TOM BEARD THE PLANIMETER JUNE, 1964 Sorivty of | small Graft Designers, Bounded 1949Volume 15 June, 1964 Number 6 Copyright, 1964 by The Society of Small Craft Designers, Incorporated All correspondence to John H. Anmerman, Exec. Secy-Treas. P. 0. Box 146, Lake Hiawatha, N. J. The Society of Small Craft Designers, Inc. does not necessarily agree 4 with the subject matter of papers that are published. The responsibil- ity far any eratanente in the papere ie solely that of the auther. 4 Editor: John Anmerman i Board Menbera: 4 Rogers Winter, Robert Miller, Douglas Gray Section Chairmen: Eastern--George Meese, Annapolis, Md. Mid-Continent--Donald H. Smith, Crystal take, T11. Weoteu==Jolu By Seward, San Rafael, Catirornia THE PLANIMETER | spbntchhieiieinnitininienintictinotne DEADLINE SET: Since all copy for Planimeter is compiled the third week of the month preceding publication, there ie a deadline that must be edheared to, Tt to: All uatestal must be seul Lo reach the wdltor bY the 15th of the month preceding publication. ‘This pertains’ to ansounce- ments of meetings ete. that are to take place within one month of publica- tion, It is strongly recomended that you allow at least IO months for this type of notice. Contrary to goneral belief, lack of inertia ané general lethargy are rampant among our wenbers, Chapter minutes and Papers may not appear in the next issue despite meeting the deadline, they are used ae space ana material persits. Also along these lines} The Planimeter comes off the prces waually on the 15th of Lie mwulh of the date on the copy. It is nailed that day or the next. On some occa stons £t may be as late as the 18th of the moath so if you miss yours, Please wait a few more days before requesting an extra copy. stirkninbintibkiicke QUESTIONNATRE?: Since it is well past the two deadlines established for the return of the questionnaire, don't look for it - it wasa't made up, it has been suggested by the Chairman that all proposale be made direct~ ly to the Board, Address all letters to the Secretary so that copies nay be nade for distribution. i ‘bbinbatotttn BOOK REVIEW! ‘THE DINGHY YEAR BOOK; Edited by Richard Greagh-Osborne, John De Graff, Inc, 160 pages, illustrations, May 1964, $5.00. This yearly offering, published in Britain, has taken on a new format.Tt is about twice the size of previous years and more technical material ef interest has beon added. Along with the usual chapters on the year’ highlights in class racing in Her Royal Britannic Majesty's Kealn there axe such interesting chapter subjects as; Sail Research Notes; details of the Britich/Australlan International Catamaran Challenge Trophy race and an ingenious method of constructing your own Aluminum mast. In the latter case the main problem is fastening the tangs, sections and vari- ous fittings. The author of the piece, Ian Nicolson, has devised a mathod emploving 2 specially modified machine screw, wires and string to bring the fastener {acide the mast so that the nut can be run on, In sepazate appendixes there are conversion tables for inches; feet and inches to millineters: millimeters to feet: square feet to square meters; and square meters to square feet. DINGHY BUILDING; Richard Creagh-Osborne, John De Graff, Inc., 169 pages, Ellucteatione, May 1964, $12.00. This book is primarily intended for the anateur builder and deals with soall dinghys of various hull forms and types of construction. Again the book has been published in England and as a result some of the terns used may be strange at first reading. Types of construction covered are: Colé Nowlding (veneers); Glued Lape Strake; Carvel and Strip planking; Single und Doudie chine Hulls (plywood panels); Composite (plywoud/te- inforeed plastic); and finally Fiber Glass Reinforced Hulls. In addition there are chapters covering techniques of building as well as proper woods to use, decks and interiors, painting and varaishing and fitting out. There are also conversion tables similar to those Iisted in the above review. CAPTAINS 10 THE NORTHWARD: William James Morgen, Barre Publishing Co., Inc., 260 payes, Ladex, notes, biblivgraphy, Llustiated, 97.50. The author has set down the careers of New England Captains in the Conti- nental Navy. Here is the accounting of twenty-two men who served our infant country in a service that offered minor financial reward, major hazards and constant harassment from Congress, the Marine Committee of that body and the Navy Board. Despite these authoritative shackles and the more lucrative career of privatecring, there were more commissioned officers than ships available throughout the war. This speaks well of the patriotism of the New Eng- Innders. Of course they did not hold 2 monopoly on this virtue, as wit~ ness the careers of John Barry, John Young and Nicholas Biddle among others from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Although nepotism and political favoritism were rampant in the selection of Captains, they were all qualified seamen and not lacking in bravery. Their knowledge of tactical warfare was at best Limited and frequently they failed when operating in a squadron but nevertheless they all were eager to serve. ‘There were cases where one or two Captains failed to meet the test of leadership and comand, but many grew under these pressures and in so doing began the traditions of the