How to Transfer the Outline of Transom
The
next step is to transfer the profile or the outline of the transom
to the mocked-up section. Do this with carbon paper the same
way you transfer the carving design to the block. Darken this
outline with a soft pencil. Then shellac it to prevent it from
smudging as you work on the mock-up to fit the various pieces
of the carving to it. Transfer the outline of the transom to
your drawing paper on which you intend to make your design.
At the top of your drawing paper, lay out the curve of the transom
from the template. Draw in the chord.
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Then
make your design, keeping well within the limits of the outline
of the transom. Here, I would suggest that you make the design
on a piece of tracing paper so that you can, from time to time,
lift the drawing away from the board and lay it on the mock-up
to see if it is what you want to make. There is some difference
in the appearance and dimension of the design when seen in a
flat plane from when the design is placed on the curved plane
of the transom.
After
you have roughed out the outline of the proposed carving on
the drawing paper, extend vertical lines from the extremities
of the design and from the center of the design to the top of
the paper so that these vertical lines cross the chord and intersect
the arc (which represents the true transom). You now can see
how much or how little the carving blank will have to be back-cut
and how much additional stock must be added (built up) to give
you the proper thicknesses with which to work.
This
step can be done mathematically, I suppose, but I find that
the trial-and-error method works out quite as well. By studying
the proposed design and the varying thicknesses of stock necessary
to develop the carving you will have it fixed in your mind just
what is required of you to do the work. In the illustrations
I have prepared for this phase of the work I have used a relatively
simple form, that of a shield on which dolphins are carved in
mezzo-relievo, for the reason that the principles involved in
this sort of carving apply to any other form as well. My feeling
is that for the first endeavor you are going to use a simple,
straightforward design that is well within your capacity to
produce. Do not try to undertake a large, involved piece of
work that will exceed your capacity to make. Nothing is more
discouraging to do than to come up against a problem in your
work that is beyond your knowledge and skill to overcome.
After
all, if you want to make a more detailed carving later on you
can sell the yacht and start again. Or you can remove the prior
piece and replace it with a more ambitious work. After you have
established the form of the carving and indicated some of the
detail, determine how you are going to build up the carving
blank if that is necessary. This you do from the measurements
on the chord. I allow at least one half inch more stock than
is required at any point on the block. More, if it works out
that way. The block can be built up from the bottom or from
the top. In any case, when the several pieces are to be jointed,
follow the same processes as are described elsewhere in the
text.