Now that the frames are glued and screwed to the floors, it is time to assemble the backbone and frames.
The floors are fastened to the keel via bronze screws along with Titebond III to secure the floors to the keel. After everything was set and finished, I noticed that Station 4 was setup backwards on the keel! While the glue was still wet, I loosened the floor screw and rotated the floor, re-tightening it once the station was oriented properly.
To make sure the floors are set square to the keel, I rested a square along the side of the floor and the perpendicular along the length of the keel. Keeping everything square, I drove the bronze fastener all the way down, tightening the floor and squeezing the excess glue out of the interface between the faying surface of the floor and keel.
The stem was also glued in place along with the knee using no fasteners. Fasteners would interfere with later cutting and shaping that will occur in these areas, so they are forfeited for the time being. After the final shaping is completed, the stem and knee will be fastened securely using bronze fasteners.
The next steps will be to secure the stringers which will strengthen the frame up significantly and begin to transform this project from a whale skeleton into a boat!