eervice that they theneelvee eo dearly nected and which the eneny demonstrated to his advantage. In this day when patriotion is often looked upon with suspicion, it would serve us all to reflect on the sacrifices made by men such as these when the promise of freedom was just that, a promise, and not a reality.Shipcarvers of North America, by M. V. Brewington, Barre Publishing Co, , Inc., 173 pages, index, bibliography, illustrations, notes, $12.00, Although the author states in the preface that this is not a definitive history, it certainly covers the subject with enough deta!l to cone close to that objective. It covers this craft, some would call it an art and rightly 50, irom its humble begtnotng in this country in 1607 vith the building of the Virginia on the Kennebec River down to the carved paddle box decorations of the river steanboats in the earliest years of this century. he uain subjects of the book are figureheads since these were most outstanding and survived better than hull carvings. Up to the end of the Revolution the trend in Figureheads followed the pattern set in England many years before, ‘here vere few hunan figures and those that did exist shoved Liste artistic sense. During this period the lion was the favorite subject along with assorted sea horses, and serpents. After the Revolution, as in other fields, the shipearver began to be influenced by other nations and to call upon their ingenuity to create styles and patterns that vhere uaique and original. “The grand period of Auerican narine decoration" began about this time and continued on until the early 1850's with the appearance of the Clipper Ship, The emphasis vas at once on speed and figureheads began to be sualler and much of the ornarental carved sterns and quarter boards Mosppearod altagether. Although the author aclimevicdges the day of che figurehead and its creator is gone, he also feels that as ‘long as ronan= tics go down to the sea under sail’ there will alvays be a few figureheads afloat. Let's hope he is correct. seibiinininkibitiiie June Roster Changes Address Changes: Julio Chalbaud J/3 Randolph E, Ten Eyck J/1 765 Dolores St, RD #2, Blue Kock Rd, San Francisco, Calif. Lancaster, Pa. John H, Klose M/2 Dean Kennedy A/3 1117 Green Acres Road, Yacht Ta! Aroa, Metairie, La. Balboa Yacht Club Balboa, Canal Zone New Nenbers: Theodore E. Sladek W/3 Morley 3. Smith M/2 10460 Gretier Place 1310 W. Keating, La Mesa, Calif. Indianapolis, Ind, H, Cameron Thompson ¥M/2 Joseph G. Kershaw J/3 908 First Street, Box 37 Morgan City, Las Gray Greer, D.0., Oaneda ‘poinohinhiea LINES DEVELOPMENT BY CONIC CONSTRUCTION by Willard W. Tjossem ,SS¢D Presented at Los Angeles Chapter Meeting The Society of Small Craft Designers 1. Laying Down and Pairing Up--The Builder's Problen? 4 frequent subject for argument anong boat builders aad designers 4s the necessity of "lofting" or “laying down the lines" as the first step in starting construction. Rudder magazine, Nov. 1960, presented several interesting viewpoints on the subject fron prominent designers and builders, with the consensus strongly recormending the traditional procedure. The reasons given were most interesting for the omissions. All naturally assumed traditional frane, planking, and deadwood con- struction; none considered the differing requirements of metal, strip planted, dtagonal planked, or molded fiberglass construction. Most nade no distinction betweea the "Zairing up" process necessary to over- come the inaccuracies in dimenstons taken from small scale drawings and the process of simply drawing the necessary parts full size. To wy ming, the former process is "lofting," the latter is "laying down." Considerable emphasis was placed on the educational value of (es they eal tr) Tofring, partiewlarly for the amatenr, atnce he obtains a clear picture of the various parts and the problems that Lie ahead. ais may all de very true as far as making full size drawings is con- cerned, but the amateur is usually ill-prepared for the "tairing-up" process and therefor suffers much delay and discouragement ané ends up with a confusing maze of corrected and re-corrected Lines, only appreach- ing true accuracy, Two designers cited cases waere they themselves had dene the £U1l eize lefting for certain classce intended for amatcur con- struction, In these cases, they said, laying down the lines was unneces- sary, thereby implying that "fairing up" is really the crucial step. I think this is @ point designers might well ponder. While we expect even an ameteur builder to produce a sweet-lined hull from our fesigns, we give him dimensions to work to which admittedly define a shape full of discontinuities. We expect him to have the seme lofting Skills we have aequired over the years and to use these to correct the errors in our table of offsets. If he really has these skills, why should he not work directly from the lines drawing as we would do rather than fron offsets? (I might ask here how many designers have ever used thetr own offsets?) He could then select as many points along a given curve as he wished, and also transfer angles or bevels, waich of course do not change with’ scale.2. Down With The Table Of Offsets | I believe that tables of offsets showld contain only accurate values or be omitted entirely, One of the first principles in dimensioning a working drawing is