We’ve had stacks and stacks of these so far…

This morning, David and John started the week by pulling the 16 frames they laminated in the previous week out of the boat and sanding the excess epoxy off the frames and applying filled epoxy to any voids found in the frames. While John was sanding, cleaning, filling, David was moving the “alligator boards,” putting in more floors, cleaning tape and epoxy off of floors and clamps, and smashing his fingers (something about that peening??). The results are looking great. Tomorrow, more laminating of frames into the boat! 6 more to go and then….onto the engine bay and working on the counter timber.

Those laminated frames are getting really long!

On December 29 we had all the floors made for the next set of 7 frame pairs. The old fastener holes in the good planks had been filled with fir sticks and the bung holes had epoxied-in fir bungs to return the planks to as-near-a-new-state as possible. Of course, we didn’t plug fastener holes in planks that we planed on replacing — generally all of the planks above the water line. We had planed out the small undulations in the mahogany strips from the re-sawing. We were ready to start laminating those strips into new planks, but the bronze clench rings hadn’t arrived. We needed the clench rings for the drifts that attach the floors to the keelson. Without tightly fastened floors, it is difficult to precisely position and clamp the frames during lamination.

Anticipating that we might not get the clench rings in time, we had prepped the planks in the areas where 8 intermediate frames lie. Mahdee has 11 intermediate frames spaced throughout the mid-section — two near the foremast and the rest around the mainmast. The yard shipwright has said that this is the first and only boat he has seen with intermediate frames. So they are not common. These frames span from bilge stringer-to-bilge stringer. The middle of the frame is centered over the keel and the frame bolts to the side of the floor opposite the normal frames.

Fortunately, the floors to which the intermediates attach were already installed (they bolt to the keel and don’t use clench rings). Thus, we were able to start laminating the intermediates while waiting for the clench rings. This was also fortunate, since it was much easier laminating the intermediates without having an interfering floor too close.

Since we are trying to keep as much of the good planking as possible, we are limited to clamping frame laminates near removed planks above the water line. The intermediate frames lie almost entirely below the water line and therefore have few opportunities for clamping. To apply pressure to the frames, we clamp a notched board to the deck beams and use 2x boards to brace and press the laminates tightly to the hull. If there is not enough pressure, holidays/voids will occur between laminates which will weaken the frame. Conversely, if too much pressure is applied, all the epoxy will squeeze out — also resulting in a weak frame. The upshot is that once braced with lots of boards pressing evenly, it is hard to walk past the frame, so we started framing with the most forward frame and worked backward so we could exit Mahdee easily.

The first intermediate frame required a substantial 7/8″ bevel. We were concerned if it would bend enough in the sharp, vee-shaped bow and tried a dry fit. But, as we pressed the laminates into place, we realized that the stack would jam against the hull and be almost impossible to remove without damaging either the hull or the frame. So, we decided to epoxy up and fit it in. The frame was almost in position when the bottom bevel cracked with a loud bang. Thinking quickly, we decided to separate the bottom bevel to lie up against the hull where it was most needed. Then with another bang, the top bevel shattered. We tossed it aside. Then a third bang when the port side bottom bevel cracked in half just above the bilge stringer line. Fortunately, all of the problems were fixable on the bench afterward.

The next and subsequent intermediates required much less bevel and went in easily. Brenda said “maybe we should have started near the middle where no bevel is required and work forward. ” But as John pointed out, “then we would have become cocky” due to our easy first successes. This way, we were really focused on not breaking any more laminates.

Just as we finished the last of the 8 intermediates we had access to, the clench rings arrived. I drifted in the next floor and we were laminating the respective frames within an hour of the postal visit. This run of laminating was originally planned to do 7 frame pairs (14 frames). With the addition of the 8 intermediates, we are now up to 22 frames in the run starting December 29. As of today, we have 16 out of 22 done and will have the remainder done early next week. Then there will be some cleaning up of the frames and installing to do. That leaves about 19 frame pairs and 3 intermediates still to do — almost all in the aft end of Mahdee.

David