly finished frames after next week's class.