to avoid redundant dimensioas, yet in a real sense nearly all the offsets are redundant -- they are interdependent and some- what conélicting; noae can be considered firm and reliable. The Lines drawing is the important thing. Here is where the design exteto — this to the shape you wauly every muuawe lub uf Lt, wut Just where arbitrary planes cut it. You have dravn it (at least in the de- ginning) to some particular scale. If you put a Length, breadth, and depth dinension on tt, you have all the dimensions you really need, No matter how the paper shrinks or swells, a single dimeneion controls the precise scale in each direction at all times. Actually, there should be no need to scale a Length mich greater than one inch, and the shrinkage 1s snail indeed 11 this distance, Then way should we go throug the drudgery of sealing and recording (always with some errors) some 200 or nore poiats on our lines drawing vhen this only interposes numbers be~ tween our true definition of form by Lines and the Loftenan's final product of lines? Now méay people, even engineers, are impressed by numbers - partic ularly in great quantities and to many decimal places. Thera seams to he an instinctive Eeeling that numbers mean accuracy and precision, Nunbers certainly have their uses, but the act of placing scaled dimensions at intervals along a curve does not improve the accuracy of that curve = bit. Quite the contrary. You are in fact saying you do not mean the pictured curve at all, but want another similar curve defined by the dimensions. Another thing, @ Line har no tolerance; it eimply oxloto vhcre tt was dzayn. Theoretically it has no width, but even though we must give it width to make it visible, its center still has no width - therefor no tolerance, The minute you redefine your drawn line by dimensions you introduce the problem of tolerances - you can't escape it. L submit that Lines showld be emphasized and aumbers minimized. Now let's go over Ina little detail the procedure the builder must go through fa obtaining his working Lines from the conventional drawlags. ~The Wairine tn" Process Ainong the set of prints furnished by the architect fe one Label! “Lines and Offsets." The lines portion is usually pleasant to look at-- the whole form of the hull can be sean as the station, water line, and buttock line contours blend into a three-dimensional form on @ small scale. With a little imagination the bow wave and the flow of disturbed water aft of the run can be visualized, and the boat almost comes to Lifes But what of the other part of Uie dawiug ~-(he table uf offseus? How duit and discouraging. Whereas the Lines drawing probably has some purposeful, direct dimensions for the shape of stem, deadwood, and rudder, the table of offsets is nothing but a collection of numbers stored in orderly but appsrently meaningless boxes (and how easy it is to get in the wrong bo: Waen the builder buckles down to the task of reading the right numers from the Tight poxes to lay down the Lines full size, we soon know how much prior experience he has had. If he procedes to put down all the dimensions for each station in turn and drew the contours in, ve fenov he has a tot to learn--and change. Also if he has no trouble in draving 4 Lind thru all the points for each station we know he has a too- Limber spline and no discrimination for shape. Tt is just not in the 4cards for dimensions scaled from a small drawing to be exact enough to define a truly fair curve. Judgement must be used and the dimensions considered as only approximate guides. ‘Iwo people may derive contours that deviate nore than % inch from each other in places, even though they stay within + or - 1/16 inch of dimensions given at intervals 12 inches or more along the contour. ‘The experienced lofteman, of course, will not proceed to lay out all the stations at once, but only the midsection, and then establish some fore and aft control lines. te will pav particular attention to the "looks" of the midsection on the lines drawing as he splines in the full curve, coming as close to the dimensions as possible while pre serving the characteristic shape. Actually, he will proceed just about a the designer did when he faired up his final lines drawing. Ue will probably next establish fair sweeps for the sheer in plan and elevation, holding the midsection points enactly. Ho now hao cotablished the upper termination of all ctation contours. He may next locate the lover terminations by fairing in the keel, rabbet, or fairbody curves depending on the method used in the Lines and offsets. He may lay in one or two diagonals now before bother ing with further stations. He is now likely to lay in @ station near each end of the vessel and sweep in further diagonals, water lines, or butt lines before filling in the rest of the stations. Me will de checking all nis contro points as he goes along, keeping the whole shape under control instead of concen trating on one area, He will be alert to any tendency his controls may have to distort the form pictured by the lines drawing, because he real- izes any dimensioned point that influenced his control line is only ap- proximate, and he may have favored the wrong ones in sweeping in his The more accurate the dimensions given, the easier his job will be, but a goud luftsmad can actually do the whole Job muse accurately aud