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Building a small boat

6K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  TerryR 
#1 ·
Anybody know a thing or two about building a wooden boat? I did a search but couldnt find much. If anybody knows where to find some good plans for maybe a 12 ft jon boat please let me know. me and my grandpa wanna build one maybe this spring. thanks
 
#3 ·
Do a google search for OD18. you'll find plenty of plans.

You cant really save any money on smaller by building them but the quality will be better.
When you start getting up into the bigger boats like the 18 footers you can save 50% and more by building yourself.
For instance I can build and paint an 18 foot hull and have it ready to flip to do the interior for 2000 and build the hull in a few weeks. If I didnt work I could spit out a turn key 18 footer in a month or so.

My advice. Stick with stitch and glue plans. No fasteners to rot out or give problems and its a lighter construction method that is as strong as the day is long.
 
#8 ·
I like a few Glen-L plans but for the most part Glen-L's plans are old and have no record of ever being built.
You can look at the boat styles and tell they are old.

Their stitch and glue boats are first generation cut and fold method.
We're way beyond that.
I dont think anybody over there is actively designing because the site doesn't reflect it.

Builder support is hodge podge.

Gken-L is a good site to look around and get ideas. I have and I also have a set of Glen-L plans.
They aint got nothing on the boys out of Vero Beach Florida. Not even close.

A good stitch and glue plan is the way to go. Its hard to screw up. No special fasteners, no special tools like table saws , jointers and such.
All you need is a skil saw or a sabre saw, a cordless or corded drill, and something to sand with if you want to sand it.
There are no perfect cuts or beveled cuts to make. There is no joinery or cabinet making skills required.

1/4" gaps are acceptable in stitch and glue. Thats where the strength is.
The gaps are where the thickened epoxy fillets put down their footing.

I have a library of plans from a handful of people.
Look for active designers. Real educated naval designer/architects some are world reknown, others are known.
They may have yacht designs plastered everywhere but most of them have some small stuff like a few rowers and sailboats.
This is where you'll find the boats that can be handed down.
Worth the time and money to build. A real project for a grandson and grandfather.

Or you can build a scab boat. I've built those since I was a kid with a Sears workbench.
Plywood and sheetrock screwed one and two manners.
Disposable boats. Slap it together in the spring and burn it in the winter to heat the shop. Not made to last or become a heirloom or something to talk about. Just something to put you on a bream hole.

There are alot of junk plans on the web. Backyard designs with backyard engineering.
Also alot of plans ripped from old magazines in the 50 and 60's that are real hard to follow without much detail.
Alot of buyer beware type stuff.
 
#10 ·
There were some articles on here about traditional built wooden jon boats cant seem to find them at the moment but they were some mighty fine river boats.

Also in your opinion Mark would the Flat Skiff 12 be suitable for a med size river ? I have always wanted to build a boat since I was a kid and I think my kids would love to be a part of that.
 
#11 ·
#12 ·
There were some articles on here about traditional built wooden jon boats cant seem to find them at the moment but they were some mighty fine river boats.

Also in your opinion Mark would the Flat Skiff 12 be suitable for a med size river ? I have always wanted to build a boat since I was a kid and I think my kids would love to be a part of that.



There are many definitions and variables to defining a medium sized river but I can say with ease that I would carry the flats skiff more places then I would a standard 12' jon.
The thing about stitch and glue is that there are no fasteners.
Nothing worng with fasteners in a boat if they are the right fastener and installed right. These kind of fasteners like bronze and copper are not found down at the hardware store or the box stores.

Stainless Steel? What makes stainless impervious to corrosion is oxygen.
If you bury and seal a stainless fastener it will corrode from lack of oxygen.

Stitch and glue is the absolute best way to build boats if they can be engineered to do so. Its super strong.
There is a learning curve at the beginning but that is quickly overcome by building a small boat first. Something like the free canoe which is a free plan .

The first build you'll use more epoxy then the plan calls for normally.
Thats basicly the only reason the designers recomend first building a canoe or a small craft. It really has nothing much to do with difficulty level. Its a matter of using maybe a gallon more of epoxy on a canoe then is required as opposed to using 8 gallons more of epoxy then needed on a 20 footer.

When you get the canoe built and its time to build something bigger donate it to a boyscout troop and better yet donate a Saturday or two helping them build a few with what you have learned.

The flatskiff 12 is a simple build. Thats a weekend build depending on how showy you want it. If you want a show piece you can spend a month of weekends finishing it.
The hull goes together quick. Its the fairing that is time consuming. Depends on what level of finish you want.

I can assemble an 18 footer hull wise in a couple of weekends. In the same breath I can spend months fairing it out if I want to spray it and have a showroom "factory" look. Thats where and why you want to spring for some meranti marine plywood. It cuts way down on fairing and by the time you get box store ply faired out the money you spent in fairing materials will prove to cost more then it would have to have gone with the more expensive ply.

Alot of fairing depends on your tools too. In an ideal situation you would have the same sanding tools and air power that a body shop has but its not required. Those tools would make it go alot quicker though.

Building these boats are great father and son projects whether its a father and adult son or daughter or a father and a kid.

Probally one of the most jaw dropping builds I ever saw was a woman that lives in Maryland built her father who retired to the Outer Banks a 21 foot center console offshore boat. She had never built a boat before and had nowhere to build one other then in the backyard under a canopy she also built.

He never knew about the boat until she called him from a cell phone and told him to walk out to his dock. She was just pulling up in the boat.
Her build time was roughly a year for that boat.
Skilsaw, cordless drill, and a sander or two.
Awesome looking boat too might I add.

