Foredeck Beams

I'm starting the long process of framing the interior of the boat.

The curved foredeck beams have been cutout and installed. The pattern for each is given in the plans. The plans didn't say how to attach them exactly, so I just glued and screwed them to the side of the frames and the inside of the gunwale. I made a small notch in the gunwale for the deck beams in between the frames to make it easier to screw on. Also, a strip of 3/8"x3" plywood called a king plank is checked into the top center of the foredeck beams.



Then I carefully trimmed the gunwale shear line to align with the frames and deck beams. (I used a circular saw which is actually an accurate trimming tool that's faster than a hand plane if you have to cut off a lot of material.) The plywood deck will be attached to the frames and the gunwale. They all have to align with no gaps.

Two carlines are also installed aft of the foredeck beams. These match the curve of the gunwales, but are angled inboard, as you can see in the pics below. They are angled this way because the cabin sides are going to be secured to the side of these carlines and the cabin sides are angled.



Here's a good pic of the connection of the cabin beam, gunwale and carline. You can see the cabin beam slightly checked into the gunwale (not too much so to not weaken the gunwale). Some people prefer not to check into the gunwale at all, but I found it easier to assemble this way. Also you can see a funny shaped spacer block that the carline is secured to.



Bending these carlines into position was unexpectedly very difficult. It required a compound bend in two directions. After breaking the first one, I cut out a piece that was slightly curved downward (about 1/2") in the middle, eliminating the need for a compound bend. This doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it significantly decreased the force required to bend the carline into position.


On an unrelated topic, I made a new scarfing jig. If you recall from almost a year ago, I made a scarfing jig to use with a belt sander (which is almost comical to think about now). Here is the new one that works with my table saw. It just keeps the piece being cut at a 12:1 angle. It couldn't be simpler really. I've been using it instead of the belt sander jig and I thought I would show it on the blog just to be thorough. I'm going to need it again soon to make the shear capping pieces.