January, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
17 
or any of the larger lakes or rivers, and 
have a better time and more comfort than 
with either the wooden sailing canoe or 
any of the open row boats'. 
S UCH a skiff should be home-built, to 
meet the ideal, and so a few words on 
how to build her will not be out of 
place. The first thing to do is to find a 
place to build her. An empty barn floor 
would be fine, but even a shed, made of 
part of the lumber, would not be out of 
the question — any place out of the sun 
and rain, — for at a pinch, the curve of the 
bottom boards can be laid off full scale on 
the boards themselves, and the dimen- 
transfer the bottom curve to your three 
bottom boards, and rip out along the 
lines. The central board, only, will be 
needed in construction, at first. Set 
up on the floor, blocking up the ends to 
give the three-inch rocker called for, and 
on this board erect the stem and stern 
pieces and stern transom and secure with 
bent knees. These two knees will be 
natural crooks, got from the woodpile or 
the forest, and sawn with true faces. 
Next, put on the bottom pieces of the 
frames, nailed to the central bottom 
board with lOd. galvanized iron nails. 
These pieces are all cut an inch short at 
each end, to allow for the lower chine, 
go on next, to hold the frames secure 
against springing in when the pressure 
of the side strakes comes on them, and 
after that the two thwarts are put in, 
on short risers of frame stock nailed 
across two adjacent frames. You have 
now all the stiffening required, and the 
boat is in frame outline, with the bottom 
boards on. Bevel and plane the surfaces 
of the lower chine to fit snug along the 
bottom boards and flat against the 
frames, and nail fast. 
The boat is now ready for the strakes. 
The lower one is wrapped on first, with 
clamps and ropes bending it against the 
stern tramson and bow stem. Where it 
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sions of the transom frames taken from 
the plan. 
But, assuming that you have an empty 
room or bam floor, lay out first, full 
scale from the plans, the bottom and deck 
curves, trueing up with a thin batten so 
that the lines flow naturally and in fair 
sweeps. For, no man can lay out an en- 
largement to full scale from plans with- 
out small errors creeping in, which, if 
adhered to, will make the lines of the 
boat lumpy and uneven. Your eye is the 
best judge of what is right. One dimen- 
sion may need to be increased % inch, 
and the next decreased %th; the sweep 
of the batten will tell you how to give 
and take. 
Once laid down with chalk on the floor, 
sprung around their ends. The two side 
boards of the bottom can then be nailed 
on, and the lower chine bevelled and 
sprung into place. Do not nail it fast as 
yet. 
The central frame, and two others mid- 
way between bow and stern, are then set 
up and braced with a strip of wood nailed 
across their tops, the widths across the 
tops being taken from the dimensions on 
the plan. The upper chine is then sprung 
on, and it will give you the outline of the 
sheer, and give a fair curve against 
which all the rest of the frames can be 
set up. When all true and fair, with no 
hollows or flat spots anywhere, put in the 
frame knees, when the frames will be- 
come rigid. The clamps and deck beams 
lies along the edge of the bottom boards 
will give the line to scribe with a pencil, 
showing how much will have to be ripped 
off the lower part of the strake to make 
it fit. This will be found to be a long 
curve, rising two to three inches in the 
middle of the plank. Rip this off both 
lower strakes, bevel, and nail onto the 
frames and bottom boards with 8d. nails. 
The top strakes go on next. They 
should overlap the bottom ones two in- 
ches, and, where they lie along the upper 
chine will give you the line to rip off 
to make it fit the sheer line of the boat. 
Before nailing on, give the lap a heavy 
daub of white lead paste, to make a tight 
fit between upper and lower strakes, and 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 47) 
