: Hi Et,

: Just had a thought (yeah I know, dangerous) but when cutting out
: the forms, one could use the remaining cut-out for a sort of
: reverse form to make a really nice cradle for the hull. The cut
: out would have to be opened up a bit to allow for the strips and
: the glass but that would be fairly easy and you'd not need every
: form, perhaps every fourth. You could then with an external
: strongback remove the male forms and replace with those that
: would fit in the same exact location to very nicely support the
: hull while the deck is built. Would keep the hull from changing
: shape in any way.

: Bill H.

Hi Bill

I always intend doing that, but taking off enough to line the cradle with some carpet or some-such. But I end up being to mean to leave that much material on the off-cuts. Maybe if I was going to build more than one copy of a particular design I would do it. An interesting thread may be what people use for forms. I use anything that is lying around the workshop and can end up with chipboard, MDF and ply all in a row on the same boat. Some of the forms are usually cut from the old forms of previous boats as well. I never seem to want to do two boats the same. A new design is too intriguing.

Et