For the first time in decades, there are schooners 'abuilding on the famed waterfront at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dawson Moreland & Associates are building not just one, but two 48' wooden schooners in the best of Maritime traditions. These 'twins' will be built simultaneously, frame for frame, plank for plank, alongside the historic Lunenburg Dory Shop at 175 Bluenose Drive. Follow their progress from keel laying to launch!

An artist's interpretation of the Twin Schooner Project

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Double-sawn


The frames of these twin schooners are being built the traditional, time-tested way and so are double sawn and made of hackmatack (you may know it as larch).

A double-sawn frame is made from several pieces of wood, known as futtocks or foot hooks, that are placed end to end to create the curve of the hull running from the keel to the sheer. A second frame that is identically shaped but has joints in difference places, is fastened to the first, forming a frame that is nearly as strong as one cut from a solid piece of wood.

And the reality is you can't get wood thick enough to provide the full curve of the frame for vessels of this size. Using several futtocks, cut from live edge hackmatack like the pieces you see below, makes it possible to build the curve of a frame one section at a time.









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