Colorido

Lofting Board

Now that Ive cut out the two pieces of my lofting board, its time to assemble it into one 3/4" x 4 x 13 surface. I also want to white-wash it.

The boat building books (BBBs) discuss lots of ways to assemble the lofting board. Probably the best way is to screw the various panels down on the floor. I didnt want to do this because I didnt want to drill holes in my floor, and also I wanted to be able to move the board if needed, or even lean it up against the wall to get it out of the way.

So I ended up using metal straps to hold the two sheets of plywood together. I could probably use a third in the middle, but it would be in the way a bit, so Ill leave it off unless I decide I really need it.

The two sheets of plywood are held together by two strong metal straps.  Heres one of them after painting. photo jalmberg

I also painted the lofting board with a quick coat of white acrylic paint. I didnt do this when lofting Cabin Boy and I regretted it. Pencil lines stand out better against the white background, but more importantly, so do the battens. I think having dark battens against a white background will make it easier to see if the line is fair or not.

Anyway, it only took a few minutes to roll on a quick coat, so its definitely worth the effort.

13 lofting board, with its own space, but out of the way of the main build area. photo jalmberg

Now that Im looking at my basement wall in the photo, Im thinking I should have slapped some paint on it, too!

Finally, I decided to set up a simple bookkeeping system to track the amount of time and money I spend on the build. I’ve broken it down into several categories, such as time spent building the jig, tools, and the boat itself. Also time spent shopping, building, blogging, etc.

Same with the money. I’ll track how much I spend building the jig, and the boat, buying tools, etc.

This isnt a business, but I think it will be interesting to see how much time and money I spend on this project.

Tomorrow, I want to see if I can cut some good battens. Battens are very important boat building tools that help  you turn a small number of points on your lofting board into long smooth curves.

They were a real problem with Cabin Boy. I never really had battens I was satisfied with. This time, Im going to make myself some good ones.

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