: So, the exercise is one of taking hundreds of x-y points, plotting them onto
: a big old piece of ply, connecting the dots with a batten, and taking saw
: to wood.

"Hundreds" might be overkill. Of course it depends on how far apart your plotted points are, and how many panels you have to make.

Lets assume a 16 foot boat You'ld have an end from which you would start measuring. (zero length) and the other end (16 foot length). In between, if you had your marks at 2 foot intervals you would have just 7 spots along the x axis. At each of these intervals you'ld make just two marks -- one for the top edge and one for the bottom edge of the panel. If each end comes to a point you'ld have just 16 marks for each panel. With a 6 panel boat that is 96 marks.

For your 8 foot model you'ld have the same number of marks, but they would be spaced a foot apart ( half the distance of the full sized design).

When bending batens around points like this it is difficult to get them to stay in place. Having MANY helpers is one possibility.

Here is another trick. Cut the heads off of 1 1/2 inch brads, or 4d finishing nails, with a wire cutter. Drive one of these headless brads into your wood at each point you've plotted and they should be strong enough to support the batten as you bend it. Then you can easily connect between these points with a pencil line. When you cut your panel your saw kerf will go through each nail hole so they'll disappear.

: The last two are decent ways to spend an evening. Plotting all
: those points sounds like considerably less fun, and a challenge to do
: accurately.

It goes fast.

: I'm seriously considering the purchase of some Lee Valley
: bench tapes to stick directly to the ply to aid in the process, and
: probably another to add to the edge of a shop-made T-square.

You can just use a rafter square or a carpenters square and slide one side along a baseline. If you want some tape measures get them at the local sewing store. THey usually have cheap paper or plastic tape measures which you can lay out on your work and hold in place with thumbtacks, brads, or staples.

Best of luck with your project.

PGJ