Make Four End-Pieces
for the bow and stern (see A, A´, [Fig. 219]), to fit between the sides and centrepiece. Make them each a trifle wider than H, I, [Fig. 220], so that after they have been fitted they can be trimmed down with a plane, and bevelled on the same slant as the bottom at G, I, [Fig. 220]. It being 8 feet between the outside of each centrepiece, and the sides and the centrepiece being each 2 inches thick, that gives us 8 feet 6 inches, or 7½ feet as the combined length of A and A´ ([Fig. 219]). In other words, each end-piece will be half of 7½ feet long—that is, 3 feet 9 inches long. After making the four end-pieces, each 3 feet 9, by 9 inches, fit the ends in place so that there is an inch protruding above and below. See that your bow and stern are perfectly square, and nail with wire nails through the sides into A and A´; toe-nail at the centrepiece—that is, drive the nails from the broad side of A and A´ slantingly, into the centrepiece, after which trim down with your plane the projecting inch on bottom, to agree with the slant of the bottom of the boat.