414 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 24, 1902. 
How to Build a Launch from a 
Q Set of Plans. 
' - ^ BY C. G. DAVIS. 
L . 
Making the Keel. 
The keel is a straight stick of oak 18ft. long, 2in. thick 
and 3in. deep. You will save yourself lots of work with 
the plane if you order this "dressed" (as planed-up lum- 
ber is called) at the lumber mill. Round up the bow end ac- 
cording to the plan, mark the position of each mould, and 
scratch a center line with a scratch gauge, and then get 
out the stem 21'n. thick and the shape of the pattern, 
scratching a center line around it also. The forward 
deadwood should be cut from a knee so the grain follows 
the shape and not out of a straight-grained piece of oak. 
Square up its edges so when all are riveted together the 
stem will stand perfectly plumb with the keel, and not 
be "lop-sided." When both edges are square give them a 
thick coat of white lead paint and clamp both stem and 
keel to it with your iron boat clamps. With a S-i6in. 
auger bore three, holes through knee and stem and three 
through knee and keel, and drive in some f^in. galvanized 
iron rods cut the proper lengths to allow upsetting (as 
the process of holding the rod in a vise and hammering 
one end out to form a head about ^in. diameter is called) 
and riveting over a washer on the inside. To make a 
finished job bore a !^in. hole to allow the "head" of the 
bolt to countersink about ^jin. into the outside. Never 
mind the inside; rivet them up on the surface of the 
wood, but it looks badly on the outside to rivet the iron 
right on the surface. Plug the holes with oak plugs 
'dipped in glue. Cut out the after deadwood, square up 
its edges, scratch a center mark all around and set it 
true on the keel by these center marks, then rivet it fast 
the same as you did the stem. Where the deadwood is 
deep drive in drift bolts of the same stock Y%m. galvanized 
iron. By drift bolts I mean pieces of rod headed up or 
"upset" at one end, the other slightly pointed and driven 
in as a large nail. But bore the hole for it just the same, 
only going as deep as you want the bolt; 5^in. will be 
long enough, as we don't want them to interfere with 
the shaft hole. Bolts all driven in parallel will allow 
the pieces to pull apart, but if they are "staggered" or 
driven in at all different angles, the wood binds and holds 
twice as hard. Or, instead of using rod iron for these 
drift bolts, get a few 6in. galvanized iron cut nails. 
This deadwood is quite a bulky piece of oak, being 3m. 
thick, and should be good, dry wood; if not it is apt 
to check or crack where the shaft hole is bored through. 
Unless a boat is going to be coppered outside, I would 
advise galvanized iron for deadwood bolts in preference 
even to copper, as it has greater stiffness, lasts as long 
as the oak and will draw wood together far tighter than 
copper bolts. Copper bolts used to be considered the only 
proper thing, but the metal is too soft, and in shipbuilding 
nowadays Muntz metal or Tobin bronze keel boats are 
used instead of copper almost entirely, their ductility 
being ample and tensile strength far greater. 
So far I don't think the novice will have much diffi- 
culty in following my explanations, but now we have the 
most delicate and difficult part of boat building before us. 
Catting the Rabbet. 
Lift the backbone, as we might now appropriately call 
the keel stem, etc., up on to two wooden horses and 
lay it on its flat on one side. 
By laying the thin pattern on which you have the rab- 
bet and bearding line marked, on top of the stem and aft 
deadwood, you can trace them through on to the wood 
itself by driving a row of small nails or punching holes 
through with a brad-awl about every 3m. apart. Remove 
the pattern, bend a batten to these marks and draw both 
lines in in pencil or scratch them in. 
Now if you will take a piece of wood just the size of 
the planking ^in. thick, a foot long and lin. wide, 
cut square on the ends, and with a mallet and 
broad-bladed chisel, chisel between the bearding and rab- 
bet lines until this sample of the planking fits in flush at 
the rabbet line, you will solve this difficult problem. Do 
not cut back of the bearding line. Try this sample of 
planking at intervals of say 6in., cutting out notches so 
it just fits flush, then chisel along from one cut to 
another. The after deadwood is Y 2 m. wider on each 
side than the keel, so "dub" off the deadwood that is 
below the line of the shaft and below the rabbet line to 
the thickness of the keel; then chisel out the rabbet the 
same as you did forward. Do not carry the rabbet 
clear to the keel until you have chamfered the edge of 
the keel to see just how the two will meet. As the plank 
comes just flush with the top of the keel there is no beard- 
ing line after you run off the deadwoods, You find the 
angles to bevel the keel from the sections drawn on the 
floor. 
