Having spent the morning on the five-day boat restoration course, I was keen to know what’s involved in the 40-week course, so asked tutor Matthew Law to give me a tour. Matt began his career at Latham’s boatyard in Poole and moved to Lyme Regis in 2004 where he’s now one of the four instructors.
Joinery
Our tour started in the upstairs classroom where students begin by learning joinery. Matt fished out some interesting pieces of wood– scarf joints, which I’d learned about that morning, and box joints.
It’s surprising just how many different joints there are. He showed me a drawer front dovetail joint– the tails of which you’d only see from the sides of the drawers. For each joint there was a model, showing how the cuts are made; the pins, in this instance, starting with a slope, then cutting it away gradually top and bottom until you have the socket ready to receive the tails.
“Joints can be used to lengthen, widen and frame,” explained Matt. “Generally there’sto take wood away. It forces discipline, and it teaches you about sawing.”
