Re: Making Battens - Tips?

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Gordon Snapp" <grsnapp@...> wrote:

>
> I need to make some battens, both to put into a sail, and also to help
> in lofting. Any tips? Recommended woods? Dimensions?
>
> Thanks!
>

Depends on what you're lofting and what sail you're building, but most
of the time people recommend clear grain wood of some sort, Douglas
fir, pine, oak, ash, mahogony, etc. For lofting, especially small
stuff like cabin beams, etc, I'll grab something close at hand like
wooden 1/4 round trim or even small diameter plastic plumbing pipe:
whatever is at hand and works. For longer runs like hull panels,
you're looking for a material with an even resistance to bending to
give a fair curve, and nothing already skewed to one side. The
dimensions depend on the material stiffness. Play with it. Lots of
times I use small finish nails to hold battens to a curve.
Ruell Parker has a neat way of building battens for a junk rig: PVC
with tapered wood plugs thast allow the sail to camber. Great stuff!
Good luck,
David

For battens I would suggest White Ash, strong, resilient, not too
expensive, not too heavy. What size sail are you writing about. I
suspect for dinghy sails you could use almost any wood. The sail plan
should give you some information about the size of battens.For lofting
try "Lofting" by Allan Vaitses or consult the "Gougeons on Boat
Construction"
Bob Chamberland

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Gordon Snapp" <grsnapp@...> wrote:
>
> I need to make some battens, both to put into a sail, and also to help
> in lofting. Any tips? Recommended woods? Dimensions?
>
> Thanks!
>

I need to make some battens, both to put into a sail, and also to help
in lofting. Any tips? Recommended woods? Dimensions?

Thanks!