Guidelines For Lofting Your Boat Plans

Are you wondering what lofting means? Lofting is simply referring to the laying out of the lines and drawings of the construction details of your boat to full scale. This aspect of boat building seems to be the most terrifying to boat building beginners, and to be quite honest to some professionals at times.

This fear need not exist, however. There are many benefits to be gained from lofting. It will help you identify and correct any mistakes on the original drawings.

Fortunately, builders today have it much easier than our friends in the past. You now have the option of CAD (Computer Aided Design). This should give you comfort and it should also remove any mistakes that may arise from hand drawn lofting plans. Some professionals, however, loft by hand despite the fact that CAD is available.

You will find that many boat plans are supplied with full sized patterns, particularly for smaller boats. However, for anyone who does need to create their own lofting plans, rest assured there is no magic involved.

It does require a couple of things on your part, though. You should have an eye for accuracy and curves. You will also need ample space to work, a few basic tools and a little bit of understanding as to how plans are drawn.

As you might expect, your lofting area should be longer than your boat and wider than the height of the boat. The floor needs to be as flat and level as possible and should be covered to protect it from the elements (weather conditions). Make sure it's a well-lit area also so you can read and make your measurements accurately.

You're going to need some tools, but most of them will be used for marking and measuring. Tape measures (long and short), straight edges, claw hammer, nails, string, pincers, pencils, splines, etc...

Once you have your plan lofted to full size, you can now make templates for the other parts. The templates will be a very handy way to check your wood for any knots or splits which may fall an area where some sort of fastener might need to go.

All my best,

Mark R. Khalil

By: Mark R. Khalil

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