This is an opportunity to dip your toes into the world of boat lofting, the technique used by master ship builders for generations until the advent of computer aided design.  Rather than lofting students will use boat design techniques at scale.  In the first session, students will draft the Grand Marais Herring Skiff from a table of offsets (measurements taken by the instructor of a boat built in Grand Marais).  Students will move on to drafting a more complex boat, a Lake Superior Fish Tug.  In the second session students will learn to translate their drafting into a three dimensional model.  And in the third sessions students will carve the model to perfection and talk about preparing it for display. Students will be sent pushpins, a baton and a thin piece of plywood to use as an ad hoc drafting surface.  Students will also be sent tables of offers, containing data to draft the two boats and quality paper to loft on.  Finally students will be sent wood milled to the proper dimensions to begin to build the model from. Students will provide their own wood glue and paint or varnish to finish the model.

Required Tools

Students will be mailed a package of materials which will include:

• pushpins
• a baton
• a thin piece of plywood to use as an ad hoc drafting surface
• tables of offers, containing data to draft the two boats
• high quality paper to loft on
• wood milled to the proper dimensions to begin to build the model from

Students will need the following equipment at home (details about each tool and suggested purchasing sites will be provided in your confirmation email):

• Spoke shave
• Coping saw or band saw or scroll saw (any one of these)
• A heavy table to work on and a clamp or vice to be able to clamp your work to it
• Basic wood glue, any brand

Optional Tools

• Block Plane
• Hallowing plane like a chair makers plane, pattern makers plane or spoon plane
• Gouge
• Card scraper

Registration Deadline:

To ensure materials arrive on time, registration for this course closes on March 2, 2021