Tic-stick system

[Ross]

One of the most daunting jobs on a boat is making a new piece fit the shape of the hull. To solve this problem the "Tic-stick method" was developed. It is a study in using simple methods to solve complex problems.To impliment this you set up a piece of plywood in the plane of the piece you want to make. Cover the plywood with paper and draw a line in the direction that you want the wood grain to run. Next get a flat stick about 3/8 thick and 1 1/2 inches wide and make a point on one end and cut a "Vee" shape notch about 6 inches from the other end. Now with a sharp pencil or a ballpoint pen in hand lay the stick on tne paper and touch the pointy end to the hull. Draw a line along the edge of the stick and into the notch, Move the point of the stich to another place on the hull and draw a new line. You don't need to keep track of the sequence of the lines and you can take as many points as you need to get the details for complex shapes. When you are satisfied that you have covered the place of interest remove the paper from the plywood and lay it on the piece you will cut. With your tic-stick make sure that you are able to define all the edges. Here now is where the magic starts. Align your tic-stick with any line and notch and mark the point where the stick ends, move to the next line and repeat. As you continue this effort the outline of the hull will start to take form as a line of dots. when you have all the points marked then fair the line and pick up your saw. then lay your saw down and look at the shape and decide if you are satisfied. Now you can start cutting. You will probably find that some fitting is needed but this method will get you very close on the first try.Work carefully and safely .Good luck.

 

[Stillraining]

Good idea

*5 I wish I would have been smart enough to figure this one out on my own years ago.

 

[Ross]

I found it in a book.

works on big pieces and little ones.

 

[sailaway78]

Another method

There is another, and maybe better, way to accomplish this same thing. Instead of the tick stick, try a compass, using it to mark your paper in the same way.They make a compass specifically for this purpose, which is available at flooring places that sell flooring installation supplies. These have one end that rather than being sharp has a rounded end, instead of a point, which is bent outward, and some have a locking screw to make sure it doesn't move. You need to make sure that you have a compass that will lock, or in some way make sure it doesn't move.

 

[John]

scribing

This sounds essentially like what carpenters do when we want to fit something - for example a counter top - to a wall, or a ledge around a pole. However, what we do is run a continuous line, using either a pair of compasses or a longer stick. The trick is, when fitting something to something that has a pretty large diameter (a pole, for instance, or the hull of a boat), you have to keep your stick (or compasses) in line with the diameter of the circle. Otherwise, where the shape changes, you will get a change on the item you're scribing at a different point.

 

[larry w]

tik-stik it

This is pretty much the same thing I used to do back in the day when I worked as a pipefitter/welder. I used to do some pretty complex shaping and fitting for pipe and metal fixtures, details and subassemblies, in mild and stainless steels, titanium and other alloys, then weld them up to ASME standards using either tig, mig, stick or gas welds. Haven't struck an arc in YEARS, but in some ways I miss it.

 

[Ross]

The tic stick system is a system of vectors

you can accomplish the same thing with a yard stick. draw the line and mark and label an inch number The line tells the direction to measure and the number tells how far. There is no practical size limit and no special tools needed.

 

[tcbro]

John, re-read...

...Ross' description of the process. As you draw your line along the (top of) the tic stick before you drop the pencil point into the notch, you are defining the angle of the stick for that reference point. Then, when recreating the arc aligning the stick with the line you drew and the notch puts the point exactly where it was when making the template. This way you don't have to worry about keeping the tic stick parallel at all times. You could essentially have the stick at a different angle for each reference point and still recreate the arc. Very tricky!Toms/v Orion's Child

 

[Ross]

TCBRO besides that it is much easier

to roll up a sheet of paper and pick up a little stick when you leave the boat. You can not possibly scribe a 4x8 sheet of plywood in to fit a bulkhead.edit to add: a 2x4 foot piece of plywood is adequate to record all of the points for an entire main bulkhead. I sometimes use more than one stick to record different outlines, in which case I make two notches on one stick and use a different color pen for each stick.

 

[Jim Seamans]

Found good explaination and pictures

nmhttp://www.messing-about.com/forums/index.php?topic=5786.msg48429

 

[Stillraining]

Boy I sure

do wish I had this cool trick when I was cursing all thoes screwed up cut's I made during my rebuilds. You never know, maybe I would't be so negitive on total rebuilds.... NOT!

 

[Ross]

Stillraining, Bob Smalzer lives out there in

Washington. I would sweep his floors just to be able to hang out in his shop.

 

[Stillraining]

I just did

a white page search with no results. What town does he live in?

 

[Ross]

Stillraining

Location: Seabeck, WA Interests: Boatbuilding, Gunsmithing. General Woodwork/Cabinets/Chairs Occupation: Habitat/Forest Biologist, Sawyer displayname: Bob Smalser loginname: Bob Smalser custom3: http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5536778/102807533.jpg custom4: 1000 That information comes from the wooden boat forum.

 

[Stillraining]

Ok Thanks, Ross

He lives over on Hood Canal then. Thats about 80 miles SW of me. I rarly get over in that neck of the woods ( also a ferry ride to get there unless you drive clear to Tacoma and back up ) but I'll log his name to memory and if our paths cross I'll mention how I got his name. Scott

 

[Ross]

Go to the wooden boat forum and search the

archives for his articles. He is indeed a master craftsman.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

another way

is to develop a table of offsets. This is workable for large pieces such as a bulkhead where the tic stick makes a fairly large template. Reducing the shape to math may be more useful. This is the standard for at least one type of stripper canoes. You define an upright, and a baseline (essentially an x y axis). So for visualization purposes our upright will be the side of the door to the V berth, and our baseline will be where the frame of the door touches the bottom of the boat, be that hull or sole. From the 0 0 point you measure up two inches, and across to the edge of the hull. On a table that starts at 0 and proceeds by increments of 2 (inches) mark across from the 2, the distance out to the hull. Lets say that was 4 inches. Then go up another 2 inches on the upright, and measure out to the hull. Lets say it was 6. On your table of offsets you now enter 6 across from the 4. So far your table will be 0-0, 2-4, 4-6. Now for purposes of simplicity lets say at the next 2 inches up (6) the measure out is 7, and at 8 up it is 8 out, at 10 up it is 9 out. To transfer this math to plywood (or whatever) simply draw your baseline and upright axis, and 2 inches up from the baseline, measure out the distance noted on your table, in this case it was 2. Continue on in this way until your math table is replicated with a series of dots on plywood. Join and fair, then cut.

 

[Ross]

Roger , for me that provides too many

opportunities for an introduced error. The tic-stick does exactly what you discribe but without writing numbers and it works just as well in the horizontal as in the vertical

 

[tcbro]

Complex shapes

can be more accurately described with the tic stick. The smooth curve of the hull will require few tic stick measurements but if you get to a complex cutout along that smooth curve you can use as many tic stick measurements from as many different angles as necessary to accurately describe the shape. I love this idea and I know exactly where I'm going to use it first!Toms/v Orion's Child

 

[tcbro]

Complex shapes

can be more accurately described with the tic stick. The smooth curve of the hull will require few tic stick measurements but if you get to a complex cutout along that smooth curve you can use as many tic stick measurements from as many different angles as necessary to accurately describe the shape. I love this idea and I know exactly where I'm going to use it first!Toms/v Orion's Child