> Paul,

> As Hans says in his post, the program can produce hand plots for each
> panel which are printed to any ordinary printer. For reference, a handplot
> output for a particular panel on the boat is a series of points which
> define the shape the panel has to be to fit correctly with the other
> panels. The points are defined by their x,y coordinates, i.e., from a
> baseline, say the end and bottom edge of a sheet of plywood, the numbers
> give the distance from the end and the height from the bottom for each
> point. The process may sound more complex than it really is. If you have
> ever drawn a graph, you can layout a handplot. If you search around a bit,
> there are some stich & glue sites that have a more complete
> description of the process.

> In connection with laying out the panels on the plywood, one nice feature
> of the software is the module which lets you visually layout the panels on
> a display representing three or four sheets of plywood. Once you have them
> layed out the way you want, you can printout both the graphic and the
> points for all of the panels displayed.

> Try the software. It is free and, even if you never build a boat from your
> plans, it is an awful lot of fun to play around with - better than any
> computer game.

> take care,

> Chris Luneski

Thanks, Chris. I'm all over it like a cheap suit now. After my first stitch & glue effort mostly constructed in my garage, I can appreciate the things you mentioned. With a growing appetite to modify some design features, I look forward to trying out the software. } p.