What Job Takes 5 Hours?

It was time: time for the dreaded job, setting up the molds for good.

I've been building things for forty years. In all those years, no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get things square, level and plumb. Duh! But I manage to get the job done somehow.

With this boat, having the strongback, square and level is crucial. Setting up the molds square and plumb is crucial. If you don't get it at least close to right, you're going to have a bunch of problems.

I labored the other day to get the strongback right. Today I started with double checking the measurements on the molds. I found a few areas that could be fined tuned and one measurement that was almost 1/2" off! Fortunately, I was able to fix it. 

Next, I measured for the placement of the molds, double checking to see which side of the mold the 2x's went on. Lining them up was the challenge. I cut a 1/4" hole in each of them in the center and 3 & 1/4" up from the bottom. I then ran a string through the hole to see if they were lining up. It was close but I couldn't get it just right. I abandoned that method.

I decided to line things up with the keel plank. I had a line drawn down the middle of the plank and I had a mark in the center of each mold. I tacked the plank to the first mold and transom. Then I carefully adjusted the molds to hit on that center line. I was concerned about the midship frame. It's not made like the rest and I had not marked the center. I got it close and then measured to the "break" where the garboard plank is to go. With some fiddling, I got it to where I was satisfied. I'll probably look at it one more time before gluing anything.

Laterally they look lined up. Vertically, not so sure. When I had the string running through the molds, it seemed #6 was 1/4" too low. I don't see how it could be, so I'm trusting my strongback and dimensions on the mold. I may tack a couple battens on it where a couple planks go to see how it looks.

The keel plank is temporarily in place. I've still got to attached the stem and bevel the landing on the transom before glueup. Here is the set up as of now.

Looks good from this angle. I'm still worried that this boat is not going to be "fair". I did notice that there seems to be a "hard" spot where the scarf it. We'll see how it all turns out. One thing is for sure: I'll be spiling the planks!