We have been trying to keep at it and finally get some planks hung. We are getting so close! The sheer plank is the top plank, and also the first plank to install. Unfortunately it’s also the most time consuming… The reason is this plank has to follow a perfect curve along the sheer determined by the lofting. If it doesn’t your boat will look lumpy and ugly… Also I am extremely talented at convincing myself to do more work than is necessary because it will be “better that way”… I have my doubts… I think…
Anyway I have decided to scarf the sheer plank together into one ridiculously long plank. That way it will be super easy to lay the plank into a perfect curve… At least thats the theory!
Cutting planks down.
Cutting the scarfs is actually super easy. I thought about making a jig, but I think I could cut all the scarfs by hand in the time it takes to build a good jig. I just draw some lines, run a bunch of saw cuts, knock the chunks out with a chisel, then hit it with and planer. It took about 45 minutes to do the very first one, but I think I can knock that down to 30 minutes. 18 inches would suffice for a 12-1 scarf, but I felt like 24 inches was more appropriate…
We are hoping to get all these cut and ready to glue up by sunday. The only thing thats kind of a pain is that we will have to build a little heated tent around the planks to cure the epoxy, but that shouldn’t be to difficult.
Thats all for now!
Salt & Tar 
That does look like beautiful wood. Interesting idea to make one long piece. Do you butt block behind the scarfs? Also, do you start fastening (or clamping anyway) in the center and work to the ends, or start at either end first? If it were me, I’d be wondering about the fit into the rabbet at the stem. But I’m sure you’ve got a plan for that. Thanks again for the narrative and the great pictures and the video. I’m learning a lot from you.
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Hi Mark. No butt blocks behind the scarfs. I’ll probably clamp in the middle and work out, but im sure either way would work… The fit in the rabbet isn’t hard at all because there’s plenty of overhang at the stern, so I can fit the plank then get the angle with a T-bevel, trace it on the plank, cut it, and just slide it forward a little bit into the rabbet. The scarfs will also have plank fasteners through them since the scarfs are two feet long and the frames are on one 1ft centers (once the intermediate frames are installed).
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Got it. Looking forward to the pics and vids!
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