lofting comment

[Paul Pless]

Y'all bastards never mentioned how hard this process is on the old knees. Having had a broken kneecap and a torn ACL, next time around this will be done vertically.

[JimD]

So what you're saying is that crawling around on your hands and knees is hard on your knees? Come to think of it that makes sense.

[Bill Perkins]

Paul I bought a small dolly from Home Depoe that's designed to plug into the bottom of a special trash can , makeing it a roller .I made a square box that fit tightly over the Dolly's (8 in. dia . )round plug ,and attached a round seat on top of that.The Dolly has 3 good castors , big enough to deal with minor obstructions .I set it low enough so I can get into a kneeling possition directly from it if I need to .It was a huge help when finishing as well .

[Rick Tyler]

Originally posted by Bill Perkins:
Paul I bought a small dolly (...) I set it low enough so I can get into a kneeling possition directly from it if I need to "Once you've done it with a legless man you can't ever go back."
-- from Trading Places .

[ 11-05-2005, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Rick Tyler ]

[Dave Fleming]

Ayup, wish they had these things when I was younger,sigh.

http://www.duluthtrading.com/core/framework/scripts/image.asp?path=/media/images/products/10087/10087.jpg

Knee Pad Source (http://www.duluthtrading.com)

[Ken Hutchins]

Ah, it's just an exercise to prepare you for working in the bilges and crawling around underneath the hull. :D So you might as well get used to it. ;) You will get to think of the lofting as the good old days. tongue.gif

[Paul Pless]

Thanks Ken, that's the exact kind of encouragement I was looking for. :D

[ssor]

Just a few more boats and you can start on ceramic tile floors. :eek:

[Art Read]

"Y'all bastards never mentioned how hard this process is on the old knees. Having had a broken kneecap and a torn ACL, next time around this will be done vertically."
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Oh, its been mentioned... More than once!
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"Keith... "I really enjoy lofting..."? Is it just me, or did anybody else almost cripple themselves while lofting? Granted, it WAS an interesting exercise and really helped me to "visualize" the boat in three dimensions. Saved a lot of headaches later too. But, My God! I didn't wise up enough to find kneepads until I was half way done and the damage was already done. I could barely walk. Anybody ever heard of "drop foot"? I suddenly couldn't lift up the front of my feet. Those muscles just stopped working. Had to kind of shuffle along with my toes "slapping" the ground in front of me. Lasted, with diminishing severity, for about a month. I had a doctor as a sailing student soon after I started having problems and he explained what was happening. Seems being on your knees all day causes nerve damage to your lower legs. I'm glad to have had the experience of lofting, but I can't say I'd like to do it for fun!"

In fact, though I can't find it in the "search thingy", I recall posting to a lofting thread here where I "reminded" someone to use those kneepads about a half dozen times in a one paragraph reply! ;)

[ 11-07-2005, 03:31 AM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Paul Pless]

Art,

thank god it hasn't got that bad. I do wear kneepads, they just don't seem to help my banged up knee much. I like the idea of the stool. At one point I thought it might have been nice to have a four foot long pencil. ;) I was only lofting a sharpie and it relly only has a very few lines, so I guess I really don't have much room to complain.

Paul

[Walcheren]

Well, there we are again, people crawling over the floor. Go to Search, Poulsbo Boat Lofting and you get a photo of how it can be done vertically painlessly.

[Steve Lansdowne]

I believe the medical term for this knee ailment is "housemaid's knee." Perhaps the nautical version should be denoted "lofter's knee."

[Dave Fleming]

Dr. I have refrained in the past from making a negative comment on your off the wall lofting. Now I fear I must. What you and others have done is fine.
Unfortunately when you go above a certain length and complexity it just will not work.
A Paulsbo,Whitehall,perhaps a 26' Bartender it would be fine.
Try that on a 50'+schooner or a 250 foot tuna seiner or a 105' motor yacht!

[ 11-11-2005, 11:19 PM: Message edited by: Dave Fleming ]

[Don Kurylko]

Yeah, I’ve wrecked my knees too, so I switched to computers. Now it’s a pain in the ass! :D

[Walcheren]

Hello Dave. That is to me not a negative comment. Of course the larger boats can not be done on the wall but I think there are a hell of a lot more small boat builders than guys that build real big ones. I might add that for putting the backbone together I had to put some lines on the floor. For all other functions a lofting on the wall in a small shop is much more accessible for referencing than one that is under the boat and saw dust. Also I want to save some old timers some pain.

[Mrleft8]

Knees? What knees?