http://www.woodworking.org/WC/Shoptips/papertape.html shows an improved way of making a bulkhead or panel fit perfectly--no sticks involved, just some resin paper and some masking tape. Wish I'd discovered this earlier! They say it's better than ticksticking--and I believe it.
Ticksticking involves standing up a flat board (for marking on--just a piece of scrap plywood or masonite or paneling or drywall or artfoam or whatever) and taking another board, thin and flat like a yardstick, but blank and with a point on one end, and making marks with a pencil. But not just anywhere... You stick the point of the tickstick into any critical spot, draw a long line alongside one edge of the tickstick (to line it up again later--the longer the line, the better), and then you make a mark (a tick) across both the thin flat tickstick and the line you just draw, which you will use later to put the tickstick back in exactly the same position. You draw a number or a letter on both parts of the tick (the mark on the tickstick and the mark on the line you drew) so you can match 'em up. You make as many marks as you want--the edges of any breaks in the hull, four or spots on a curved surface, the extreme ends of any straight lines (straight? In a boat??). And then you haul the stick and the marking board off to your plywood or coosa or whatever, clamp down the marking board to the plywood, and start reconstructing--laying the tickstick down alongside each drawn line, matching up the lettered ticks, and marking where the tip falls. It's more accurate if you make a little backup for the tip of the tickstick that's the same thickness as the marking board; then your tip will fall all the way to the board you want to cut. And you can mark up both sides of the tickstick on both faces of it, so it's a breeze to make 50 or more marks; it won't be hard to sort them out. If you've marked a curve, you can tap in some brads and use a batten to fair the curve. Hey, it works great, even though it sounds complicated without a set of photos or drawings. I made my pattern and drew my lines in about half an hour for the starboard bulkhead, and only had to trim any one little area down near the head. Hey, Tim, sorry about the wild goose chase on the tick-sticking. I had Lyme Disease for almost five years but never saw a bulls-eye lesion; however, I had taken a picture of a really strange S-shaped raised red rash around a mole at my waistband a week after a hike in Wisconsin. And I never put it together with the high fever and dizziness and aches and pains and memory loss until after blood tests revealed what was wrong. I miss things sometimes... Almost missed this other link to another way to do ticksticking and transfer the dimensions to a computer (for Phil and the other engineers around): http://westsail42.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-advanced-tick-stick-techniques.h tml . Anyway, I guess not everyone calls this by the same name. I've got a cold-molded instruction book by Reuel Parker and he just calls it stickering--and does with with a bunch of pointed sticks all c-clamped to an upright board. Too much work and too many clamps for me. David Shaddock -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 8:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Tim's idle hands are the devil's playthings I didnt find much on tick-sticking on the web, in terms of cutting a pattern to match, but I did learn a helluva lot about Lyme Disease! tf looking for bulls-eye lesions as we speak
