Framing the question.

After a month of design and another of cutting out and assembling the pieces, I did a loose fit of some of the framing. And I even remembered to take pictures. Here's one looking back from the bow. Eleanor is between frames 5 & 6.

This is inside the boat shed which is a 10X25 pole barn covered with plastic sheet. It's construction is a story in itself.


As you can see, its put together on a building jig made of 2X4s that gives a nice level surface for reference. The cross pieces are spaced at the same distance as the frames so they rest right on it in all the right places.

This is the view to the bow with frames 9 & 10. There are 11 frames in all. Frames 3 through 8 are basically straight boards bolted together. Frames 1,2, 9, 10, and 11 are cut to shape.

All the framing is local white oak purchased from Agincourt mill in Hillsborough, NJ. It's kiln dried plain sawn and very stiff. I'm hoping it doesn't swell so much as to pop the bolts holding it together. All in all there's about $700 of wood in it so far. I think I have enough to finish the frame with .

You can see the cut notches for the chine log. I'm going to try and bend that in from the same batch of lumber. I know air dried or green would be better, but I'm notoriously frugal and am hoping that some extra time in the steam box will make up for the dryness in what I already have.
This is the stern view. As you can see the stern post is missing! I originally tried to fit the curve by cutting and splicing 4 different pieces, but I met with limited success. My first attempts at bolting them together didn't work out as planned and the epoxy failed at one joint. So contrary to my nature, I went and purchased a suitable board to make it all in one piece. I haven't cut the new one out yet.