Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dory Frames

I've been working on the stems and the frames. These are the skeleton of the Dory and they have to be perfectly symetrical. This is where the bandsaw is a necessity in boatbuilding. The manuals will tell you that you can get by with a jigsaw, which is possible but the quality would be unlikely.
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With a bandsaw, you can screw all of the matching pieces together and cut them simultaneously, ensuring that they come out symetrical. Then you just flip them and attach opposite ends.
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It is also possible to cut the stem molds to use to clamp the stem strips into a laminated curve with the bandsaw.

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I mean, don't go rushing out to buy a bandsaw just because of this. But if you wish to build quality boats, you should invest.
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I have a Jet 14 inch which I'm pretty pleased with.
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With three hours spent of the frames, the cumulative tally is now 15 hours.
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Next I'll attach the frames to the dory bottom and set everything up on the strongback to start planking the Dory.



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