I can bounce up and down on it...

I took down the laminated plank that I will use for the deck beam.

I happily bounced up and down on it, not a worry.

It will take some planing, but apart from that it seems fine.

And the cling film / plastic wrap did indeed just peel right off.

Laminated Deck Beams....

I went to my wood pile, to find a peice of oak for the last deck beam.

1" x 4" x 6'.

The longest "piece" I had was about 5' 4". Or I could cut into the lovely 16' plank that I had intended for the sheer clamps.

Maybe I could laminate up a plank. After all, this is going to be supported by a post in the middle. And glue is stronger than wood. And.. And..

I have cut a whole set of 1" x 1" strips, and most of them 5' 4" long, and staggered the joints so that when I cut it to shape, and cut the notches I should not have any weak points.

The whole lot is glues up with Balcotan PU - which does not stick to Cling Film / Plastic Wrap - and clamped with about 30 F-clamps.

It's sitting in my garden shed, awaiting a bounce test.

I reckon that if I can put a block under each end and it will support my 200lbs bouncing up and down on it, then it should be good.

It is for a 14' sail boat, not an ocean going clipper....

Any thoughts or comments.

Short cuts seldom are....

They said draw out the full frame on a board, and use that for gluing up the frames. No worries, I'll just size up each half against the plans and glue up each half. How can it go wrong....

When I look at the two half, one is just about perfect, the other is off by about 5/16" at the top.

The three other frames where I did as I was told, and drew them out on a board, and then glued them up are just fine.

Now I am faced with - re cut and re glue or shim and trim.

I suspect I will shim and trim.

Since the side beam of the fram is 1" thick oak, and three inches from outside to inside, trimming 5/16" off the inside, and adding a 5/16" strip to the outside should be fine. The added strip will be under compression, and I suspect much of if may get faired away anyhow.

More haste less speed.

This looks like it may become part of a boat.

Now that the bits are starting to come together, it's starting to look like one day these could become part of a boat. Yes, that is the kitchen table, and yes - I have a very tolerant wife.

Sharp Things

No surgeon could have cut a thinner slice from my thumb.

The rule is simple, don't put anything on the sharp side of a tool that you are not happy to cut.

Using a chisel like a paint scraper to remove glue while holding the workpiece with your hand across from, but in front of the chisel is just not very smart.

It didn't even hurt, the I keep my chisels sharp, real sharp, so after the chisels arc intersected with flesh and blood the tiny nick on my thumb just bled quietly.

Just enough to let me know that if I had been less fortunate, I'd be wandering down to A&E asking the nice doctors if they would kindly stitch me back together.

Skin, tenons, ligaments, and even bones will offer little resistance to a sharp chisel moving at the speed of stupidity.

It's cold comfort that nothing more than good fortune stood between me and an afternoon in A&E.

Never enough clamps

I've started putting the frames together...

This is a big step. I am going from a pile of funny shaped bits of wood to things that are starting to look like they may belong to a boat.

Part of this is the drawing out of the frames on the layout board (the crappy 6mm "marine" ply that I bought before I knew better - came in useful after all)

Given he half plans, you draw a center line, then draw the plans out on both sides, and measure a few times to make sure that you are symmetric.

A word to the wise, Do this before you cut your frames. Cut the side frame parts from the patterns, and then cut the bottom frame parts to fit. Otherwise, you can end up with your bottom members too short. (I cut mine long on purpose, so I just have to trim to fit)

Since I am using Balcotan PU glue for the frames, I need LOTS of clamping pressure, the nails are fine for holding things in place, but I use about 10 F clamps per joint. Since I only have 10 f clamps - this means one joint at a time. I see more F clamps in my future.

The Balcotan is great for flat surfaces, but it had no strength in gaps.

Horses for courses - it has no fumes to speak of - so I can happily glue up on the kitchen table, if I were using Epoxy, I would need to set up outside, in the garden, and given our biblical summer (raining for 40 days and 40 nights), setting up in the garden is not always easy.

Once I have a few of them glued up, I'll post pictures.