At it's most basic level, lofting is the process of rendering the three views of the hull the actual size of the boat to be built. But there is a lot more to it than that, and books on lofting that really cover the subject are scarce–and good ones are scarcer still. It's one thing to loft a skiff or a dory with flat sides and bottom. It's quite another to loft the shapely curves of a wherry and get them right. With this book in hand, you will have all the information you need–others can't say that.
This is the original Great Island Rowboat, which was about 90 years old when this photo was taken. A popular type at the turn of the last century, we measured this boat in order to preserve her lines and draw her construction plans. If you know of an old type worth saving like this one, Lines, Lofting & Half Models will teach you how to take off the lines...and how to correct them...how to create a Table of Offsets...and how to make a half model.
The lines section shows you how to select, interpret, and use building plans efficiently. Once you understand the half models and the two-dimensional lines derived from them, lofting is no longer intimidating. The lofting section takes you the rest of the way with no-nonsense coverage of the entire process, explaining how make the seemingly unavoidable corrections, and how to make use of your lofting, once completed.
In short, this is a full lofting course, taught by one of the most experienced small craft boatbuilders on the Maine Coast.
Lines,
Lofting, and Half Models
158
pages, 91 line drawings,
indexed, glossary*
$25.00/copy (shipping
weight 3 lbs.)
*If
boatbuilding terminology confounds you, you should take a close look at
Pigeons & Gudgeons.
One
recent email stated,
"What
a great book Pigeons & Gudgeons is–wish I'd ordered it long
ago!"
(Order
both books at the same time for
FREE SHIPPING in the contiguous 48 states.)
The largest of the wherries, this is the Newfoundland Trap Skiff, Arundel. Her lines came from a 100+ year old builder's half model. As with the G.I. Rowboat, her lines were taken off, lofted, and finally translated into boatbuilding plans. That's just one example of what you can do once you understand half models. The author built both boats, by the way.
Even with our plans in hand, you need to loft your boat in order to build the moulds and get out the backbone members. The information you need is in Lines, Lofting.
What sort of illustrations? Here are two of them from the book. To the left, the explanation of the bearding line, showing how it relates to the waterlines and the stem profile.
Below is a bit of information you will be hard put to find elsewhere, expanding a curved transom...just what's needed if you plan to build our curved stern 14' Duck Trap Wherry.
Learning is a cumulative process, and each component of lofting is built on something earlier, all the way back to the half models. And you don't have to be a math whiz to learn it, just attentive and persistent.
Here's your chance to learn lofting the right way, and at your own speed...
Lines,
Lofting, and Half Models
158
pages, 91 line drawings,
indexed, glossary*
$29.95/copy
To purchase online, click on over
to our new site.
...or for $30 you can order this CD that contains all of Lines, Lofting & Half Models plus all of Glued Lap Construction! That's a $5 savings right there, and because it is produced in Acrobat format, it is searchable using Adobe's search function–a particularly handy feature when you need to find some detail in a hurry.
