: I am building a new Gilly and have my forms on its internal strong
: back. I seem to have lost confidence in by ability to line
: everything up. I think I am close but not sure. I have a laser
: level but not sure how to use it for the line up. Does one drill
: holes in the forms and shoot threw them. Any pointers will be
: appreciated. Thanks Joe

Forget the laser. At this point it will just waste your time. Get some scrap strips and staple them along the marked lines on your forms: keel centerline, sheer lines, waterlines, etc.

You can rip strips of any thickness form 1/16 to 3/8" from inexpensive pine 1x2, 1x3 or 1x4. They can be short pieces--4 feet to 6 feet works fine--and longer works fine, too. If they break at knots, just cut them to meet on a form and make crude butt joints there by stapling the ends to the form.

In a few minutes you can look down the line of strips and, with just a squint, see if they are all lined up, or if one or more is twisted, dropped sagging, or whatever. Remount the form, or prop up the strongback as needed. If you leave the staples in place, just loosening the form mounts may cause it to "automatically" spring into alignment as it is supported by the stapled on strips. If that doesn't happen, pull some of the staples and see how the form moves as it gets released from its position.

To really zero in on twisting, get a few straight yardsticks or even 1x2 pieces and rest them on the strips you have stapled onto the forms. They will serve as "winding sticks" and any twisted forms will become readily visible. Sight down the ends which are sticking out from our forms and you can see which ones are inappropriately elevated or dipping.

Leave the stapled scrap strips on your forms to keep them in alignment as you start your stripping. They serve as additional bracing to keep the forms in alignment. Remove them when your real strips get close to the area they are occupying. If you are going staple less for your construction you can (sometimes) use those stapled-on scraps to hold clamps for keeping the real strips in place until their glue hardens.

Hope this helps.

Once you get the forms aligned within 1/8th inch start adding strips immediately. changes in daily humidity can affect your form setup until you start to secure things wiht the added strips.

Hope this helps

PGJ