Modification of Mondfeld's ships boat jig

[barkeater]

The picture shows my modification of Mondfeld's ships boat making jig in "Historic Ship Models". I had used this type of jig previously but as I got ready to do some ships boats for my current build, I decided to modify the jig. The result was a more stable to work with jig where the work piece being temporarily fused together gave greater stability and allowed for easy construction and sanding. Where the original jig had the mold or plug placed in a cut-out of plywood, I used a solid piece temporarily joined by two screws to the mold. The outline is then drawn around the mold on the plywood, and the position of ribs marked. The screws are then removed and holes for the ribs are made using adjacent drill holes cleaned out with a scalpel. Two blocks are then glued to the undersurface to give elevation so the screw heads will not keep the jig from sitting flat and to allow for the ribs to project beyond the plywood and so be well seated.  Screws are then reinserted, and the ribs are then steam bent and placed in their respective holes. The temporary fusion of the mold to plywood makes the bending and placing of ribs much easier and steam bending can be finished with the ribs in place on the form giving better results. The keel, post and transom which were previously made to fit the mold are then placed over the ribs and glued in place. Mondfeld shows notching along the keel for the ribs, but I just glued them without making notches. This eliminated the chance of having an inaccuracy between the notches on the keel and the holes for the ribs in the plywood. I was worried that this would give instability to the boat when removed but after planking and adding an external wale, the little boat is tight. The ribs projecting beyond the planking can be snipped with a pair of scissors. Finally, when carving your mold remember that there was no uniform design for ships boats which were built locally so you don't have to go crazy in exactly coping plans. Just try to keep it bilaterally symetric.

Rich

[wefalck]

Why do you call this 'Mondfeld's' jig? This kind of jig has been shown decades before he wrote his books by e.g. Underhill, Curti and others in their respective books ...

[barkeater]

I realize that others have shown this or similar. Mondfeld's was an easy reference point to illustrate what I was talking about in a widely owned and relatively cheap book.

Rich

[Gregory]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Why do you call this 'Mondfeld's' jig?

Because that was where he found it?