Tool question, rebuilding interior.

[captjcook]

SkiprJohn is really correct for having a foam edge for expansion/contraction/twist and the hard point on the hull. I am currently replacing the interior in a 34' steel ketch...different rules on flex but you still want a small gap if you don't want a squeak or chafe. I knock out the doorskin patterns in 20-40 minutes transfer and cut. If I want to get a really close fit I can use short sections of doorskin or popsical sticks and approximate the curve and I do a bunch of scribing for the final trim as well, don't forget to mitre (relieve) the back side of the trim(45 degrees works well and makes it loads easier to sand in). A tick stick (joggle stick) is a great tool no doubt, it is just slow and adds a third equal step. I am fabricating and installing at least two panels a day and working with a frugal owner who wants progress.
Jim

[Zach]

Originally Posted by James S

An 1/8th of an inch.....damn Zach, your good!!

Grin... I meant that as tongue in cheek!

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by captjcook

I guess I have always called it a tick stick...anyway the fastest way to make a pattern is with doorskin (thin plywood) strips and a hot glue gun. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Yes, while "tick" sticks, etc sound all very learned and classy their use lives in the past. Along the lines you say all the boat builders I see around just use any thin material such cheap thin ply, thin compressed board, etc ripped into in short lengths of narrow strip and hot glue gunned together to match the curve. Very quick and very accurate.

[SkiprJohn]

I've reread my posts and apologize for all the errors. I don't know why there were so many. Some kind of mental condition brought upon by beer I suppose. It is better to be 1/4 to 1/2 inch away from the hull and either leave a space or fill the space with urethane foam. If the board is against the hull horizontally and you are glassing it to the hull you'll want to just glass on the top of the board and leave a space under so that any moisture can drain and dry if your boat heels over and water comes up underneath.
Regards,
JohnL

[Weyalan]

When making panels that fit against a curved surface, I buy a sheet of 3mm mdf (particule board?) and make templates with that first... that way, if I get it wrong I've only wasted a couple of bucks, not a bucketload!

[Blue Stocking]

Tick sticks and scribes are the boat builders way of doing templates. A simpler way is to just eyeball a piece of stiff cardboard or 1/4" ply to the shape, tape it in place with duct tape from both sides, sqeezing the tape together in the gaps. Take a jar top, say 3" in diameter, and by placing it against all the surfaces to which the new bulkhead must touch, draw overlapping circles on the template. Lay the template on the new material, use the jar top to complete the circles and you have your shape. If you are going to glass the bulkhead in place, grind a taper across the veneers, so that your finished glass will lay flush with the surface. Makes fitting anything against it much neater.

[Zach]

Midlandone:

I can't wait to try the hot glue gun trick. That sounds like a beauty!

[GordMay]

Boat Joinery and Cabinet Making Simplified ~ by Fred P. Bingham
Boat Joinery and Cabinet Making ... - Google Book Search

A simple description of matching curves with a tick stick:
Matching Curves With A Tick Stick

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by Zach

Midlandone:

I can't wait to try the hot glue gun trick. That sounds like a beauty!

Hot melt glue guns have revolutionised boatbuilding . Well I am exaggerating a bit .

Another trick worth knowing, if not known already, is when fitting the likes of locker latch catches or anything similar where it is a bit of a fiddle or guess to get the mating piece in the right place because you can't get at the piece to line it up with its mate (like for locker catches which are fiddly to line up as you can't get at them when you shut the locker door) one can just use a dab of hot melt glue on the hidden piece in the estimated position and try. If wrong, soften the glue if necessary with heat and move.

Anything where you need 3 hands to fit, for example, hot melt glue may help. I keep a hot melt glue gun on the boat .