Setting up to install the first cedar strip: Defining the Sheerline

We left off having attached the ribs, and I went out of order when I discussed making the stems of the boat, and attaching those. The ribs and stems are attached only with brass screws, no glue was used.

This was Teddy’s first day in the shop. He’s a fan of the shopvac!

It’s now time to do the layout for the sheerline, a boat word for the top of the side of the boat. A gunwale (pronounced “gunnel”) is an additional strip of wood that is added to reinforce the top edge, and will be added after the boat has been stripped, sanded and painted. I tend to mumble through these boat works quickly and as if i have a mouthful of marbles because I don’t really have the experience to talk as if I know what I’m talking about.

Defining the sheerline. Cedar strips will be screwed to the ribs above this, and will be stacked one on top of the other until we reach the “top”, or the bottom of the bottom board.

This is where my woodworking experience of basically making boxes and platforms gets thrown out, because now you’re winging it by eye. Nothing is straight, nothing is 90 degrees. Only two things really matter: That the Bottom Board is completely level (horizontal) and the stems are perfectly plumb (vertical). Everything else just needs to look right.

From my plans, I know where the sheerline should be at each rib station, so I clamp a batten strip at that point. If the ribs are installed too far forward, or too far backwards causing the sheer line to wave in and out of the boat, they are adjusted. If the sheerline has a “bump” in the line up or down, the lathe is adjusted until the sheerline is “fair”.

Again, you don’t need any training to see if a line is not right. It simply doesn’t look right. It’s what to do to make the line fair that gets complicated.

For example: the middle rib here is not touching the batten, whereas the other two ribs and the stem are. I like the overall shape of this curve, so I will need to bring that middle rib out a 1/4” until it is touching the batten. You’ll also notice that the edge iof each rib is flat, and the batten is sloped. The edge of each rib will eventually need to be carved fair so that the batten will sit flat on each rib. Did I mention this is fun?

Here’s an exampe of how the sheer line turns up towards the top of each stem at the front and back. Insert joke about number of clamps here.

The stems are clamped into place perfectly plumb up and down prior to stripping.

We’re now set to place our first strip over top the batten, and start stacking and gluing strips until we have something that resembles a boat. Next time we’ll review what bead and cove cedar strips are, the species used, and we’ll get stripping.