I have glued the frame, cut and tuned the slot, and now am shaping the frame bottom to fit the hull. I'm getting a little nervous about how much I'm taking off on the tips and tails, while still having an appreciable gap between the hull and bottom of the frame. How much gap is ok, and does anyone have any recommendations on how to distribute any gap between the solo and picnic frame positions?
Sounds like you're making some great progress. Overall, you should be okay for having enough gap between the bottom of the boat and the lowest point on the seat. This is actually called the "stretcher height", or more specifically the vertical distance from the lowest point of your heels to the lowest part of the sliding seat. The bottom of the boat, of course, is the lowest point you can place your heels with the adjustable foot stretcher. The recommended distance for this is 15-20 cm (about 5.9-7.9"), so you should be within that by the time you've trimmed off the ends to the shape of the boat.
lf you do have any small gaps between the frame and the hull, this won't cause any problems unless it is not stable when sitting flat. As long as it doesn't rock back and forth or shift in any other problematic manner it will be fine.
All the best with that, and have fun out on the water..
