1/2 Sheet Ply for Formers

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Friesen 5
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:52 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

1/2 Sheet Ply for Formers

Post by Friesen 5 »

The book Canoecraft suggests cutting plywood in half to make formers. There are a number of posts on this forum which suggest that ply cut into half sheets leaves the formers too short.

I decided to scrimp a bit and cut the ply in half. When I drew the formers onto the 1/2 sheets, I intentionally cut them 3 " too short. I then made 3x10" spacers and 6x10" doublers. These were glued together and glued to the bottom of the former. The wood I used for the doublers and extensions was leftover from cutting out the formers. A table saw makes this quick and accurate.

Since I used 1/2" plywood, I liked the fact that the screws used to fasten the formers to the strongback went through a full 1" of material.

Mervin Friesen
Chestnut Prospector

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Mervin Friesen
Prospector 16'
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