The Hairpin

Once the frames were finished I started on the first half of the hairpin or shelf which runs along the sheer line of the boat on the inside. The cross section of this timber is 100 x 19 mm and it has to be sawn to shape and made in 4 sections butt joined with blocks on the underside. The timber is marked out from the drawing on the lofting floor using nails laid along the line and then sawn and planed to shape. The 4 sections are laid over the drawing, the shape checked and the joining blocks glued in place with epoxy. Weights were used to apply moderate pressure to the joints. Here it is on the floor, bow in the distance, stern near the camera.

Next day I made the other half using the first half as a pattern to draw the shapes on to the Radiata Pine boards.

The next 2 photos show the pieces that will support the ends of the cockpit coaming. They are not glue in place yet and won't be for a long time!

 Finally a photo showing the whole thing laid out on the grass. It actually looks boat shaped already. From end to end it is about 5.2 metres, there is a semicircular block to be fitted at the stern end which will take the length up to 5.4 metres (18 feet in the old system).

 

The black stripes are overspray from when I painted one of the battens black!

This afternoon I made a pattern in scrap ply to the shape of the inside of the cockpit to use when I come to making the cockpit coaming which has to fit the oval shape in the middle. Again, it will be a long time before I need to use this pattern.