The Construction Process
Made Simple

Step Two- The Mold

The mold serves as a temporary structure and is made from particleboard sections (called "stations") spanned with fir strips ("stringers").

With a computer controlled cutter, the particleboard "stations" are cut out and assembled on the floor on a temporary foundation made of framing lumber to form an upside down boat.

Full-length strips of fir are fastened to the particleboard along the length of the boat. This mold is very carefully built to be sure that the boat will be “fair” (i.e. one, long, sweeping curve, not lots of little bumps and hollows).

On top of this mold, a large sheet of plastic is placed which covers the entire boat. The plastic sheet serves as the inner part of the “vacuum bag” process, a process of epoxying together several layers of material with suction to form a tight bond.