Seat Supports

To build the seat supports, I first needs to check my CAD dimensions and copy them to the splines. Below shows how I did that with a straight edge, a clamp to hold it against the frame, and combination square. My square has a level which allowed me to confirm I had a slight pitch from the ends; I designed the ends a half inch higher so water would drain towards the center.  

 Here I show the dry fit of the spline, with the cleats clamped on,  and 1 x 3/4" crosspieces. The holes were to save a bit of weight and improve access from the round top hatch you see just to the right--beside they give it that cool airplane look :-). I spaced the crosspieces 8 inches apart and used a level and strait edge to confirm everything was right before marking and epoxy gluing every in. The stern seat was done the same way. Each spline has a limber hole on its low end that you can't see in the picture.

 I used solid clear yellow pine for the aft of the mid seat support. The arching curve are mostly cosmetic and should be as strong as the traditional 1x2" straight hardwood pieces set on edge cleats.

I'll be fitting the seats next time.

Quick update.
Created short epoxy fillets between the wire ties and starting to fit the frames. The first picture is a dry fit of the middle frame to double check everything, the 2nd is of the final front frame cut. After this, I'll pull the wire, finish the fillets and epoxy the 2" tape.

planking

I aligned the bottom and used two screws to attach it to the cradle; this will make working and truing everything much simpler as I go. I'm using 20 gauge copper grounding wire for the stitching. It's a good compromise between flexibility and strength. Most of the copper ties were pushed through from the inside because it will be easier to apply the epoxy fillets to the inside. I used a stitch about every foot or so, just making it tight enough to bring the planks together. There's quite a bit of tension at the transom so I've used two stitches per plank.  

   I've epoxied the planks to the stem rabbet. The narrow piece of wood to the right of the stem is to help align perpendicular to the bottom; it would be very easy to mess this part up. The stern will also be done this way.

So far so good. It's nice to see the boat finally taking shape. Next will be epoxy "welding" the planks and framing.  

Cutting wood

This is going too slow. Last week I started to mark the plywood and yesterday, after double, triple and quadruple checking (hehe), started to cut out the bottom and lower planks. Quite a few people recommended a circular saw with a plywood blade set shallow just deep enough to make a clean cut. I tried it but didn't like the results, more dangerous, even the subtle curve bogged the saw enough to make me nervous. To be fair I was using a cordless 5 1/2 saw which I've successfully used to cut up to 1 inch stock with no problem; it just didn't work well for plywood. So I went back to my variable jig saw with a fine blade and small rotation, for a slower but very precise cut. 

I've also built a rolling cradle for the boat, mostly to move outside for sanding and to make room in my garage. Below are pictures of the cradle with the bottom piece, initial stitching just enough to see some shape; and of the dry fit stem. So far so good.