I used a fixed point in the middle (waterline plus 1 inch I believe), and I hot glued a MC donalds coffee stick to each mark. The stick was parallel to the vertical center line. Then I ran a laser across the tops. That didnt work so well so I used a fishing line. THEN i ran a laser and butone of the stickes lit up in the dark. I adjusted the last form and it was dead on. I don't know if the laser helped too much, but it looked really neat

: I start with forms upright. A string from tip to tip gives a perfect
: reference line. With the forms hull-side up, any string you try to run
: will be touching all of the forms, which can affect how straight the line
: is, so it's not very reliable (of course, a laser line would solve that).
: And don't forget to sight along all the other reference lines that are
: printed onto the form drawings, like waterline, etc., as these are just as
: important and they can be off even if the centerlines along top and bottom
: seem aligned. As long as your forms are firmly mounted to your strongback,
: and you are careful turning the forms over, there shouldn't be any problem
: with the forms moving on you.

: For an internal strongback, I took the extra precaution of preventing my
: strongback (a 2x4) from twisting or warping by starting with the
: equivalent of an external strongback--a 16 foot length of 2x12-- and
: mounting onto it three plywood (MDO)brackets with holes cut into them to
: snugly fit the 2x4 strongback. These brackets were perfectly aligned in
: all three dimensions, then firmly mounted to the 2x12, then I just dropped
: the 2x4 strongback into the openings in these three brackets. Doesn't show
: too well here, but here's a pic anyway.

: Roger T.
: Orr's Island, ME