Stitching and Gluing:
All the boards are cut and ready for stitching and gluing.
Shown in the picture are the two sizes of caulking tubes available.
Make sure you have some good rubber/nitrile gloves as this
caulking can/will stain your skin for days.
Once we had cut all the boards, we stitched and glued them together. You can do this by using two different methods: stainless steel and brass screws to first attach the stern and then "stitching" the bow plate to the sides using galvanized wire. Alternatively, you can use plastic "zip ties". Each method has it's pros and cons:.
A.Wire Method:
Pros:
Small holes mean less filler. Easier to sand.
Cons:
Wire is a pain to work with.
Grinding the wire off once done is a pain
B .Zip Tie Method:
Pros:
Easy and quick to assemble
Easy to sand smooth
Con:
Drilling rather large holes
More filler is required
Step 1: Stitch/Attach Bow Plate
Attach the bow plate either using the wire or zip ties to the brig sides. This is done by drilling a couple holes on each side of the the bow plate and then corresponding holes in the each of the brig sides and then passing the wire or zip ties through the holes and then "stitching" them together.
Attaching the bow plate with wire
Attaching the bow plate using the zip tie method
Step 2: Stitch/Attach Stern Plate
In the same manner as the bow, attach the stern plate.
View of stern stitching (Note: extended at top to accomodate "brig" modification)
The bow and the stern, and brig sides should now resemble this shape:
_
/ \
/ __\
Step 3: Attach the mid-frames
Now it is time to attach the mid-frames. The first mid-frame you want to attach is the one closest to the bow (front). Thy are easiest to attach by using a small brass screw through the sides of the brig. It may help to have a friend as you will need to gently coax the frame into place. The sides of the boat should now start to bow outwards.
Attaching the mid-seat frame (bow side)
Once the mid-seat frame bow side is attached, you will now want to screw in the stern side midframe.
The boat should look like this with Bow plate, Stern plate and Mid-Frames attached.
Step 4: Attach the stern seat frame.
The final step is to now attach the stern seat frame into place. This completes the basic framework.
This is how the boat should look with all frames in place
