S/V Ripple

  The frame is fair, the backbone is in place, and the beveling nearly complete.  Let the planking commence!  Except that my current count of sharp chisels and plane irons is 1 and 0 respectively... and that doesn't include the spokeshaves that should be sharpened for work on the stem. After a hard year of on-board maintenance, I am long-past due to recondition my edges, and perhaps recondition my attitude about keeping them sharp.  Using the 1.5 inch slick I brought back from Japan a couple years back reminded me of the pleasure of perfect sharpness, and how critical it is to achieving the desired result.   I've sharpened well in the past, and I can do it again, so I have declared a building moratorium until I have a sharpening station in place, and have restored the edges on my hand cutting tools. Lie Nielsen is one of the great hand-tool makers in the world, and I've acquired a few of their wonderful products over the years.  They are also a...

I took off the vertebral clamps from yesterday's glue-up and started fairing the result.  I have a first pass done the entire length of the backbone.  Next step is to check all the bevels carefully at every point along the keelson, and 'fair in' the stem with some pseudo planks clamped to the stations. I am on the threshold of cutting the garboard strake pair (the planks closest to the midline of the boat). about 2 1/2 hours

Yesterday I attached the transom to the building frame, screwed with angle brackets and vertical supports.  Positioning the transom on the supports is a bit tricky, as there are no fixed reference points for measurement. The keelson defines the centerline for the transom position... no ambiguity there. The full size plans for stations 5 and the transom indicate that the keelson notch for the transom should be approximately 4 inches below the notch on station 5.  Additionally, battens tacked to the sheer and one mid-plank landing project naturally to the transom landings to form a fair curve. Fiddling with the transom position with clamps eventually allows you to gradually adjust the transom until it approaches an optimal position.  Check, recheck, and screw the angle brackets in.  Done. This morning I beveled the keelson landing surface in the transom notch with my dozuki and the  1 1/2 inch chisel, dry fitted the entire assemblage, and mixed epoxy (150 ml...