What is a lofter

Ships are complex structures. They are the largest structures. Many kinds of workers are employed in the shipbuilding industry. Professional workers such as engineers, designers, and technicians provide the design for a ship's hull. They draw up plans for a safe ship that will move easily and economically through the water. They also plan space for cargo, living quarters, and machinery. A related group of workers, marine engineers, concentrates on designing the machinery that will run a ship. Drafters prepare detailed drawings that give exact measurements and specifications for all the ship's parts. If the plans have been drawn up, they must be translated into the actual parts of the ship.

To continue this job , shipyard will need a lofter worker. In Indonesia and Malaysia lofter usually called as 'Marker'. Loftsman or Marker do this job and make life-sized patterns of each part of the ship to be built. They work in a huge room known as a Mould loft. In most large shipyards, a more modern method called optical marking is used instead of lofting. In optical marking, small-scale drawings of the ship are photographed. How ever, nevertheless the shipyard use the modern method, a loftsman or marker , they will stand for good and always needed.

In this page, i want to tell to my page visitor about loftsman. Generally, In shipyard the worker will familiar with a loftsmman or marker. Loftsman or marker have the strategic position in shipyard, because he is the first worker to start make the lines plan as basic of structure of the shipbuilding.

Lofter must understand about mathematic at least basic mathematic, have to known about
The Pythagorean Theorem. Generally they also need the calculator. measuring tools, like measuring tape , right angle squares, rule, string and string box, and other.

The duty of a loftsman in shipyard is translate the lines plan, to the lofting shop. Body plan is the important part to prepare, because they will use to make the shell plate and template for fairing the shell plate. And continue with the profile and plan view of the line. They will prepare with buttock lines, water lines and spacing of the frame in profile lines.

After this job is complete, the Lofter must be translate the mid section of the ship to the body line , profile lines or plan view lines. The lines will developed by the lofter according to the drawing of the ship.

All of the lines must be determined from the base line and center of line. This point is important to develop the line.

Maybe a long this job, Loftsman will find the problem of the construction of the ship, this problem must be solve with engineering. Sometimes lofter need to communicate with fitter or foreman fitter, and also with the supervisor of the ship project. Communication is always need in this proses. It will make the good 'Team Work''.

Loftsman also need to solve some problem in yard, sometimes he make his own mistake, and sometime it come from the fitter, so he must find the way to solve this problem, always need communicate with engineer and supervisor.

It's possible for Loftsman or marker to run his own business in shipyard as a sub-con that find a investor who has money to finance his business for a shipyard industry. And until now some of them have made it. But some find the blind way also. However, the lofter always continue his life with lines until his hairs are white.