faster without offsets by scaling the lines drawing. Since the points obtained by dimensions or scaling are only approximate anyhow, the pro- cedure is essentially the same. It is far quicker to pick off points with proportional dividers and put them down on the loft than it is to Find the right box, interpret the number, and get the right dimension down without numerical error. Another point in favor of sealing is that any desired number of points may be tound instead of being limited by those given. This can help @ great deal uhere curvature changes tap- idly between dimensioned points. It is risky, however, to utilize scal- ing if offsets are given, since the lines shown may not be the ones from which the offsets were taken. Brom the above it may be appreciated that lofting is a considerable skill, requiring a three-dinensional sense, experience, and a certain artistry for best results. (Some experienced loftsmen, skilled at the mechanics of the job, never seem to develop a feeling for the subtlety of form and their work shows a certain hardness of contour not existing in the original lines.) The amateur or inexperienced loftenan must be expected to take a great deal of time and end up with less than precise results in enlarging 2 set of lines to full size, even with quite accu- rate dimensions: Not the least of the lofting problem is the space requirenent, especially the length dimension. Again the professional loftenan has the advantage, as he recognizes the benefits of deliberately fore-short- ening long, geatle curves in order to be wore certain of their fairness,He is also used to working with overlapping views so that he can work in a much more confined space than if views were kept separate, as in the lines drawing. 4. The Designers Problem & review of the loftsman's procedure in fairing up « set of lines shows a striking resenblance to the work of the designer -- enough to suggest that there is duplication that should be avoided. Will any designer deny that it is much more interesting and satis- fying to develop a set of lines than it is to labericuely ceale come 200 or more dimensions and write them dou correetly in the correct box? Surely it is more satisfying to rough out a hull shape than {t ts to painstakingly refine that shape by cut and try lofting in order to attain only an approximation of the full size accuracy required. Tf the architect could find way of speeding up the lofting process, wouldn't he rather skip the offsets and jump directly from his preliminary Lines to full scale? This is essentially what che loftenan must do, ond who is better qualified to do the final lofting thaa the designer? Since the architect is probably familiar with lines expansion, he should be able to Toft out the bull on a board no larger than that required for all the half-stations. Wow if the designer could speed up and simplify his preliminary Lines development and reduce the full size lines layout to a routine construction process, he should be able to save time in hig ovn work and completely eliminate the "fairing up" chore for the builder. 5, Improved Lofting Methods Theae objectives can be achieved by organizing the development of hull form so that all curves are geometrically determinate. This mean that the characteristics of cach curve are defined so that one curve, and only one curve. will precisely meet the defined conditions. ‘Ta mast this requirement each curve must belong co one of the many fanilies of mathe- matically describable curves, and preferably a type easily constructed by graphical means. Those with a taste for the mathematical approach to geometric problems are invited to study the caleulue and textbooks on mathenatical lofting--only graphicel methods will be considered in the discussion to follow. The family of curves derived by cutting planes through a cone, conic or second-degree curves, 16 so versatile and easily constructed that it has deen found to satisfy all the needs encountered in lofting work, It is quite easy to "fit" a conic curve to an existing faired line by selection of suitable control points--the better the original line the closer the fit. This case of fitting enables free use of "fair ing! for the original shape visualization, without fear of being unable to describe the shape by means of conic curves in final lofting. When the infinite variety of cone tapers and plane slopes is cons sidered, it may be visualized how it is possible that some conic curve will satisfy any set of requirements that involves a smoothly varying change of slope in one direction. Conic curves fall into three broad classifications, as shovn in Figure 1. All planes passing through the surface of a cone, but not its base, describe ellipses, those normal to the cone axis being circles, a special case of ellipse. Planes that cut the cone parallel to itc cide describe parabolas, also known as propose tional curves. All other planes, those cutting the base but not parallel to the side, describe hyperbolas. A segment of any of these conic curves can be defined by (and con structed from) 5 conditions, no more and ao less, These conditions canFGURE b TIES OF A cone T PUANES PASSING THRU THE SURFACE OF A CONE , SUT NOT ITS “BASE, CUT ELLIPSES. I PUANES PARALLEL To THE SIDE OF A CONE CUT PARABOLAS PLANES CUTTING THE BASE OF A CONE, ‘UT NOT PARALLEL To THE SIDE, DESCRIBE HYPERBOLAS. ALL MEMBERS OF THIS GENERAL FAMILY OF CURVES ARE “CONICS, o@ SECOND DEGREE CURVES, ANY SEGMENT OF A PARTICULAR CONIC CAN BE DEPINED BY FIVE AND ONLY FIVE CONDITIONS, O& RESTRAINTS, AS FOLLOWS! 