Knees and Rails

This weekend we made some real progress on the pram. We had installed the stern corner knees during the week and on Sunday we worked on the bow knees. As you can see below, we got those all done before we broke for lunch.


Next we began drilling the screw holes for the oak rub rails. That involved drilling holes from the outside into the knees on each end and from the inside out into the rails for the sides of the boat. Then we countersunk all the screw holes. Below, John is drilling near the bow knees.


Next, I mixed up a batch of epoxy and spread it onto both mating surfaces. We worked along the side of the boat clamping and putting in screws until we had them all fastened in tight. Then we cut off the remaining lengths of rail at each rail and I sanded them smooth. Below, you see our sea of clamps holding the whole project together until the epoxy hardens.