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By Dan Anderson
Above: Align stitch-and-glue panels with a dowel rod. The wire connecting the panel edges passes over the dowel section on the inside of the joint, clamping the panel edges to the dowel.
Here’s a tip for when you need to align stitch-and-glue panels that we heard about too late to use on the Optimist prams, but one that we can’t wait to try. The tip comes from Dan Anderson of Fairgrove, Michigan via local boatbuilding instructor John Schmude.
Dan uses a short section of ” wooden dowel rod under each wire tie to help align the edges of plywood panels as he is stitching them together. The dowel prevents one edge from riding over the edge of the other and can improve the fairness of the joints and panels.
Learn more about the stitch-and-glue method of building boats.
