The Building Form

The boat is built on a temporary sawhorse-like structure specifically made to support the frames, called the building form.

The building form is a stand holding the two straightest 2x4s I could find set horizontally 2 feet apart and 2 feet off the ground.  I used my new laser level to get these as level as I could to ensure the hull is straight and fair without any unwanted warps, twists, bumps, or dips.  There will be a good amount of strain on the frames and therefore the building form when the lengthwise members are bent into place, so the building form must be sturdy. It is even bolted to the floor so it won’t move and put the hull out of alignment.

In theory if you can get the building form perfectly level and build the frames accurately then everything should align itself automatically. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me, so it took a while to get everything plumb, level, and inline. I used the laser level again to align and level the frames in all 3 dimensions as best I could. 


Then I aligned and temporarily attached the transom, centerboard trunk, and stem.


The stem is attached to the forward most frame as well as the base member / garage floor to make sure it doesn’t move when I bend the chine logs and sheer clamps around the frames. 


So far everything is just held together by clamps and screws. I need a full day above 50° weather to use epoxy outside before I can permanently assemble everything. Next step is to make and install the keel, chine logs, sheer clamps, and battens, all of which are between 12 and 16 feet long and run the length of her boat. 

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