1 MVE POINTS. 2, 4 POINTS AND A SLOPE AT ONE POINT. 2. 8 PONTE AND Cuore AT TWO PoHHITE,be 5 points, 4 pointe and a slope at one of the points, or 3 pointe with slopes at tue of the ocints: The construction of conte curves fron these sets of conditions 1s shown in Figure 2, Te will be found that the case where polnt-slopes define the ends of the curve and a mtd point defines Ato curvature vill be the gost useful, Where uo restriction cxtete for the mid point, a proporeional curve (parsbola) 1a conventent ind easy Co cobeteuct, aid the Eypa.of curve bosuuea the fLfth condition. Where five conditions define the curve, there is ao need to consider welsh type of soole curve reaulta-~the construction (er éalculacton) fa the sane'in eny case. The graphie construction of contc-curves will becoue quite easy and straightforward with practice. On long eaey evecps it will save tmich tine and inprove accuracy if the curve is foreshortened, ‘This 48 iso an afd dn evaluating the desirability, or "astistry,” of @ curve, beng analogous to the practice of sighting along « line’ to exaggerate ree durvatete: 6. ADplication of Conics in PreLintnary Design Te in usually inpractical to start the erigioal design sketch vith the construction of conte curves, and it is wasteful of tine to Fit conics toa set of Lines that have beon completely lofted out. ‘The tdeal procedure ie to intreduce conics into the problem as early as will be helpful, but not so soon av to inhibit original chlaking.” Each desianer has’ techalaue of hie ova, of course, and‘changas skould be adopred gradually if at all. In nearly ail cases, however, the designer must Elret block out his design and make the required checks for space re+ quirements, distribution of dioplaconent, and shape out the form for proper stability and seworthiness in accordance with hte evn concapts. Host of this can best be accomplished freehand, as each Line is tenter tive until vertfled or modified hy nrher eonstderations tn the averesTl design. ‘When thie process has been conpleted the designer has quite a cleat visualization of tho hull he wants, although 1¢ may net seen very cleat to someone else Looking at hiv sketch, which aay De sonevhat Like Figure 3, which ts simply a typical bull shape used for purposes of {lustration. Ascuning that this Lines dravieg 1s based on’ length, besa, draft and atapiacenent figures derived fron previous. prelintaary arrange: nent work, it may be said that this drawing, rough though It tn, repre= sents the designer's final conception of the hull form he has chosen for the particular design. lle knows, by means of the sheer, Load water Line, Faizbody, buttock and dagonnl he has evoss checked, that the stations he has aketehed in are approxinately correct and wiil develop the chat- acterietic hull form he desires, The couceptional process 12 completed and the procedize of precisely defining the hull shape 16 routine, theugh Ste duivan camutting afaertatsciiTl tacts teks Gate auetee mie heros Strate what thle procedure is, using conte development. You may want to go vp in scale, as I id in draving Figure 4, though it's better Lf you can Just lay a sheet of tractag paper over the original sketch, Now the thing to do is establish conte curves for the Basie control Lines on the sketch, The sheer Line ie a geod place to start. By locating the endinge and their slopes, 4 condieiaas for he conte aro fined, Gne more point along the sliver’ vill complete ehe noces= sary conditions, Gear in mind that you always have the previously men= toned choteen of which five conditions seem nost suteable to che seoblen.) Ee soous logical to next establish the sheer plan, With @ full deck Line te 1s often necessary to use two different conies for this, though ia| | | | j GRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTION hours 2, OF CONIE CURVES Pan EXTEND 1,24 5,4 To P Fannie umes ORAW 23463 (a4 Kum) DEAW ANY LINE Prom P INTERSECTING GER LINCS ESTEND 4,0, To INTERSECT 1B, AT PINT ON CONIC VARY POSITION OF LINE FROM’ TO OBTAIN ADOFTIONAL POINTS Bpows ano Rrasrsaee he 4 DRAW 4,8 INTERSECTING SLOPE LIME AT Oma 2 4 4d Den MOY UNE FROM P INTERSECTING 1.284,2 AT RES. PETEND |,Q To INTERSECT 3, AT POINT on comic VARY POSITION OF LINE PRAIA Pte CRTAIN ADDITIONAL POTS * J sic umes brrenp stores to DEAN 12 630 ROW ANY LINK FROM Paine eTEERAETIONS } ie antesthe example a single sweep meets the requirements, The upper ending of any station 1s now exactly determined, and I ike to now plot these points in the body plan for each station to be shown on the drawing, in order to get an end view check on the vessel's sheer line. Sometimes this will indicate the desirability of some change to get a pleasing conbination of curves. Next is the fairbody curve which defines the profile of the sten —_[ and basic hull. Associated with this is the profile (stem and keel) width plan, The fairbody can be asouned to interccet at the vertical projection of the profile width or at the centerline. In the example the fairbody intersection actually follows the stem width and then fairs into the centerline to avoid the fnfluence of the keel bulge. Note that the faixbody profile