The lower edge of the planks must be planed fair and true, as it will be impossible to alter it after it is fastened in place. The plank may be fastened with the nails, as before; it must be pressed firmly into the rabbet of the stem and fastened there first working from the bow toward the stern, fastening the frames in order. There should be three nails in each plank if it is over 4 in. wide, and four nails if it is 6 in. wide. The nails should be driven about | in. from the edge to make sure not to split the plank. While driving the fastenings the plank should be firmly pressed against the one above, either with clamps made for that pur" pose or shores from the floor; the joint should be as close as possible on the inside and just slightly open on the outside, to allow the insertion of calking without spoiling the edges. It will not be advisable to put on more than three streaks before beginning to plank at the keel.

The lowest plank, or garboard is probably the most difficult plank to fit on account of its curvature and twist. The spiling for it may be taken as already described, and it may be desirable to make an actual pattern out of 1/4 in. stock, which may be bent and fitted much more easily than the thick planks. This gar-board will require very careful fitting, as this joint is the most troublesome of all in the boat.

The aid of shores from the floor is very helpful in holding the plank up into place during fitting. The garboard should be of about equal width the whole length, and should run to a point aft, being earried as far up the rabbet as it will go naturally, but care must be taken not to split the plank at the ends where it tapers off. The remainder of the planking can be completed in the same manner as just described.

It will be found that, owing to the curvature of the bilges, some of the planks will require to have their edges bevelled to bring them to bear, and the bilge planks will probably need to be hollowed out somewhat on the inside to fit the frames, as it will not be possible to curve the plank without splitting it.

If possible, the planks should be put on in a single length, but when the curvature is so great that a board cannot be obtained wide enough, it will be necessary to make a butt, or joint. The two pieces of the plank are to be fitted independently, and at the proper point the ends are fitted together midway between two frames, and a piece of board fitted in over the joint; the ends of the two parts are now fastened to the block, making a very strong joint. The joint should not be made on a frame.

The planking should not be a very difficult piece of work, although at first it takes a considerable amount of time, as it has been laid out. here, the amateur will have obtained some little experience on the easy parts before taking up the harder parts. The fastenings of the garboard and lower stakes should be planned to go also through the floor timbers, which are on top of the frames and thus bind the plank, frame and floors firmly together.

After the planking has all been fastened and riveted it must be smoothed outside with a plane, all the uneven edges being taken off with a coarse set plane, then with a smoothing plane. The ends of the plank extending beyond the sternboard must be cut off and the ends smoothed down to the surface of the sternboard. It is hardly necessary to say that the fewer butts there are in the planking the better, and where they do occur those in adjacent planks should be in opposite ends of the boat and well shifted from one another.

After planing, the plank should be sandpapered smooth and round. All flat spots should be planed off and when finished the planking should present a perfectly smooth surface with no flat or straight spots.

The seams are now to be calked with a thread of cotton, which is driven in with a calking iron; the latter can be purchased of any dealer in marine supplies at a small cost; a mallet is used to drive it. In using, a single thread of the cotton is used, a small loop is gathered up and driven into the seams; an inch or so further along another loop is formed and driven in.

After a foot or two of length has been covered in this manner, it is gone over and driven in rather tightly. Where the seams are very small no loops may be required, the thread of cotton being driven in straight. The amount driven in should be according to the width of the seam.

Great care must be used in driving the calking, as it is possible to force the plank off the frames if it is driven too hard. It is also well to paint the seams with a very narrow brush before driving the calking, as it holds in place better when this is done. The process of calking will probably burr up the edges of the plank somewhat, and they should be gone over with sandpaper and the burr removed. It is advised that the plank should be well covered both inside and outside with a coat of linseed oil, letting it soak into the wood, this will prevent a large amount of shrinkage, especially if the boat is in a warm place. It will do no harm if the plank is painted one coat, priming paint being used.