" What's the width of our area up there?"

" We have an overall of 80 inches,----"

" Uh huh."

" which is a good even increment to work with."

" So let's take the tape measure out a minute so that we can figure out what you've done here. You've got---- Obviously, you're midpoint at 40 inches."

" Exactly."

" And then show me the rest of what we've got here."

" Okay. Pretty much on this side, we have about, from the center, 4012."

" And you've divided this, and you've come out 1112 inches----"

" Exactly."

" so that your radius is 1112, which makes the whole thing here 23."

" Exactly."

" How did you determine that dimension for the half circle?-Pretty much it's by eye."

" Uh huh."

" I mean, you just gotta look at it. We tried a small one. It's in where we go with the gables. "

" Yeah, you have to have a sense of proportion. So that here we go, 2312, almost 2 feet."

" Uh huh."

" And then that means these guys over here are just about 30 inches?"

" Exactly."

" Yeah. Alright, well I think that's the simple part of the deal. The hard part is figuring out how to make these cuts, how to rip them up so that you're not building up clapboards and creating a thickness of clapboard on the wide end of the clapboard that would be beyond the face of this piece of half round."

" Right, right."

" How do you do that?"

" Pretty much, we go with the thin end on the inside near the half moon."

" Uh huh."

" If you did go with the thick end, by the time you got to the top you'd be sticking over probably an inch."

" So you're measuring from the thin edge of the clapboard and cutting off the thick edge."

" Right."

" And of course, we've laid out the pattern here on felt paper. So, the big question is how do you determine how many clapboards are being used and what these dimensions are here and at the other side?"

" What I do is I take my circumference from here to here----"

" Yeah."

" to get that measurement. And I like to keep the courses around 2 inches in here."

" Aha. Now you said you like to keep. Now that's an aesthetic decision that you're making there."

" Right, right."

" You don't want them any wider than about 2 inches."

" Right."

" So that works out to 11 courses."

" On this side, you gotta go from the peak down to this corner."

" Yeah."

" Okay, and then down to this point."

" So you take that dimension----"

" And divide it by 11."

" divide it by 11. And what? Does that end up [unk]?"

" In this case, we have 4 and 5/8."

" 4 and 5/8, an inch and a half."

" Right."

" Alright. Now let's see you cut. And also, the next question is how about the overlap. Do you add an inch to each one?"

" I add 112 inch----"

" A 112 inch."

" for an overlap. "

" Alright."

" So, on the inside by the moon, we have an 112 inch, so I add 112 inch, so that gives us 2 inches----"

" Yes."

" for our pattern. Okay. And these are, like we said roughly 30 inches. I leave them a little bit long."

" And you're making them roughly 30 inches because you're----"

" So I go something like that."

" Right."

" Okay. And then down here, we have 4 and 5/8, so I'm gonna add a 12 to that, so like 5 and a 1/8, something like that."

" Okay. Okay."

" And then you can just take any one of these----"

" Just a straight edge."

" to draw your line."

" To make your mark. I have to use the other side."

" Oh, yeah."

" So a nice and straight line. Make your mark."

" And rip."

" And that's it. And that's my pattern."

" So Brian, now you have to figure out how to make that curved cut where it meets the half circle. How do you do that?"

" Pretty much what I do Bob is I lay my piece on. I overlap the rake and I overlap my half moon here."

" Yeah."

" And I take my pencil, and I draw the mark."

" And you transfer the curve."

" Pretty much----"

" Free hand."

" free hand."

" There you go."

" And then I take my little jigsaw. And sometimes, you gotta play with them a few times to get them nice and square."

" Yeah. And then what about the other end?"

" I let it overhang the rake, like I said. I mark here. And under the rake, you have about 34 of an inch of play. So I just mark it long."

" And it doesn't have to be a tight fit."

" No, because it's sheltered by, you know, from the weather and everything else under there so----"

" Great."

" So I flip this over. What I do first is I cut my angle. Try it again. And there's a piece."

" Brian, that really looks terrific."

" Thanks."

" Now, do you really have to have that white parting bead in the middle there?"

" Yes Bob, you do. If you didn't go with this, you have 2 clapboards butting together, and that's a perfect situation for water damage."

" And you don't want that to happen."

" No, definitely not."