Pre-construction begins.

NOTE:  I am still catching up on my postings.  I started construction in November but have just starting posting recently.  My goal is is to get up to date in a week or so.

When does construction begin?    In my mind, it starts when wood, destined for the boat, is cut out.  While I've actually started, this post covers details that occurred prior to actual construction start. 

I purchased the Glen-L plans in February and spent lots of time studying the plans, monitoring the forums on boat building and researching websites for epoxy, screws, plywood, etc.   I started purchasing wood, ordering epoxy, screws and other stuff in August/September. 

Before I started cutting I needed to make templates of the various frame pieces.  To do that, I traced the full size half frame pieces onto poster board to create templates. If the template was larger than a single piece of poster board, I taped two pieces together with tape; making sure I taped both sides to make a stable joint.  Here are some pictures of the templates.

 

 

These poster board based templates work great to lay out the various frame and stem pieces.  However, they did not work well for the deck beams.  Since the deck beams are on a curve and the template is only a half beam., I found the process of trying to flip the template and create the second half did not create a smooth curve.   I ended up just using the plans and laying-out the dimensions out on the oak and using a batten to draw the curve.

Another piece needed for construction was a place to layout the various frame pieces, align them to the plan and them glue/fasten them together.  Rather than use the family ping pong table, I built a 3x7 table in my workshop to permit the layout and construction of the frames. I built a 2x4 frame and then topped it with a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" MDF cut down to 3x7'. This size was adequate for all my frames.   The MDF worked well because it is very smooth and dimensionally stable.  I painted the table with some white primer to make it easy to mark the level and center lines of the boat for aligning the frames.    Here is a picture of the table..  There are three 2x4s running cross wise to support the table. 

So, now construction can begin.   I have the frame pieces outlined on my white oak and I have a place to create them.  I also have the epoxy and screws.  I'm ready to get started.