Assembling the backbone

In this post I'll talk about assembling the stem and stern to the keel and fastening the whole ensemble over the station moulds.  I have scaled the boat from the original length of 10' 6" to a more useful 12', now I get to see if all my calculations are correct.

The sternpost notches over the back of the keel and is epoxied/screwed

The stem gets the same treatment.  The keel is a little wide still leaving some room for fine tuning

Starting to look vaguely boat-like.

After assembling the backbone I flipped it over and centered it on the moulds.  The amount of overhang fore and aft are calculated based off the plans.  The overhanging 2X6 on the frame allowed me to design a brace for both stem and stern.  In this way I was able to correctly align them and make everything rock solid.

The keel is flexed over the moulds and screwed down.  This curve to the bottom of the boat is called "rocker" and makes it easier to row.

The angled 2X6 holds the transom centred in the right position.

A 2x4 crosspiece with some shims provides a spot to screw down the top of the stem.

The stem should be level when correctly centered.  I must have done something right!

The last step before moving on to planking was to carve a rabbet into the stem where the planks will terminate.  I had been dreading this step since the beginning but in the end it was actually very easy.  Here's how I did it:

The lofting provides an inner and outer line, called the rabbet and bearding line.  I tapped nails through the lines into a template behind the sheet.

Next I clamped the template to the stem and tapped nails through the same holes to provide marks on the stem itself.

Flexing a wood batten over the nails I traced both lines onto the stem...

...and I just started chiseling.  The scrap piece I have is 3/8" thick to simulate the planks, an easy way to test the fit.

The stem rabbet blends into the keel and becomes a part of the rolling bevel.

The stem rabbet is completely finished.  Chances are pretty good that some fined tuning will be needed but this is a great start!

Wheww... long post.  I'll be getting into the planking in the next few posts.