On go the Stringers, Shear Clamps, and Frames! - week 4-

On go the stringers.  At the stern, three meet together and require some good old fashioned elbow grease to get into place while they are screwed in.

A shot from the bow with all the stringers and shear clamps on.

This is the stem at the bow where the two shear clamps end.  Brendan hand chiseled in a notch for them to fit in perfectly.  Then they were copiously lathered with epoxy.

Here is the bow with all the stringers and both shear clamps on.  Next come the oak frames.

Dave working on the stern.  He installed the after most frames by sawing them because the angle was too severe to bend.

Here is the steam box ready to go.  It took a few minutes to fill it with steam, then we were able to fit about 9 frames at a time.

The oak frames are going on!  This was a very exciting process.  In the bow, the bend is slight, but as you move aft it increases more and more.

The oak frame on the left will be the most severe bend.  It took a little man power, but was easier than I expected.

Here, we've put two screws in the frames at each stringer to hold it in place without the clamp.  After the weekend we will take them off again to glue them, then screw them back in place.

The last shot of the week!  Here, all the stringers are on, both shear clamps, and about 40% of the white oak frames!  She's really starting to take shape.