The Slow Saga of Zip Frame #4 — part one

Frame #4 on the Glen-L Zip is the location of the boat's dash board (steering wheel, gauges, etc).

The dashboard beam at Frame #4 is customizable to whatever shape or arrangement you please. This Glen-L Zip has the optional walk-through bridge deck. And, as you can see, a classic Mercury motor.

Progress on my Frame #4 has been moving at a snail's pace... but I am making progress. For most of the month, it has been daily (if brief) sessions of hand-sanding the frame components at 5:00 am with my morning coffee.

That would be three out of the four frame components. I actually ran out of enough length of the $94 mahogany board I bought back in May, so I have not yet cut the actual dashboard beam.

Another example of a dashboard on a Glen-L Zip, and this builder's interpretation with the multi-colored overlay of woods.

Here's yet another example of a dashboard on a Glen-L Zip. This photo also shows it more in context with the rest of Frame #4.

Floor beam for Frame #4. The side beams can be seen in the foreground.

Most of the work this month has been hand-sanding the rough-cut mahogany parts from this:

Rough-cut mahogany as I bought it at the lumber yard.

Into a smooth surface like this: 

Sanded mahogany side beams for Frame #4.

In the process of sanding, I have continued to save the mahogany wood dust for future use as a thickening agent for epoxy.

The paltry amount of wood dust I'd collected a month ago.

Now I have about 3X that amount, just from working on Frame #4 — so far.

After all the sanding, I found that I needed to widen the keel notch in order to accommodate the 4" keel. It's not perfectly symmetrical, but it's within acceptable tolerances for me.

So, there you have it for Frame #4 progress so far. It's slow progress, but then again I'm in no major hurry. Until I figure out where I'm gonna put the other boat, I don't have room to set up the Zip construction, anyway.

But, I'll get there.

"— being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it"     

Phillipians 1:6