consists of two conics. Now 1s the time to lay in the construction points fer the mid- section, Here it is a help to have the sketch underneath in selecting the proper slopes and control posnts. nen suitable slopes at the sheer and fairbody have been established their intersection becomes a point on the "chine." After similar poiats for the other stations aze approxi- nated and then firmly established by conic construction in plan and ele- vation, you have established the definition of a V-bottom hull. This should answer the question of how conic construction applies to V-botton types. In this hull, of course, the "chine" is well’ rounded off, and a keel appendage added’on. Now we need to control the line of intersection of the appendage and the basic bull. This line, like all the others, is determined by the hull form you have already determined--on the sketch and in your mind. In this case it is shown in plan, starting at the beginning of the appendage and continuing past the stern, since 1 chose to retain some of the reverse curve through the run to form a "heart~ shaped" transom. We have now established four conditions for the upper portion of each station contour, One more condition is required. We could use all proportional curves (parabolas) if cuitable, otherwise we mist establish 2 curvature control line. Usually a diagonal will serve for this control; sometimes a more complex curve, faired both in plan and elevation, may be required. In the example a simple diagonal will do. Te controls exactly how the "chine" is rounded off. When the slope of the keel appendage sides and a lover tangency Line have been established, we again have four conte conditions and re~ quire the fifth. Again a diagonal or other control line may be required, but in the example proportional curves were selected as the fifth condi- tion. The hull shape is now completely defined. The creative process is over and all the decisions have been made. Any further lines construc tion, small scale or full size, ds ateictly a mechanical prococe and can be done rapidly and with preciaion, From the information shovn on Figure & any point on the hull aur- face can be located graphically--or mathematically if the control points are dimensioned. If dimensioned, Figure 4 could be released as the "lines ané offsets" drawing and all the full size lines required for building could be laid down exactly the first time and no "fairing up" would be required. Of course, the loftsuan would ueed lo auderstumd coale cone struction, but information similar to that in Figure 2 could be added to the drawing. That's really about all there is to conic lines development--a fairly arbitrary choice of key dimenstons which are not redundant and therefor become absolute values which yield a shape you desire. The sim-Figure 3. consrgucteo AFTER comeLeTicn: OF ines" ORAWING. (Pia: 8)FIGURE 4,pler the form, the fewer the controls or basic dimensions required, but any complextty can be broken down into controlled components. By the simple expedient of using analytically determinate curves for every element controlling surface shape, we have established a basis of perfection. To be sure, the boat so defined may be a clunk, but it is at least described with perfection. If he wished, a mathematician could derive the forma for any line and calculate dimensions to seven teen decimal places for every inch of length. He'd get pretty tired, he would susely wake oome uumerical exvera in the process, aud the boat would still be a clunk, but some people might be inpressed by all those nunbers. Now I don't seriously propose that a drawing similar to Figure 4 is as far as the designer needs to go with his pictorial lines work. There is much design work he must yet do which will require a clearer and nore convenient visualization of hull form, and there are other interest ed parties who would preter to see a conventional lines drawing. Another important factor is the matter of cross checking. By cutting the usual butt lines, water lines, and diagonals through the sections constructed by conic development, the designer can protect against errors while end- ing up with the conventional Lines drawing as chown in Figure 5. Figure 4 then constitutes the "offsets". If the designer has decided to construct the full size sections himself, he should defer his conventional lines drawing until this work is completed. He can then use a photographic reduction to the desired seale for his sections in making the normal lines drawing, and the vater Line, butt line, and diagonal cuts will verify the correctness of the full size lines to be used for actual construction, Figures 6, 7, and 8 illustrate this sequence in the case of CORLOLIS, 2 design which I helped to build. The dimensions shown in Fig ure 6 were derived from a 1/24 scale normal loft layout of fair accuracy From waich a half wodel was built. When it was decided to go ahead with construction, the full size sections were laid out on glass cloth from these dimensions, making use of foreshortening of the longitudianl con- trol Lines to stay within the 4x 8 ft. space limit. ‘The conic construc~ ton and control lines were kept quite light, so only the heavier Lines of the true sections show up well on the photographic reduction, Figure 7. Tha Vines drautng, Figure &, cna devalapad hy first tracing the sections