Cutting the gain on a steamed garboard plank

[dstreck]

I'm just getting started planking an 8' Acorn dinghy, built traditionally with 3/8" AWC lapstrake planking over oak. The garboard and first broad have a wicked twist at the hood ends and will need to be steamed to take the twist. Here's my question: most sources say that the gain in the lap is best cut on the bench, but since I wont be able to pick up my lap bevels until the planking is in its final position, and at that point they will have been steamed to get the twist, I wont be able to lay them flat on the bench for planing. Is planing the gains with the plank hung the only way to go, or is there a trick that I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Yeadon]

On the bench, you just have to do the gains for the last six or eight inches or so of a plank at the hood end. After that, once the plank is steamed and hung, then you'll start to pick up your bevels around the first or second station. Then you can just fair the laps through to the fattest part of your gains.

Use a door skin batten, and lay it on your lap as you begin to fair up through the gains ... there's a slight leap of faith involved as you move forward from the areas where you can really pick up a bevel. But the batten will help. If it doesn't lay right, or look right, then the lap bevel is probably not quite right.

Don't worry too much, if you over bevel the lap pushing up into the gain, you can always just glue a nice little shim up in the place and try it again. The shim will be covered by the lap, and no one will never know. I've seen this trick done by several people who are much more competent than me at this sort of thing.

Edited to add - there really isn't a bevel on the lap gain. It's little more than a small ramp, moving from a bit more than a feather thickness at the rabbet, then ramping up slowly to a full thickness at the end of the gain. The bevel doesn't really begin until the twist commences a bit back from the gain.