Transferring lines from the lofting?

[Dave B]

Very soon I'll be ready to start making my frames, stem, etc. from the lofting. I've read about several methods of transferring the lofting lines to your stock (nail heads along the line; use a pounce wheel and colored dust to make a pattern, etc.). I did a topic search to find out if there were other favorite methods, but didn't really find anything. Surely there has to be other reliable methods. How about it?

[crawdaddyjim50]

Dave, We are using the nailheads along the lines. We are going to index the mould stock off of the baseline. Starting with station 1.

[Jay Greer]

Mylar, a pounce wheel and powdered chalk will suffice very well. It also allows you to save the pattern .
But that is more involved than the nail head method.
I personaly prefer the nail heads because I can work faster that way when no saved pattern is needed.

[Dave Fleming]

clipping those roofing nail heads. :eek:
Good thing I had 3 sons to sit there and do a gazillion pounds for Pizza Pie and Banana Splits.

:D

[Bruce Taylor]

Nails work so well I haven't been tempted to try anything else.

I like ring-shanked subfloor nails. They have fairly small but sharp-edged heads, and lie quite flat.

[Ross M]

A few years back Woodenboat published an interesting method.

a) Batten following curve is fixed to lofting surface;

b) Stock is placed on top of the batten, suitably blocked to prevent rocking & fastened through the blocking;

c) C-shaped piece of plywood - legs straddling the stock - is moved along the batten, marking points with pencil as desired.

Ross

[Stephen Hutchins]

My favorite is lofting it on mylar, and using a seamstress wheel to mark the wood. This is also great for expanded transom drawings.

[ 01-08-2006, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Stephen Hutchins ]

[Saint]

What do you use to get both sides of the station onto a single piece of plywood? Are you forced to make a 1/2 template and flip it on the station stock or do you make two half plywood stations? (canoe sized)

[Stephen Hutchins]

make a 1/2 template and flip it on the station stock Yes, this is much faster and more accurate than drawing all the stations twice. Just use your water lines and the center line to make sure everything is strait.

[Tom Robb]

There isn't any one right way, only the way you're used to and that works for you.

[wyndham]

Tom is right however drawing all the stations twice and making two half patterns is a lot of extra work. Make a half pattern for each staion and flip them over. be careful to keep your align ment. With mirror images at each station you are guaranteed symmetry-right or wrong.
Whats more/most importan are your plumb and level reference lines.

[Cullen T.M. McGough]

This will get you laughed at by the traditionalists, but if you can buy, borrow or steal a LCD overhead projector, you can scan your plans into a laptop, scale the image to 100%, and project whatever piece you need onto the wall or floor.

Trace the projection image and away you go. Make sure to spend some time getting the magnification as exact as you can.

CTMM