Re: a little short

Posted by Laszlo on Oct 9, 2004

First, according to a minister I know, it's OK and even polite to say "ass" if it's the one Saint Paul was knocked off of, instead of onto.

Next, in stitch and glue construction, symmetry is much more important than absolute accuracy (within limits). 1/8 inch short you'll never even notice. 1/4 inch+, you may have to make some adjustments, but as long as all the matching pieces are the same size, you'll be fine.

One way to compensate is to leave gaps between the edges of the panels (not the scarfs). The glass tape and fabric will bridge the gaps and the woodflour or cabosil putty will fill them.

In fact, there's a school of thought out there that a constant 1/8 inch gap actually results in a stronger boat because of the even load distribution into the seam (as opposed to hard spot stress concentrators where wood touches wood).

So you can either make a smaller boat (with a size difference no one will notice without a measuring tape) or you can expand your seams to take up the difference. Either way, you'll have a nice strong boat. Next time, don't sand so hard.

Have fun,

Laszlo

In Response to: a little short by gober on Oct 9, 2004

Replies:

• Re: a little short by Kurt Maurer on Oct 9, 2004
  • THE SLAMMER by gober on Oct 10, 2004
• Re: a little short by Terry Mcadams on Oct 12, 2004
  • Re: a little short by Laszlo on Oct 12, 2004
    • Re: a little short by Terry Mcadams on Oct 12, 2004