I've installed (epoxied and screwed) the keelson and the stem (the main backbone members). The keelson is two layers of lumber, since one layer would be difficult to bend into position. The image below shows the second layer being dry fitted before gluing. I learned quickly that I need to screw everything together, take it apart, then glue and screw it together.
Here is a pic of the stem and keelson after the glue set. All that excess glue will be sanded off.
This step took awhile, because I had to make sure all the frames were square and just right before permanently gluing everything together. Measure 100 times, epoxy once ... that's been my strategy so far.
I decided to buy a cheap ($200) bench planer. Unless the boat design uses all standard lumber sizes, I don't see how it would be possible to build a boat without one. My boat requires a lot of 5/8" thick lumber. I was considering going to my friendly boat shop and using their planer, but transporting the lumber back and forth wouldn't be practical. I've been making the chines, gunwales and stringers using a table saw and planer. I also scarfed pieces together with epoxy, since I only have 12ft long lumber and the boat is 14ft long. They are almost ready to be bent onto the frames. I'm just waiting a few days for the scarf joints to cure completely so they don't break when I try to bend them.
