Continuing with the 7ft clinker pram, are the transoms to be cut to the inner edges of the planks or to the continuous curves as lofted and shown on the lines?
Now what happens at the transoms? There is no difficulty with the bottom planks or those on the topsides, the problem is how to deal with the planking which lands on the curved surfaces of the transoms. Actually the problem is only really with three or four strakes at the turn of the bilge. Planking in the bottom and topsides will sit comfortably on these relatively flat sections. For the bilge planks there are three possibilities: • The transom can be trimmed with a sharp chisel to make a flat for each plank to land on. This can only be done progressively as the planks are laid. • The planks can be bent to fit the curve before being hung. • A third method is to hollow and round these planks in the manner of carvel. I prefer the second method, as the result is much better looking and in my view a better demonstration of the boatbuilder’s art. We use red cedar for planking here and have no difficulty putting an edge bend in the last few inches of a plank by soaking with a kettle of boil
