Well back in November or December we wrapped up replacing bent-oak frames on the starboard side of Sea Mew. 10 frames were replaced in total, with around 5 or so pieces broken in the process of refining our steaming/boiling setup. That wrapped up the frame replacement on the starboard side and we were ready to start in on the portside. Considering both rot from freshwater seepage and cracked frames (at the hard turn of the bilge) about 10 frames needed replacing on the portside as well. Since we'd exhausted our supply of air-dried oak I started hunting for more green or air-dried oak, either eastern white oak or oregon (garry) oak. Finding good, knot-free, non kiln-dried 'bending' oak around here can be a pain in the ass, and I ended up buying quite a good bit from Edensaw when on a trip to Port Townsend in February. Two decent pieces also came from 'Hardwoods to Get' here in Bellingham. This past weekend Derrick and I made a good push and installed 4 new boiled oak frames on the portside. Photos are below.
11 pieces of frame stock milled out and ready. 1 5/8" x 1 3/8" x ~6'. We only need 10 but...
Derrick enjoying the sunny February day.
4 alternating frames were fully removed to make installation go quickly. This photo also shows how close some of the butt-blocks are in the planking. The (squarish) blocks support the ends of two planks where the ends 'butt' up against the next. In an ideal world a butt block should be three-away: across frames and/or up-down planks. We we selectively replace some planks we'll try to distribute some of the blocks more evenly. Most of the butt blocks in the upper-left of the photo are also rotten from freshwater seeping and sitting on the frame. A good reason to leave a nice channel on each side of the butt blocks and give the topside a good bevel to shed water and schmeg.
After frames are done we'll move on to replacing the sheer-clamps, which are the orange-painted pieces in the top-left of the photo above. On each side of the boat there are two pieces (clamp & shelf) that run the full length of the boat. We'll probably use douglas-fir.
How to pretty-up a wax toilet-ring for only $22.
4 frames after installation. The 'hairy' ends of the frames show how much force we had to use to get the frames to slide into place from above. It's hard to see in this photo but we ended up breaking out a questionable plank at the turn of the bilge to make seating the frames against the planking easier. Without clamps against the planking and frames it is nearly impossible to get the steam-bent frames to sit flush. Or it is at least easier than an elaborate scaffolding to brace and wedge against and get in the way.
Hopefully we'll get the next 6 frames in soon. As mentioned above we'll likely move on to replacing sheer clamps next and then installing bilge-stringers that run the full length of the boat. The boat previously had a partial ceiling (short planks lining the inside of the hull) but we'll probably do away with that and use bilge stringers to add strength around the flat run of the frames from stem-to-stern.
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