Setup

Anyone who�s done any woodworking can do this just by following the pictures in the books.  The only secret here is to build a frame that allows you to easily get up into the boat and scrape off all the squeeze-out.  And get a line exactly down the center to position the molds. It�s tough on this design to hold the molds perpendicular to the frame with outside bracing, since they are so close together.  So I used blocking exactly the same as the mold spacing to hold things together, which worked fine. I went crazy and used birch ply for the molds since my eyes just can�t follow pencil marks on chipboard, and void-free plywood holds a nail or screw very well. I marked out the molds by punching holes through the patterns with an awl, then marking off with a batten.  I bought the plans from WoodenBoat, and the baseline had all but disappeared in the copies they sent me.  I measured and measured, but was still terrified that I�d get the molds set up and the front ones would be exactly a half-inch higher or lower than the back.  It worked out fine.  In fact Oughtred�s plans are so good that I ran battens all over the molds when set up and simply couldn�t find anything to fuss with.  I actually worried that I�d done something wrong until I laid the first planking stock on and it hit every mold tighter than Madonna kissed Britney. I didn�t feel with a boat this light that it was necessary to laminate the stems, but I didn�t have any stock thick enough.  So I made an epoxy sandwich of two boards and planed them down, with the joint in the middle (which you can�t see on the finished boat) achieving a strong, warp-fee assembly without the glue-mess of laminating six or seven pieces.

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