Eva Too – Lofting Along

Oh, before we get too far away form scarphing, here’s a picture of how a pair of the scarphs worked out. Even continuation of the plies is exactly what we wanted.

This boat’s plans specifies the shape of the planks with a table of offsets. The planks and the bottom are lofted, not spiled like in the previous boat. The process is simple. Establish a straight reference edge along one edge of the material (good use of the long jointing plane). Measure off and draw station lines, one per foot for this boat. Take the offsets from the table on the plans and mark on the station lines. Connect the dots using a smooth batten to fair the lines.

Then, saw as close as you dare to the lines and finish up with a block plane. The boat only has 4 planks, 2 sheer and 2 bilge. Cutting and shaping them in pairs is easy and keeps them identical. Once again, a lumberyard bench is nice to have because the easiest way to keep a pair of planks in alignment is to nail them to the bench.

Recent boat building isn’t getting a lot of time. This boat could be moving along a lot faster were there not a lot of other things I find interesting.

• Flatbread “Bings” are the latest cooking discovery for this house husband. They are easy to make and disappear quickly.
• Marveling at hand engraving and learning to draw some of the scrolls and leaves patterns is a new diversion.
• Exploring wooden clocks, and considering making them…
• Reading woodworking books such as “The Joiner and the Cabinet Maker” in which young Thomas learns a woodworking trade, and Tom Fidgen’s “Made by Hand” in which stunningly beautiful furniture is made using only hand tools.
• Following “ClimateGate” and contrasting it with my many years spent in serious, principled scientific discipline.
• Studying the Federalist Papers, in which the country’s founders discuss the merits of the U.S. Constitution. Today’s reading was #41 in which James Madison clearly delineates how the “general Welfare” phrase of Article 1, Section 8, is followed immediately by, and constrained by, a list of 21 enumerated powers which limit what the government can force upon us.

Tomorrow: cut and shape the bottom of the boat.

As always, click on any image to see a larger version.