Attaching the chines

Using the steamer, I softened the first 8' or so of the white oak chines to help it bend from the stem to the first couple of frames. The rear of the boat doesn't have much of a bend, so the steaming was not necessary.  The softened wood helped me to bend the chines around the frames.  Unfortunately, after removing the clamps, the wood sprung back a fair amount so the final fitting still took some effort.
While the chines were clamped into the frames you could also see how what was needed to shape the frames to accept the chines.  I had made estimates of the necessary cuts.  The most severe cut is in frame 4, which transitions the chine from the stem to the rear of the boat.  This shows that my preliminary cutting of frame 4 needed more work.  The chine should fit cleanly into the frame and make good contact. As you can see, the frame needed more trimming to match the chine.

Once the chines where removed, I did more trimming of the frames and prepared for the final attachment. The biggest problem was at the stem where the chine needed to match the stem and line  up on the chine block.  I made a clamping block that I clamped to the chine block that let me clamp the chine to the chine block before I did final attachment.  Here's two pictures showing the block and how it worked.

The angled cut-outs of the block created a clamping surface that was parallel to the chine block.  It allowed me to pull the chine in tight and then drill and screw it after being epoxied.
Needless to say, the fitting and final assembly of the chine was a challenge. I spent most of Friday fitting and attaching the chine.  It ended up pretty well.

Next up are the sheers.