“What did you do?”

Over the past two weeks,  we continued to move forward with planking and placing the floorboards together.  We started and continued to attach a few of the  planks into place by screwing them into the ribs of the boat. In between attaching, we continued to measure and figure out the placing of the next plank beforehand. This is important to make sure the measurements and spacing in between each floorboard is correct before we screw it into place, this allows us to minimize errors when attaching.  We learned how to use the spieling technique which is basically measuring the planking without having to actually measure it without rulers but instead uses the marks we made beforehand and either a compass or divider. 

Along with planking, we continued to work on our printmaking projects of using lino-cut to create a disaster that occured on the Delaware as a print. We made proofs of our prints to see what our prints looked like before printing to see what may need adjustments with carving before inking our plates. After making adjustments and checking our progress through proofs, we made several prints of our plates on printing paper and in our journals. 

“What did you accomplish/contribute?”

Personally I contributed by continuing to help with planking and attacking the floor boards onto the ribs. I helped with pre-drilling and drilling screws into one of the  planks to attach it to the ribs of the boat. When working on the measuring and spieling of the next plank,  I helped with measuring the tops of the plank as well as helping hot gluing the extra pieces of our spieling board together to maintain a long board and add to its length. 

As for the printmaking project, I made several proofs and prints of my plate that I was happy with. I plan to potentially work on it a bit more to further push my print to what it could go by adding more water elements and positive spaces towards the top of my plate. 

“What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?”

A few challenges we faced this past week were within the measurements of our first spieling board. At our first attempt with spieling, it turned out that we made a mistake and were slightly off with our measurements so we couldn’t use our board. We had to re-do it entirely last week to get the correct measurements the second time around. 

Another small challenge I faced was within the printmaking project, the ink was a different type of ink I was used to so it was challenging at times to work with it. When I tried to print in my journal it seemed as though  I over inked the plate even though it didn’t look like it was over inked. The ink was too heavy and it was noticeable when looking at the print. 

Proof, Print and Plate

“What did you learn?”

These past weeks I learned about spieling, which is a technique used to create a special form of measuring for a specific need. For our situation, we used it to measure the spacing between the planks on the ribs. We marked both the tops and the bottom of the planks aligned with the marking on the ribs by using either a compass or a divider to mark the points on the spieling board. As we continued to move and mark our board, we had to make sure it is straight as possible and does not overlap with the ribs so we have to cut and re-attach pieces of the board together to achieve the correct length of the plank.  

Spieling Close Up

Divider next to Spieling Board

Journal Response