How'd Chappelle take lines?

I think most of you are missing what the OP is asking. He wants to know how Chapelle worked, not how modern technology makes it easier.

 

@ChallengeBoatworks
Can you turn on the PM on your account?

 

He said he wanted the lines.

I see no reason to pretend Chapelle would not have used a laser if it was practical to him in 1955. I have Chapelle texts in my home; doesn’t make it wise to use all his methods.

Pretending 70 years of technological improvements can’t help the OP is silly, especially when your comment is augmented by mine. I never once said you were wrong. In fact, I personally thought your comments up to now were great.

After having done a ton of setups and measuring using a laser, I’d never go back to a string unless the laser were impractical. In this particular case, on likely frozen ground in the winter, a laser and a friend makes the job pretty easy. Might be darn cold now as well, so gotta consider all factors.

One person helps with the referencing on the bow. Once the reference is accepted, one person writes in the notebook and the other person measures to the laser on a predetermined offset, say 4-8” up and down the hull.

Otherwise, a better effort to find the original plans is also plausible. The Great Lakes Museum has something like 20,000 boat plans on file. If the OP could locate a hull id safely; he might be able to dig something up.

 

Gonzo, do you have a reference for this?

 

This boat would be a good candidate for photogrammetry to generate a point cloud with millions of points. The point cloud can then be imported into software such as Rhino to create a set of lines, 3D digital model, etc. The photogrammetry process is relatively straightforward. The conversion to lines, etc is more involved.

 

Sadly, this will only be my fourth post. It appears as though I need a minimum of a half-dozen to be able to PM.

 

I realized I didn't address any of the other responses in my previous reply. First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their input. I do understand the benefits of modern tools and technology that could make this job easier, but I'm a bit of a luddite. By no means does that mean I'm technologically inept, I just appreciate understanding and utilizing the skills and techniques of the people have come before me.

 

Boats: A Manual for Their Documentation covers measuring boats using "traditional" methods. Published in 1993 by ASSLH and Museum Small Craft Association, 425 pages. ISBN 0-942063-17-1
Available as a download for $1.95 from the WoodenBoat Store. Boats: A Manual for their Documentation https://www.woodenboatstore.com/products/boats-a-manual-for-their-documentation-digital?srsltid=AfmBOopnTgVUla2R4oXnN1fNRN9jBQzV5bEKcxBNLuJFoZQezmQrtDQ9
From the back cover:

The first comprehensive guide to measuring, recording, and preserving an important par of our cultural heritage. A collaborative project of the American Association for State and Local History and the Museum Small Craft Association, Boats: A Manual for Their Documentation offers the best advice from America's leading authorities on watercraft history. Combining the methods of boatbuilders, architects and engineers, cultural historians, and folklife specialists, this manual informspreservationists and maritime historians about the study and preservation of small boats. Extensively illustrated, chock-full of time-saving hints and helpful assistance and specially bout to facilitate its use in the field, Boats covers the waterfront: from the simple pencil and tape measure to sophisticated computer assisted documentation For the curator of major maritime collections and the weekend sailor, this book offers step-by-step guidance for understanding and documenting boats.​

 

I downloaded a copy of 'Boats:' for free from Schooner Chandlery. I have yet to read it but I did scroll through it looking for pictures, figures, etc.

 

It is going to be fairly difficult to setup string lines and a reference plane on a boat laying sideways on frozen ground.

Not sayin it can’t be done, but it won’t be too easy~maybe you can bring a bunch of 2x4s and tools to the job to hold strings in space.

Just bounce a few more nothing comments or replies so you can pm Gonzo..

 

I forgot to mention, I won't be doing this until this summer. Frozen ground isn't a huge concern of mine.

 

Allan Vaitses' excellent book on lofting includes a chapter on "Taking Off Lines".

 

The Boatbuilder's Apprentice by Greg Rossel also has a chapter on taking lines.



The Boatbuilder's Apprentice - The Ins and Outs of Building Lapstrake, Carvel, Stitch-and-Glue, Strip-Planked, and Other Wooden Boats

Rossel, Greg

Published by International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2007

ISBN 10: 0071464050 / ISBN 13: 9780071464055

 

There can be a lot of enjoyment and peace in basic technology.