The Mould Loft (1917)
Design is the first step in shipbuilding, and it took place in a mould loft. Skilled modelers shaped the schooner's hull in miniature by carving a half-model. They scaled the model's lines full-size on the loft floor, then transferred these lines onto full-sized patterns, or moulds, made of thin wood. The moulds were used to shape the actual shipbuilding timbers.
This Mould Loft was added to the Percy & Small plant in 1917.
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Schooner Miriam Landis ready to launch, 1919; Mould Loft at right
Courtesy hmdb.org
