Well I’ve went and done it. I have been trying to get my teenage son into woodworking (as did I the other son in college) since he was young. He has just never had an interest and thats ok, but I thought it would be nice. Well the other day he and his friends asked if they could scavage the scrap bucket for pieces to build some little boats to float in the pond in our neighborhood. I helped each dimension the pieces and nail them together. It was a hoot. They took them to the pond and had a great time. He bragged that he liked it so much and I could tell he really enjoyed it. I said why don’t we build a real boat! His eyes got as big as dollars. He has now decided this would be the greatest thing. Well now I need to figure out how to make a boat. Anybody have any expreience or where to start? My skills are for furniture not stuff that floats. He’s 13 and I’m wanting something we could do over a winter. Any you guys done Boats? I’m thinking something small enough to not need a trailer.
I was married by a judge – I should have asked for a jury.
George Burns
Replies
May have some good info here.
http://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/
Bones,
Not trying to avoid in depth answer but you will find all you need at Wooden Boat magazines bookshop and Amazon. Jamestown Distributors (the marine LL Bean) is the main supplier of marine woodworking stuff. Several great ways to go about it, from stitch and glue to plank on frame to strip to epoxy, sail to motor, skiff to launch. It's a subject with a lot of techniques and a lot of information on how to apply them.
What I would say right of the port beam is it ain't that 'ard and you will need enough clear space to stage it and again that much for the parts construction. It's half carpentry and half furniture making with a lot of lofting.
AAARRRRGH!
BB
Ditto to BB. A friend of mine is addicted to the Duckworks site.Think of a cedar strip canoe or small dighy . Stitch and glue are good starts.If he is 13 good age to focus on woodworking, before the hormones take over. And if she helps that's good to.There are lots of small boat plans out there for free. One of my daughters was after me to build a kayak. But love got in the way. figure in a couple years she will refocues on boats???Good luck
My Dad and I built a cedar woodstrip canoe through Quiet Canoes a couple years back. Cost: About $3000, Time: 10 days, Memories: priceless. Steve from Quiet Canoes out in Kansas has all the tools, supplies, and great stories you need to build one. His website: http://quietcanoes.com/about_us.html
You could build a pirogue. It is a small flat bottom boat generally used for hunting in Louisiana.
http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/default.htm
This link is stitch and glue.
http://www.glen-l.com/designs/canu-row/pirogue.html
And you won't have to refinance your house.
Wooden Boat magazine is a great place to start. They have a removable insert in each volume on "Getting Started in Boats" that is geared for 1st time builders. Depending on what type of boating you intend to do, you might consider either strip-plank (as others have suggested) or "stich and glue", both are forgiving methods.
Also, check out the book Instant Boatbuilding by Harold "Dynamite" Payson - simple functional designs using stich and glue method
Randy
I have some truly divine plans left over from my early days in woodworking. But, you'll need a rather large back yard, and a good source for heavy timbers. ;-)
Sounds like a great project for you and your son, Bones.
Thanks to all for all the suggestions. I visited the bookstore and looked at some magazines suggested here. I'm sure I'm going to find something. We were at a neighborhood cookout this evening and he was telling everyone how were going to build a boat. I'm getting pumped up myself. I was married by a judge - I should have asked for a jury.George Burns
Bones,You get good at this, you can move to New England or upta Port Angeles, Wa and start to revive the double jib, 3 masted racing schooner with double wide t'gallints, with doubled out stuncils flying before the mast and runnin' down on a westerly. A great revival of a great industry.
Tell your son to dream tonight of "The Bones Cup" and going down to the sea in ships! :)Building boats is really addictive.BB(I really wanted to be a shipwright)
Also, think about a trip up to Mystic Seaport,Connecticut. They build ships!
My advice is to do what I did and get the book "Building the Weekend Skiff" by Richard Butz and John Montague, Tiller Publishing ISBN 188867110-6. I had never built a boat before but with this book soon ended up with a sailable, rowable, or motorable skiff for about 5 sheets of plywood. The boat lasted me for years, and now I'm building my next boat. Ideal for beginners, and most schools teaching kids build boats very like this, in fact that's how the book originated. Highly recommended. Have fun!
Bones,
I live a little further west out the turnpike from you. My brother-in-law and his daughter built a canoe for probably less than $500 total. Included the fiberglass supplies. They cut their wood strips on the tablesaw and then planed the edges to meet. The 2nd and 3rd that he built, he bought cove and bead wood strips. Cost more, but much faster in building.
A good website where someone else (turns out he lives southeast of Lancaster, PA) tells how he did it, with a few pics:
http://www.summerbeam.com/boats/index.html
I saw on google where someone was advertising a "kit" for $600ish.
Building a canoe like summerbeam is on my "to-do" list.
Alan - planesaw
Bones:
My oldest son (28 years old) just finished building a square boat called a Puddle Duck Racer. There are some free plans posted on the internet, though most of the plans lack a good bit of detail. The main website is http://www.pdracer.com/. Total out of pocket was around three hundred dollars for materials (including sail and rigging). Given the time he took and the cost, he could have ended up with a better boat by building either the skiff or the Cajun canoe the other posters have told you about. My son over spent and over built the boat, but it was a good learning experience for him. I'm only directing you to the Puddle Duck site because it will show you a quick and dirty way to build a boat, give you some idea of what you're getting into, and let you know you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to build a boat. Good luck with the project.
gdblake
This may seem a rather obvious or stupid question but he can swim very well, right?
Building a boat, any boat, would be a great project though.
Brent
Not a stupid question, but yep he swims like a fish. Made sure both my boys could.I was married by a judge - I should have asked for a jury.George Burns
"yep he swims like a fish. Made sure both my boys could."In that case, you can skip the propulsion system.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
If humans were supposed to swim, god wouldn't have invented boats...
Good suggestions. The WoodenBoat series has been running for a bit, but you could go to their website http://www.woodenboat.com and go through the index to find relevant copies. Lee Valley also has boat-building books.
Have fun!
My dad built a wood runabout before I was born. It was pretty nice, and we alwas talked about building a new boat (replace that one years ago with one we bought for skiing). Building a boat is something I alwas thought about but never have done. Still it should be fun.
PS I know a lot of peaple do not like Norm but I know he did what I think was a two parter on building a little sail boat.
Doug M
I would take a look at the book on canoe building from the Minnesota Canoe Association. The people in that group were the pioneers in making wood strip canoes and they have information, plans and instructions. I don't think it would cost as much as the fellow in Kansas spent, but who knows. I'm not sure I would consider it a beginner's project. My friends all those years ago built kayaks in the 7th grade which of course use a canvas skin and a lot of filler.
A bit off from boats is model airplane building, but I don't suppose they make them out of balsa wood and tissue paper anymore. Get him excited about building anything and he'll end up challenging himself.
Peter
I have subscribed to Wooden Boat for years and have built a few small boats. The latest issue has a good article on boat kits and several companies that make them. as others have said, its a good source for everything from pond sailers to 3 masted ships.
I'll second the idea to look at the article on boat kits. There are lots available for canoes, kayaks, and small skiffs. WoodenBoat Store (via web site or magazine) also has kits for some smaller skiffs.
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