JOE,
I was referring to MYSELF not having any commentary on the tortured ply construction methods with regard to the pros and cons of such a method. I only know that top quality, thin ply would be a must, or it would be a giant headache at best (personal experience in using thick luan to take too much bend and suffering the frustrations because of it). My statement was in regard to my lack of information for him......not anyone else's. I thought that was clear. My appologies.

I was not inferring that no one was giving him any information. On the contrary, there's quite a lot here and you boys have much more experience than I. I DID read the whole thread. And I noticed that Stillwater boats was not mentioned, which seemed sort of an obvious place to look for a bent ply boat, since all the designs there are done in this fashion, with a very common sense approach to building. The Stillwater boats seem to be a fine example of how this method should be approached.
Garland

: NO comments on why they're not built much....." ????? Did you READ this
: thread?? It is no big deal, but I and many others DID make MANY comments
: on why they're NOT built much .....

: Just looking at my post and PGJ's shows a LOT of info on why : "I
: suspect the reasons for this method not being more popular (especially
: here in what is a forum for serious boat builders) is because of the
: following: It is very prone to ending up with a "twist" to the
: keel, perhaps this could be avoided but the method is not called
: "Tortured" for nothing. It is a rough and ready method for
: getting a little boat.

: "It is less skill than just a matter of "torturing" the ply
: into something resembling a reasonable boat shape"

: "it gets you a boat, but the boat it gets you is not really a boat that
: a boatbuilder would want. Again this is especially true when there are so
: many better choices and methods out there for a boatbuilder to pick
: from)."

: And PGJ added: "In two words, the term that answers most of the
: questions is: "developable surface". A flat sheet of paper,
: wood, steel, or aluminum can be bent into many simple curves, and also
: many complex curves. If you have a shape which can be made without
: stretching the material too much it is caled a developable
: surface. Unfortunately not a lot of these shapes have good potential as
: efficient hull shapes.

: "Even those compound shapes which DO have good potential for hulls
: frequently can not be made with a single layer of plywood, as the material
: must be so thick (for overall strength) that it can't be bent sufficiently
: without tearing or delaminating."

: And PGJ even added the SAME point about why they're not built that you did:
: "There are some specialty plywoods which are specially made for
: bending. These are usually rather expensive,"

: And some more from PGJ: "A few designers like to work with these
: limitations. Some have come up with some great ideas. And some other ideas
: are dogs.

: "But, if you get past those problems -- and many people have -- it can
: be a quick job to make a few slices in a panel and bend it into a
: boat."

: And there are too many other posts on this subject to mention them all. When
: people take the time to answer, it just struck me a strange to say
: ..."No comments....", Ha, Ha,

: Joe