Square the end of the planking at each section on your 
plans from the point where the outside of the plank cuts 
the half breadth of the keel, and this will give you the 
angle the keel should be chamfered at each section. 
See Fig. 11. Take these angles off the floor with your 
bevel square at each section and cut the keel at each mould 
station till the bevel fits, and then continue the line of 
beveling forward and aft to meet the rabbet you cut on 
stem and deadwood, connecting them so the rabbet line is 
cut complete from stem head to transom. Do the same 
with the other side of the keel. With, your scratch 
gauge mark a line down the front edge of the stem a 
quarter of an inch each side of the -center line and bevel 
off the sides from the rabbet to these, so the stem will be 
flat for J^in. across its face to take a half round brass stem 
band. 
In chiseling out the rabbet for the plank in the after 
deadwood, don't cut it quite }i'm. deep just where it 
crosses the shall; line; only cut it about %m. deep there 
and dress off the plank. Be careful, also, not to put any 
nails in where you intend to bore the shaft hole. A good 
plan is to use brass screws, then if you hit one of them 
with your auger in boring the shaft hole you can remove 
-t far easier than you can a nail. 
Cut out the knee that holds the transom to the dead- 
wood with a piece of sin. oak whose grain has a sweep 
similar to the shape of the knee; rivet this knee with 
H'm, galvanized iron, letting the heads in on. the outside 
grid plugging the holes, ' ! "" ' 
Setting Up the Keel. 
When this much is done you are ready to set up the 
keel on the stocks. This you can either make out of a 
piece of 2x4m. spruce 18ft. long blocked up at one end 
and securely braced sideways, or you can take some 
spruce about 3x3m. and set them up on end about every 
three feet apart, toe-nailing them to the floor and nailing 
braces to steady each one. You can set her up at the 
height shown on the plan above the base line, or you can 
raise her one foot or two feet as you like, stretching a 
chalk line to represent the base line and taking all your 
measurements from this instead of from the floor, as that 
may not be level. If you use the spruce joist on edge, 
be sure the upper edge is perfectly straight; if the upright 
pieces, stretch a chalk line to the proper incline as 
given on the plan (Sj^in. above the base line forward). 
This incline of the keel shows how much deeper the 
boat is to be aft than forward, and the boat will set on 
the stocks just to the same level she will be trimmed to 
when she sets in the water. Saw off the upright pieces 
to this chalk line; brace each piece firmly to the floor, 
and then with someone to help you, lift the backbone of 
the launch up and set it on them. Plate 7. Make sure 
the backbone stands perfectly vertical by dropping a 
plumb bob from the middle of the top of the stem for- 
ward and deadwood aft to the chalk line previously 
stretched along the side of the stocks, and when true, 
shore it up with braces either nailed from the rafters over- 
head, or the floor, to the front edge of the stem and the 
shaft log or after deadwood, keeping all nails above the 
bearding line, so the planking will hide all the nail holes, 
and none will show when the hull is finished. 
The stem band will cover those into the edge of the 
stem, so don't put any into the side or face of the stem 
where plugs would look unsightly. Such little points 
don't take any longer to do them right and help to pro- 
duce a more finished looking craft than one full of plugs 
and putty put there to hide someone's carelessness. 
A chalk line stretched from cutter marks at stem and 
stern and a plumb bob dropped midway to the top of the 
keel amidships will enable you to quickly see if the mid- 
dle and both ends are in line. If not they must be shored 
up until all lines sight true. 
Secure the keel well to the shores by short pieces of 
boards nailed up on either side to both stocks and keel 
holding the two together, and brace the stem and stern 
securely to the floor to prevent their moving sideways. 
The "transom can in this small boat be cut out of one 
oak board i^in. thick, but in launches with large tran- 
soms it is necessary to take two boards and dowel them 
together, taking care, if the transom is to be varnished 
and not painted, to select grain that will not show a 
marked contrast along the seam. Fig. 15. 
