As a planing-machine always leaves a series of ridges across the board, varying according to the quality of the machine, it is necessary before transferring the lines to the wood to just skim the surface with a nicely sharpened plane, and set so as to just skim the wood.
The lengths required are: A, plank 24 inches long; B, plank 24 inches; C, plank 181/2 inches.
The D plank will be cut from the center of B, but will have to be shifted two sections forward.
Having transferred the various shapes from the drawing on to their respective layers, you saw out each carefully with a bow or a keyhole-saw, care being taken not to cut inside the lines. It is better to cut full, and trim down to the lines with a chisel or plane. A good deal of trouble can be saved by the expenditure of a few cents for having them machine-sawed, in which case ask the sawyer to use his finest-toothed saw.
Having cut out layers A, B, C, and D, fresh lines are marked, as shown by the dotted lines in the plan. These indicate the shape of the inside of each layer when the boat is carved out, and save labor.
These may as well be sawed out now as carved out later. It will also facilitate gluing up, as it will allow the superfluous glue to be squeezed out, and also decrease the breadth of the joint.