Two More Ribs Repaired

These ribs are the last ones to repair on the bow end.  The other ones that were less than perfect were salvaged by filling the defects with epoxy.  These rib tips will be covered by a cap strip, so they don't have to look good, they just need to be a good structural joint.  I tried to strip the last remaining finish in this area, but it still needs one more go with stripper.

I have been cutting back the broken planks so the new pieces end on a rib.  On these two, I kept two of the original fasteners.   The joints in the planking need to be staggered so two adjacent planks don't end on the same rib.

Here's a look at the skeleton from the inside of the bow. There are still several planks that need to be cut back, but those will wait until I have put some new planks on so I can keep the shape of the hull.

New Rib Top

Before:

After:

I cut a scarf joint and made a replacement rib top for the first of about 6 ribs (two at the bow and 4-5 at the stern end).  The tenon jig on the tablesaw works great for cutting the taper for the glue joint.

New stem installed

I beveled the stem blank on the band saw and did some hand planing to adjust the angle.  The angle varies from tip to keel, so it needs to be adjusted so the planks will lie flat.

The connection at the top has a #6 brass screw up into the deck.  The bottom joint is a scarf joint.  Both ends are glued in place with epoxy.  I took of a few more planking pieces, but I need to add new planks before I take anymore off. The first ribs aren't nailed to the stem, so the planks are holding them in position.  I don't know if there were nails originally, of if the rib ends were just nested up against each other.