As this launch is for beginners, I have made it easier 
to build by letting the plank run past and finish outside 
the transom; it is far easier and just as good, though it 
looks a little better to do it as some boat builders do 
when thjey want to make a nice job, and that is, cut a 
notch or rabbet all around the edge of the transom so no 
ends of the side planking will show on the back or 
transom. When this method is followed it is necessary 
to nail on reinforcing pieces to the transom, cut just the 
same curve as the transom, so as to give wood enough to 
nail the ends of the planks to. Rivet the transom also 
to the knee, taking care to set it square and level, and 
setting the rivet' heads in so plugs can be put in to hide 
them, and be sure and leave the transom at least two 
inches higher in the middle than what you need at the 
side, so it can be rounded over and make a good finish. 
When this much is done the backbone is complete and 
ready for a coat of thick lead-color paint to preserve it 
from checking — for wood, especially oak, will crack as 
it dries. Varnish the outside of the transom if it is to 
lie kept bright. 
Setting Up the Moulds 
Having made all five moulds, set them up along the 
keel at the positions marked. Set each mguld up plumb 
and make sure it is square to the keel. They will then 
present to your eye somewhat of the appearance the boat 
will present when complete, and you can begin to form 
some idea of her shape and size. 
Nail braces from each side of the moulds either down 
to the floor, or up to the rafters overhead is better, to 
keep them from teetering, and a brace from one to the 
other along the tops of their cross braces to hold them 
plumb. 
Having told you to tack pieces of cord across each 
mould at the waterline, I will now explain their use. To 
prove that your keel has been set up properly, stretch a 
string fore and aft from the waterline, scratched on shaft 
log aft, to the waterline on the stem forward ; this line 
when pulled taut should just touch each of the cross 
strings of the moulds if all is right. If not, raise or lower 
each mould that is out until they do just touch this line. 
This method will be found especially valuable in building 
sailboats or launches with curved keels, where a straight 
base is difficult to work from. It is an excellent check 
on the accuracy of building. 
Now from one end of the boat to the other we want 
to bend thin strips of wood (some call them battens and 
some call them ribbands), touching all our moulds and 
ending in the rabbet line we cut in the stem and transom. 
If they don't fit flat on the rabbet it should be cut away 
until they do. for these ribbands not only show you any 
incorrections in the widths of the moulds, but they show 
you just how your planking will fit at the ends. 
The first ribbands you should put on are the upper 
ones, one on each side. In a small launch like this you 
can rip up a 20ft. yellow pine plank lin. thick into strips 
of about i^in. width, and make good ribbands. If you 
haven't a power saw, get them to split it at the mill where 
you buy your lumber. 
Put the upper ribbands on so its lower edge just comes 
even with the marks that indicate the top edge of your 
planking — the top of the cross braces. This is why you 
want 3in. left on each mould above the marks, for by 
putting the top ribband as explained, you can put on the 
top board of your planking before you take this ribband 
off, leaving it to hold your frames in place until the top 
plank is riveted fast. If you are going to bend the 
frames in hot, as described later, reinforce this top rib- 
band with another nailed outside of it. Fig. 16. 
E*tr4T?iMja-nc3 
The lower ribband should be about a foot away from 
the keel at each end and about 15m. away at the middle 
mould, No. 3. This is called the floor ribband. 
[to be continued.] 
Huguenot Y* C Spring Regatta. 
NEW ROCHELLE, LONG ISLAND SOUND. 
Saturday, May 17. 
The spring regatta of the Huguenot Y. C, held on 
Saturday, May 17, was marked by a very small entry. 
There was no breeze in the morning, and the air was 
sultry and hot, in fact there was little prospect of a race, 
but about noon a light southwest breeze came up, but too 
late to enable any of the boats coming from a distance to 
arrive in time to start. The course for the raceabouts, 
25ft. class sloops, and Manhasset Bay raceabouts, was 
from the starting line off Whortleberry Island to the red 
and black buoy, the northeasterly end of Execution Rock, 
to the red spar buoy off the Hen and Chickens, to the 
mark boat at the starting line, and repeat, a distance of « 
fifteen miles. For the dory class the course was from the 
starting line to the buoy off the northeasterly end of 
Whortleberry Island, to the black buoy off David's Island, 
to the black buoy north .of Middle Shoal, to the starting 
lint', and repeat, a distance of six miles. 
^''hp only raceabout that put in an appearance was 
Mavis (ex Merry wing), now owned by Mr. S. C. Pirie, 
