PAPER BOATS.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1049, 25 February 1873, Page 4

PAPER BOATS.

(From the Scientific American.) The paper boat is a comparatively new invention, and for racing purposes is. the most formidable rival of t he mahogany and other wooden boats. The process for construction for the paper boats is as follows:—A wooden model of the exact size of the required bjat is first made from the lines of drawings previously determined upon. This is built of layers of pine fastened together in a solid mass, and its surface is made perfectly smooth. Suitable rabbets are cut to receive the keelson, the two in wales, and the dead wood, which, being fitted therein, are worked off even with the surface of the model aud covered with adhesive material so as to be attached

firmly to the skin. Eor covering two kinds of paper are used, that made from the best rnanila, and that prepared from pure, unbleached linen stock, the sheets being the full length of the model. If manila is used, the first, sheet is damped, laid smoothly on the model, and securely fastened in its place, by tackliug it to certain rough strips attached to its upper face. A layer of adhesive varnish is 'then applied, and the sheet laid on, this process being continued until a sufficiently thick cover ing has been obtained. If linen paper be used, but one sheet is employed, of such weight and dimensions (generally from l~2oth to 3-Bths of an inch) as will, when dry, give just the required thickness of skin. The model, with its enveloping coat of paper, is now removed to the drying-room, where, at a heat of 150 degrees, the wrinkles in the paper soon disappear, and the substance hardens in the required shape. The paper io next covered with boiled oil and turpentine, and then with shellac varnish, after which it is passed to the carpenter to put in the frame in the usual manner. The decks are then attached, and the iron and brass work complete the fabric. From examinations made of both wooden and paperboats, of allmannerof shapes, sizes and workmanship, we are of opinion that the paper shells have a decided advantage. They are both strong and swift. Their skin is not, as is the case with wood, twisted into an un-natural position, from which it is ready at any time to spring. They are thoroughly impervious to water, and cannot become soaked ; they are 30 per cent, lighter than wood, their lines are equally fine, and they are easily and readily repaired.