15 October 2003

Work on the Sissy-Do has been occasional, so far. But progress is being made!

Picture 1: My first part, the stem was made on August 5th thru 7th. I laminated the stem pieces, attached them together with wood screws and glued them securely. I cut the stem parts and the bevel for the bow on my Delta bandsaw, this worked much better than I suspected it would. Laying the stem on the plans shows that it matches correctly. Success!

Picture 2: This photo shows several more parts finished. The transom is made with two layers of 3/4 inch plywood for more strength in the stern, only one layer thickness worried me too much about hanging a boat motor on it. The building frame turned out very well. I used heavy construction screws to hold it together because I want to be able to take it apart neatly, and salvage as much as possible for use in the building frame for the Glen-L 15 I will build after the Siss-Do.

Picture 3: The building frame photo shows the rather cramped quarters I have to work in, but it will work just fine. I have the plywood purchased for the planking, it is resting just to the right of the frame. The parts on the back end of the frame are the stem and transom, waiting for further developments.

Picture 4: Now, I have the frames finished! This photo shows the main frame and the temporary frame finished. I used four screws in each corner as well as plenty of glue. The frames are resting on temporary sticks for the benefit of the photo. The frames are made of red oak, and they turned out very well. I wonder if they should have been cut to a wider dimension for additional strength, but I followed the directions, loyally. The transom is just hanging there temporarily on the edge of the building frame. I have yet to bevel the ends of the building frame and cut the notches for the transom to fit in during the boat frame construction.

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