A
panel discussion
Many,
if not most, small boat designs are made with stitch and glue
building in mind. For that to succeed panels must be developed.
There is software to do that however some of these programs are
expensive, others are complicated or will not work with certain
operating systems. Hulls and Windows 10 come to mind.
However
there is a way to develop panels using simple geometry. To describe
this method I will recreate my Sampram dinghy design.
Here
are the lines,
The
first panel we'll develop is the bottom. You can find the length of
the panel by measuring the curve of the bottom and the widths come
from the section half breadths. So we start by drawing a baseline and then
transferring the distance between section lines to the baseline. I've used my computer program but all of it can be done by hand with compasses, rulers and squares.
Repeating the operation until we have all the section distances
transferred. You'll notice that not all of the circles are the same size, this is how we determine the true length of the bottom.
The half breadth measurements are taken from the sections
drawing and transferred to the section distance marks on the
baseline.
Draw a vertical line through each section distance mark and
where that vertical line cuts the half breadth circle is an
intersection on the edge of the bottom. Join all the intersections
in a smooth curve and eliminate the circles and vertical lines and you have a half
panel developed for the bottom.
Divide the length of the baseline by
ten and mark off section lines for dimensioning.
You
can infer that the same can be done for the sides however it is
slightly more difficult. First thing to do is to develop the bow and
stern transoms and from those developed panels you can measure the
true length of the side of each transom. To develop the panels draw
two lines perpendicular to the transom at the gunwale and at the
chine.
From the lines plan get the half breadth of the top and bottom
of the transom
and apply those lengths to the perpendiculars.
Join
the intersections, eliminate all the unnecessary lines and you have a
half panel of the transom.
Now
we're ready to start developing the side panels! Next Time!
