Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am gearing up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

most builders make them. I use coffee cans full of sand w/a nail, and
rip my wales from clear cedar.

My drafting Ducks and Slines came from K&E.. However I don't remember if
they had any large enough for actual lofting.

Shouldn't be to difficult to replicate them with some lead, a bent nail and
a coffee can.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

Actually, I was going to loft a set of plans from the table of offsets.


"Eide" wrote in message news:uQBib.74554$sp2.5683@lakeread04...
Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am
gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

Did you ever find a source for spline weights? You can contact Tom
MacNaughton (do a web search on his yacht design school) and buy some from
him. And from Elkhorn Composites, for $27.50 each, you can buy the
traditional ducks made from cast-lead:

Craig Smith or Dave Hopton
Elkorn Composites
25 Grove Street
Watsonville, CA 95076
(831)722-1654

Westlawn used to sell white plastic, lead-free hollow, spline weights that
you'd buy then fill with BB's. I have these and like them well enough,
although I filled mine with lead shot from the local reloaders supply store
(gun store).

You can read Westlawn at

I'm sure the Webb Institute and The Landing School can also point you to
sources for spline weights. From what I've seen, the spline weights range
from $20 to $30 or so (that's *each*, not for a set) and you'll want a
minimum of about 10. I have 15 and have on several occasions needed all of
them.

For your full-size lofting, note that a hardwood batten (1/4" by 1", as long
as your boat plus about 8 feet) works will. You can lay out plywood, put
nailers across the seams to hold them together, then draw in your baseline
and centerline, square off the stations etc. Put a fine finishing nail
through each offset point and instead of using weights, use spring-loaded
clamps to do the fairing with the batten. You sometimes have to mark a fair
curve, remove the batten and nails, then relocate some nails and re-bend a
fair curve with your batten a couple of times to achieve the fairest curve
that produces the best average through the original offsets (discounting the
outliers that are obvious typos that is.)

Here's a picture of me doing just that:

http://www.advantagecomposites.com/tongass/step8.html

Good luck,
Brian

--
My boat project: http://www.advantagecomposites.com/tongass


"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Actually, I was going to loft a set of plans from the table of offsets.


"Eide" wrote in message
news:uQBib.74554$sp2.5683@lakeread04...
Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am
gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

I'm lofting a 38' Diesel Duck today with a spline weights that I made by
melting down tire weight lead. Couldn't find a lofting floor that would
allow me to drive nails so I had to have another way to hold the splines.
I'll let you know how it works and, if it works well I'll give you the
details on how I made my spline weights and battens.

-Steve



On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 21:16:41 -0700, David & Margaret George wrote
(in message ):

Actually, I was going to loft a set of plans from the table of offsets.



"Eide" wrote in message news:uQBib.74554$sp2.5683@lakeread04...
Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am
gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

Okay, we completed our lofting and it was a success, so here's what we did:

I melted down tire weights (got 2 buckets worth, must've been at least 300
lbs., for $40) and used old bread loaf pans as forms. I tried the little
tiny loaf pans but the resultant 8-1/2 lb. weights weren't really up to the
job. The ones that I made in full size loaf pans were 15-20 lbs each and
worked great. I glued the finished lead ingot on to a piece of 1/4" plywood
that was pointed at one end. Used Gorilla Glue. I got the idea for this
from the (I think it was) July issue of Duckworks Magazine
(www.duckworksmagazine.com).

My battens (or wales) were simply 1x2 s ripped in half so that I had 2 pieces
that were 1-1/2" by 5/16". Since these were only 8' long, I butted them
together and used the same material to make a butt block about 2-1/2' long.
Granted, this wasn't the best type of batten to use since it didn't bend
absolutely fair at the butt, but it wasn't bad and it was what I had on hand
at the time. A one-piece batten would be highly preferable.

During the losfting, I set the spline weights so the point of the plywood
base was at the points I wanted to use. The weight of the lead spline weight
was enough so that it didn't slide and would actually hold the batten where
it was supposed to. On the most extreme curve at the point where the stem
meets the keel, my wife had to hold the weight to make sure it didn't move
due to the pressure, but if she hadn't been there I would have just piled
another weight on top and it would've held fine.

I used 8 weights and, although it wasn't enough for a continuous run, it was
plenty for my 16' batten.

Good luck to you.

-Steve from Silverton, OR


On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 8:24:55 -0700, Stephen Yoder wrote
(in message nk.net):

I'm lofting a 38' Diesel Duck today with a spline weights that I made by
melting down tire weight lead. Couldn't find a lofting floor that would
allow me to drive nails so I had to have another way to hold the splines.
I'll let you know how it works and, if it works well I'll give you the
details on how I made my spline weights and battens.

-Steve



On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 21:16:41 -0700, David & Margaret George wrote
(in message ):

Actually, I was going to loft a set of plans from the table of offsets.



"Eide" wrote in message news:uQBib.74554$sp2.5683@lakeread04...
Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am
gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.

Hey "Steve from Silverton, OR", you're in my old neighborhood. I grew up
outside of Salem, north end, near Hazelgreen. There was a woman at our
church (Christian Center) in Salem by the last name of Yoder ...this was in
the 70's. Any relation?

What kind of boat did you say you are building?

Brian (now in North Albany)

"Stephen Yoder" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Okay, we completed our lofting and it was a success, so here's what we
did:

I melted down tire weights (got 2 buckets worth, must've been at least 300
lbs., for $40) and used old bread loaf pans as forms. I tried the little
tiny loaf pans but the resultant 8-1/2 lb. weights weren't really up to
the
job. The ones that I made in full size loaf pans were 15-20 lbs each and
worked great. I glued the finished lead ingot on to a piece of 1/4"
plywood
that was pointed at one end. Used Gorilla Glue. I got the idea for this
from the (I think it was) July issue of Duckworks Magazine
(www.duckworksmagazine.com).

My battens (or wales) were simply 1x2 s ripped in half so that I had 2
pieces
that were 1-1/2" by 5/16". Since these were only 8' long, I butted them
together and used the same material to make a butt block about 2-1/2'
long.
Granted, this wasn't the best type of batten to use since it didn't bend
absolutely fair at the butt, but it wasn't bad and it was what I had on
hand
at the time. A one-piece batten would be highly preferable.

During the losfting, I set the spline weights so the point of the plywood
base was at the points I wanted to use. The weight of the lead spline
weight
was enough so that it didn't slide and would actually hold the batten
where
it was supposed to. On the most extreme curve at the point where the stem
meets the keel, my wife had to hold the weight to make sure it didn't move
due to the pressure, but if she hadn't been there I would have just piled
another weight on top and it would've held fine.

I used 8 weights and, although it wasn't enough for a continuous run, it
was
plenty for my 16' batten.

Good luck to you.

-Steve from Silverton, OR


On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 8:24:55 -0700, Stephen Yoder wrote
(in message nk.net):

I'm lofting a 38' Diesel Duck today with a spline weights that I made by
melting down tire weight lead. Couldn't find a lofting floor that would
allow me to drive nails so I had to have another way to hold the
splines.
I'll let you know how it works and, if it works well I'll give you the
details on how I made my spline weights and battens.

-Steve



On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 21:16:41 -0700, David & Margaret George wrote
(in message ):

Actually, I was going to loft a set of plans from the table of offsets.



"Eide" wrote in message
news:uQBib.74554$sp2.5683@lakeread04...
Are you going to use them for a lines drawing?

"David & Margaret George" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Does anyone have a source for spline weights/lofting wales. I am
gearing
up
to build my first dinghy and was looking for supplies.

Thanks,

Dave G.