Framed!

I'm framed, that's what they all say. Well, I'm all done with the topside- and bottom framed. And as always, things takes alot longer than expected. I am however, happy with the result. Spent a lot of time with levels, straight edges and battens to find the "sweet" lines, especially on the forward 1/3 of the boat. Most of the frames were rotten with missing sections, barely good enough to trace onto cardboard.

I may have one or two frames that are a little high, but I'll wait with the final fairing until the transom, keel and chines are in place.

Now I'm ready for the transom cheeks and bow.

New Stem and Forefoot.

When planning this restoration, I knew that reproducing a new Stem-Forefoot assembly would be one of the most challenging things. The original was broken in several pieces, with parts missing. I got it screwed and taped together enough to use as a template. Some of the shapes had to be drawn by hand.

Hull without Stem-Forefoot:

I followed Dannenberg's method with a clear plastic and a tracing wheel. This worked very well, however I took a shortcut when I used a thin stencil type, sticky back plastic. I would recommend to use the thicker Mylar plastic described in his book.

I am very happy with the end result. As described, I used a 1/8" router bit make the first "center" cut for the depth of the rabbet. Then using my Fein Multimaster with a 1 1/8" wide blade to carve out down to correct depth. Some light chisel work and final sanding.

Old and new, side by side:

Test fit:

The last two bottom- and topside frames to do, and then the transom.

Drawings from Mariners Museum

The ordered drawings for the 17' Deluxe arrived from the Mariners Museum this week. Not much details on them, but the drawing for the 1941 model year show the placement of some of the trim pieces.

Still pretty cool that all this documentation is saved and available.

Note the steering wheel drawn on the 1940 model. Banjo..... Hmmmmm.... Banjo or not to banjo, that's another decision to make. Down the line though......

1940:

1941:

More wood, and my wife is.....

...not exactly as exited about a nice piece of wood as I am. Especially when it we talking $1500 for a few boards of wood.....

Went to the Woodery yesterday to pick up two 18' long Douglas Fir stock for the new engine stringer (aka keelsons). Not easy or cheap to find wood that was abundant 70 years ago. They were able to locate some decent 8/4 SVG (straight vertical grain) Doug. Fir that they planed down to the proper 1 5/8". I also picked up a 7/4 x 12" x 10' White Oak for the stem, forefoot, transom bow and cheeks. And some 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" by 16' Philippine Mahogany for the keel. This should keep me plenty busy over the winter.

Cutting wood, finally!

I'm now happy with straightness of the hull, and have finally started cutting out new bottom- and topside frames from my Philippine Mahogany frame stock. The new Grizzly bandsaw works very well, though it take some practice to get the ever changing angle on the outside edge of the topside frame just right. Found it to be much easier to pattern onto some poster board, cut out, and use this to template new topsides.

Aft bottom frames done:

And on to the topsides:

Nice, tight fit, though it took one to "practice"

7/4 White Oak for transom bow, cheeks, stem/forefoot on order, ready to pick up this week. Chine and keel stock as well.

Still at it.

Still working on getting the planning surface flat and straight. After hours with battens and straight edges, I have a 6 foot flat planning surface.

When I strung a line from the transom forward, I can see that the bow and topside frame station # 1 is "leaning" about 1 inch to the port. First I thought this was a result of the bow being bend down, as described earlier (and poked fun of by Mr. Woodyboater himself). However, when I measured both sides of the topsides, the port side plank # 2 is 1/2" shorter than the starboard. The boat was planked crocked. I guess I got the "Monday AM" boat. With all the small errors I've seen so far, it is pretty clear that these boats were made with "assembly line" speed. Not with a craftsman's skill.

Bent frames?

The bow has bent down several inches over the years, and the keel has a significant bulge in the engine area. Either the weight of the bow and improper storage or the weight of the engine over the frames is the probable cause. After the I removed the keel, some cement blocks did the trick. Blocking with the correct thickness between the floor and sheer line.

The boat was assembled from pre-cut parts back in the days, and frames was supposed to be assembled tight. I guess 1/4" - 3/8" gap was close enough. I also think the half-round holes was drilled after frame was assembled and bolted in. They have different placement and size from frame to frame. This one is is also drilled at an angle.

I'm also waiting for the profile drawing of the hull from the Mariners Museum. I hope this will tell me if and how much concave shape the frames have, especially the aft 3 or 4 on the planning surface. Can't seem to get it to look right with battens and straightedges.