from the photo-reduction and developing all other views from them, The usual number of butt lines, water lines, and diagonals were first laid in, but it was so satisfying to see all the lines fair perfect~ ly, and the work proceeded so easily, that T added in cuts between the normal spacing. This closer spacing proved to be most helpful in later interior layout work. The only Linco development donc on Pigure @ was to define the rounding off of the stem and keel. This infcroation was then transferred back to the full size sections. Since the hull was strip planked and Fiberglass covered, no rabbet, back rabbet, or bearding lines had to be developed. However, the flat patterns for the stem and keel Laminations were developed from the full size sections and separate stem and stern profiles which were laid out full size. une EoLlowing procedure worked well 1n marking the plywood molds and bulkheads for cutting. A single Osalid print was marked with a chisel~ pointed red pencil to show the inside of planking at each station. Al- though the molds were not bevelled, making only corner contact with the planking, the thickness to be deducted was determined from the angle at which the diagonals cross each station on the small lines drawing.FicuRE 7.rouet 8Accurate grid lines, corresponding to appropriate ones on the print, were constructed on the plywood prior to marking. These served to locate the priat and to compensate for any shrinking or stretching of the print duriag the course cf the work. This actually proved to be a negligible problen in practice. Whon the print vas laid upside down and indexed by moans of small cut-outs te allow the grid Lines on the plywood to show through, the red line, being slightly engraved from pencil presoure, was visible from the back’ cide. By tracing thic again with the red pencil, the original line was transferred to the plywood and a new one created for marking the ether half of the mold or bulkhead. After removing the print, the Lincs on the wood were heavied up to be more visible for rough cutting and final sanding. ‘The grid lines vere used to assure accurate assembly of two-piece molds, as reference points in erecting bulkheads ané molds, and finally, To transfer reference points co the inside of che planxed full. xXeal confidence ia the accuracy of the molds was a great help in obtaining true alignment. Whenever a batten would not touch all the molds, it wes only necessary to Find the positioaal erzor causing this -~ Lt was sever necessary to trim any of the contour surfaces. Perhaps we have strayed a bit from the subject of lines develop- meat, but the ultimate use of these lines is certainly worth keeping con- stently in mind. Direct use (and expenditure) of the glass cloth original might have been somewhat quicker, although ite stifiness would have made direct line transfer impractical. A Mylar film original, or a paotographic, second original on Mylar would have been much better, but expensive. Direct. photographic transfer of the Mines to the material to be cut is also possible, but still more expensive. These techniques are commonly used in areraft work, vhere manpower savings and increased precision justify the cost, but are unlikely to be practical in yacht work. We sonetimes severse the photographic reduction process in air craft work by enlarging « small scale drawing to build a rough full size “gtiet" mock-up. It £5 somewhat painful to see your small drafting dis- czepancies magnified 2, 4, or 10 times, but it is a vivid illustration of the probiens inherent in scaling up a drawing. have been accustomed to working with the conic lofting system - in aiveragt design since it gradually replaced "ship lofting" some 15 years ago, and it is difficult to imagine a case where I would prefer to go back to the old system, and scaling off those offsets! I have Seen the loft floor disappear altogether, to be replaced by seperate metal layout "boards" which are pulled from storage racks as needed. Lines in~ formation for design vork is available to any desired scale on Mylar film hy phatnevaduarinn == en prenies that we hardly ever think asaut checking thea for scale; it's Just a waste of time. The whole operation now re-~ quires perhaps one quarter the pexsonnel and one tenth the floor space of the old loft department, and the service provided for design and shop requirements is far superior. It's hard for me now to recall any particular difficulty in aéapt- ing to the chenge. All I can say is that the only way to test it is to try dt -- and it can be tried a little a€ @ Line where LE sesus couven= ient. Gradually it will become nore ani more natural until it becomes habituel in all lines development. Ja thinking about this paper I knew that some doubt about the system's versatility would remain if I only showed Lines of my owa develop- ment. I therefor decided to try my hand at actually fitting conic curvest0 gone published design to see how closely I could duplicate the ori- ginal. Being 2 devout disciple of the "Sage of Marblehead", it is haré= ly surprising that I chose a design by Francis Herreshoff. I felt that his 36 foot ketch NEREIA published in Rudder magazine would be a good example. Being a clipper bowed model with faring entrance, tunble home transom, and fully developed wineglass sections, it not only presente many reverse curve problens, but