Floors and Spreaders

I began to glue and nail the floors to the frames yesterday and finished them this morning. Stacked against themselves, you can get an idea of what the contour of the boat will look like.



With the floors all installed, it was time to install the spreader. The spreader is a 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" piece that gets installed where the frame gets set onto the "foundation" or building cradle. It adds support to the frame during construction and locates the frame at the correct height on the foundation.

The building cradle will be a rectangle 14 feet long by 4 feet wide. Squared and leveled, the cradle will support the boat as it gets built. It is one of the next things that gets built.

Back to the spreaders.

I cut each spreader at least 4 feey wide and more as the frames widen. I think the widest was around 78 inches.

I pilot each spreader then attach it in the correct position with decking screws.





Every screw, no matter its function, gets waxed before screwing it in to lubricate it.

The finished products:





Tomorrow, I will either start the cradle or cut the insets for the long wood stringers that will help hold the frames in place.