So if a woman with no experience and limited tooling can build a 21 footer suitable for offshore work, those boats are pretty much suited for anyone to build. They are designed light, strong, and simple to build.
What a Christmas present. New boat, new trailer, and new engine.

I have plans from a handful of sources. By far Jacques Mertons down at Bateau has the best plans available for the amateur builder and every seam, joint, and lamination is an engineered one. The guy has spent his entire life designing, building, and sailing the world. He has an extensive background in in designing and production of glass boats which also include the high performance boats like the cigar racers.
 
#13 ·
If a person is just wanting to clobber some boards together to get on the water...and doesn't want to spend the money and time building a boat nice enough to leave to his future grandchildern, there is a rough and tough 12-foot Punt/Jon Boat "the Sand-Dab" designed and built by a Thomas D. King.

Only two 2 x 12-inch by 12-foot boards for the sides, bow and transom, plus some 1 x 6 or 8-inch boards to raise the freeboard. Some 10d galvanized nails, some paint, and off to the water!:wink:

http://oomur.pair.com/wwpotter/images/Sand-Dab-Drawing.JPG

Don't laugh...Mr. King used the boat for some time!

A friend of mine use the Sand-Dab hull design to build a micro-houseboat and spent a week on the Ohio traveling over 100-miles! Here is a photo of Jonh Ulmer starting on on his 100+ trip down the Ohio River. If you just look at the hull that will give yu some idea what a Sand-Dab would be like.

http://oomur.pair.com/wwpotter/images/Photo 2 John Ulmer's Ugly Duck.jpg

Here is a photo of the boat I built last year. The epoxy used alone cost more than the nice 14-foot V-bottom aluminum boat I'm going to use this summer!

http://oomur.pair.com/wwpotter/images/Gypsy 09-27-07.JPG

Bill
 
#14 ·
I fell in love with the lines of the lobster boats or as some call the picnic boats.

I'll build one sometime. First I have to get the boat barn finished or atleast get it closed in with heat and air so I can work with epoxy year round.
these are along the lines of what I want but I want something in 26-30 foot range.

http://www.archdavisdesigns.com/davis_jacktar.html

You got to see that baby roll with that diesel. She moves on out.
You can find the videos on Zwissler's site
 
#15 ·
I fell in love with the lines of the lobster boats or as some call the picnic boats.

I'll build one sometime. First I have to get the boat barn finished or atleast get it closed in with heat and air so I can work with epoxy year round.
these are along the lines of what I want but I want something in 26-30 foot range.

http://www.archdavisdesigns.com/davis_jacktar.html

You got to see that baby roll with that diesel. She moves on out.
You can find the videos on Zwissler's site
Mark J, that would be a wonderful boat to own. I can see myself puttering around bays and inlets in one!:roll_eyes:

Bill
 
#17 ·
ha ha it seems i'm kinda over my head here. as it turns out plans are semi-expensive and i cant find many good (free) ones anywhere. i'll let you guys know if i make any more progress though because i'm dedicated to making this happen
 
#18 ·
I think the D5 is a free plan.
The free canoe.
And there is free pontoon plan for a small pontoon boat.

Got another plan site I'll share when I get home from work that offers small boats plans like canoes and kayaks. Typically these plans aren't too bad in price.
 
#19 ·
ha ha it seems i'm kinda over my head here. as it turns out plans are semi-expensive and i cant find many good (free) ones anywhere. i'll let you guys know if i make any more progress though because i'm dedicated to making this happen
OK, if you are really dedicated to making it happen....go to your local library and check out all of "Dynamite" Payson's Books. A person can build one of Payson's Instant Boats using only the drawing that are in Payson's books. Not easy, but it can be done with a little effort.

One good one is "Build the New Instant Boats".


Bill
 
#20 ·
I think the D5 is a free plan.
The free canoe.
And there is free pontoon plan for a small pontoon boat.

Got another plan site I'll share when I get home from work that offers small boats plans like canoes and kayaks. Typically these plans aren't too bad in price.
Hey mark
Could you please share the site for the pontoon boat plans?
You guys got me day dreaming. Maybe my wife would go boating with me if we had a pontoon.
Also I couldn't find a site for the D5 plans.

thanks
have a good one
just
 
#23 ·
Nate most plans can be adjusted by 10% with no problems.
Where you run into problems is the scantlings. Scantlings are the backbone of the boat.

Also adjusting the length isn't as easy as just running the tape measure out.

When you change the length and nothing else, its not the same boat as on the plan and will not handle like that boat either. The stability will be affected in this case in a large way.
When you change a plan every single dimension on the plan changes. It doesnt changes by a nominal number you pull out of your head, its all percentages.

For a first time builder I wouldn't recomend stretching a plan or deviating from a plan at all.
It will become such a headache you wont build another.

I wont deviate from them myself. I like building.
 
#24 ·
The pontoon plans!
The owner of JEM is the man. Local Greensboro, NC guy that got his web start with the guys down in Vero Beach, Florida.
The ENO (named after the Eno River that feeds Falls Lake) is a canoe he designed using my specifications. I'm going to build a couple of those things one day. Really light.
Pontoon plans.

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/pontoon.php
 
#25 ·
OK, if you are really dedicated to making it happen....go to your local library and check out all of "Dynamite" Payson's Books. A person can build one of Payson's Instant Boats using only the drawing that are in Payson's books. Not easy, but it can be done with a little effort.

One good one is "Build the New Instant Boats".


Bill
I think I built one of his boats , the "pirogue" it was like a kayak it was alright.
 
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