is one of my favorite decigns in all respects. T decided to go alt the wry and work from the “mumbors in the little boxes" instead of scaling the lines drawing, By the way, I count- ed up 323 boxes that vere filled, plus 26 other dimensions, so you can see that this hull form ts very thoroughly described. My working layout was made toa scale of 1 inch = 1 foot in sec- tion, the same as the original, foreshortened tok inch = 1 foot in length. It is 0 cluttered with construction Lines and alterations, illustrating the @tfficuley in trying to match a lofted Lime to the smallece decati, that T made the basic dimension draving, Figure 9, to more clearly define the control lines which were used in constructing the sections. When the sections vere finally defined by coaie controls oa the layout, I traced them off separately, Figure 10, with the table of off set dimensions being indicated by the small eireles. I dién't follow ay own reconmendation of exose-checking by laying cut the butts, waters, and dtagonats, out 1 vould surely do s0 i 1 were to make further use of the drawing. ‘Actually, I believe it is pretty well checked by the close cor- respondence of the points and Lines. 1 might manage to strike a better average in the L.W-L, area near station 28 by not adhering so closely to the diagonal dimensions, but it's hard to tell without spending still more tine on a project which had already verified ny carlier statenent that it is wasteful of time to match conics to a fully lofted shape. You should draw your oom conclusions from this exemple, but T am pretty well satisfied thae ic éenonstratest 1. Conics can be used to develope any desired hull shape. 2. Francis lerveshotf did a very complete and accurate lofting and scaling Job while creating a beautiful hull. Even with this excellent example of conventional Lines definition, the loftsman still has quite a bit of "fairing up" to do when the apparently insignificant diserepancies are magnified to full size. SUMMARY ‘This paper describes a method by which a yacht designer can pro- duee a set of lines more easily than by the ueval cut-and-try lofting procedure and at the same time assure llmself and the builder of absolute fairness throughout. This can be accomplished without hindering in the slightest his choice of hull form, This desirable result can be achieved by using easily constructed conte curves to define the basic lines controlling hull form, Although only graphic construction of the conics is recommended, these curves may, AE desized, be defincd mathematically cv auty 1equlied dugeee uf precision. it is recommended that the normal Lines drawing, showing stations, butts, waters, and diagonals be retained, both for preliminary roughing out and for visual presentation of the final form, but that the normal table of offsets be replaced by full size lines or by dimensioning onlyFIGURE 9.RISa3N,, - FIg.10,] SNOTSHEWIG ESO Or CSEvaHOS 3S INTO TINAT JINOD cr oe way e ozthe control points required for construction of the conic curves. Since a conte curve is indistinguichable from a carefully faired line meeting the same conditions, the designer soon learns to rely on conics to assure that his finished lines are really fair and define his original intent when he started out. Conic curves will not guarantee achieving a beautiful form, but they will guard against ugliness creep- ing in undetected. ‘The designer will find it difficult to define an ir- regular ot Lumpy curve because he will have to break it into several tan- gent conics, tair within themselves, This gives warning that some char- acteristic Of his preliminary loft may be undesirable, even though not readily detectable in the normal lines. Years of experience with this conic controlled lofting in air- craft ongincering has demonstrated its flexibility and practicality. Much of the tedium of lines development and definition has been elininat~ ed, Engineers have quickly adapted themselves to the technique, enabling them to devote more time to creative efforts and less to painstaking detail and eyestrain. The work of the loft department has becone mich more straight- forward and better organized. The basic dimensions provided by the de~ signer control absolutely the full size contours required, ané the lofta~ man can construct them directly without exercising the judgement required with fairing hy eye. Na longer are there recurring problems in translat- ing back end forth between Lines and numbers, There are no redundant dimensions given in defining contours to the loft, therefor each one put down by the designer becones basic. Where dimensions are required for tooling and machining, these can be calculated precisely instead of relying on the human element of scaling. The fact that conic lofting is successful in aircraft production does uot necessarily mau Ubal Lt Ls eysally applicable to che design and constriction af eustan yachts, but the body of this report submits come siderable evidence that this may be so. Farther information on Chis subject, with particula: emphasis ow the mathematical approach, can be found in the following books: 1. Roy A. Liming "Practical Analytic Geometry With Applications To Aireraft" The MacMillan Co., New York, 1944 2. Apalategus & Acoms i “Aircraft Analytte Geometry Afjplied To Engineering, Lofting, And Tooling” McGraw-Hill, New York, 1944