As soon as you have these rough outlines and measurements ready you must make forms or molds. These may be sawed from planks or may be formed by nailing several pieces together, but in either case they must conform perfectly to the shape of the boat you have planned and both sides must be absolutely alike, for a very slight variation may ruin the sailing qualities of the boat.
These forms represent the section of the boat at amidships, near the bow and half-way between stern and amidships and their shape can easily be determined from your plans.
Building a Flat-bottomed Boat
1-2—Boat fastenings. 3, 4, 5—Molds. 6—Transom. 7—Stem. 8—Stem and throat knee. 9—Stern fastened to keel. 10—Transom fastened to keel. 11—Lining up sides. 12—Molds in position. 13—Ribs. 14—Mast thwart. 15—Section showing construction. 16—Centerboard. 17—Rudder and post.
The transom or sternpiece should then be gotten out and the next work is to make the stem.
This will require care and time, for the sides must be cut away by chisel and plane until they will just receive the ends of the side planks neatly, and the angle of these depressions, or rabbits, must be determined by the angle at which the sides meet at the bow on the plan you have drawn.
When the stem, transom and molds are ready, take the piece to be used as a keel, cut the slit for the centerboard in it, and fasten the deadwood or “skeg” in place by means of bolts, screws and nails driven in from the upper side of the keel. Place the keel on the horses, with blocks beneath it to hold it at the proper curve, tacking them lightly to both keel and horses.
Fasten the keel in place by clamps and by tacking it lightly and secure the stem in position by means of a block or a knee. Fasten the transom at the opposite, or stern, end and set your molds at the points where they belong with the lower edges flush with the bottom of the keel.
Line up the center of the stem, molds and transom by a line stretched along them, arrange all the molds and the transom so they are parallel and exactly at right angles to the keel and secure them rigidly by means of light strips, or battens, tacked along their tops and brace them very securely by pieces running to the benches and keel.