The planks of Western Red Cedar as purchased from a local timber merchant; 6 planks for the boards (3 per board), and 4 shorter planks for the bearers (2 per board).

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Using a print of the drawings, the measurements are being transferred in pencil to one of the wooden planks using try-square, metal straight-edge and a compass for the curves.

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After marking out, the planks were carefully cut to shape using a jig saw, and then the cut edges sanded smooth with Aluminium oxide grade 80 paper.

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After cutting out the planks, the exact position of the bearers should be marked out in pencil on the underside of each plank. The planks will be glued to the bearers, but to aid accurate assembly of the components, stainless woodscrews will also be used (two per plank, attached to the two bearers). The positions of the pilot holes for the screws are shown in the sketch plan (by blue crosses). They are located in the middle of each end of the plank, on the mid line of the underlying bearer (See drawings for dimensions).

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This photograph shows the underside of one of the planks with the position of the bearer and pilot hole marked out in pencil. The pilot hole has just been drilled through the plank, using a 2 mm diameter drill.

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Once the planks have been cut out and the pilot holes drilled, attention can be focussed on the bearers. The photograph shows a bearer being marked out. Note that the bearers are marked out but NOT cut out at this stage. Not only the outline of the bearer but also the position of the planks the bearers will be supporting should be marked out accurately (as shown in the photograph).

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The next stage is to assemble the components of one of the boards to enable the fixing screw holes to be drilled in the underlying bearers. To do this, place the two marked out but uncut bearers on a level bench and place the corresponding planks in their correct final position on top. This photograph shows the first plank in place ....

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...and this photograph shows all three planks in place. The pilot holes in the planks can now be extended into the underlying bearers.

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Making sure that the plank is exactly in the right position, a small power drill is being used to extend the existing pilot hole in the plank, down into the underlying bearer.

After all the pilot holes have been extended, the bearers can be cut to their final profile using a jig saw.

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The planks and bearers, after cutting out, will have angular edges as shown in the adjacent photograph. These should be rounded off with a sanding block.

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In this photograph all the rough angular edges and corners have been sanded smooth. These rounded extremities allow better adhesion of coatings, lessen the risk of splintering, and make the boards much easier to handle when installing or removing them from the boat.

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