small boat plans in aluminum

[dandude]

hi all,
i am looking to build a small rowboat such as a dinghie,or tender in aluminum.8'-12'
but iam not finding any plans for that small of a boat.
i have built a ken hankinson plan before(15' driftboat in wood) and liked his plans but he is no longer available.
for my needs the simpler the better!
thanks for any help! dan

[Raggi_Thor]

If you find plans for plywood, you can probably use them. You may have to add more stiffeners, frames or longitudinals.
In Holland they make dingies of this size in steel.
Maybe you can find some drawings there.

If you don't find anything we can help you make one :-)

[marshmat]

http://instantboats.com
Bolger/Payson boats tend to be remarkably simple to build, most are for sheet plywood construction but almost all can be readily adapted to aluminum.
Glen-L has a few too that you might be interested in; http://www.glen-l.com they offer a few plans in metal as well as wood.

[Pavel]

Hi we had a similar thought during last summer and adapted Dave Gerrs plywood Nester to aluminium:

http://www.sailjoohee.com/Building/Nestor/nestor.htm

the boat is not quite finished as yet but it floats rather well.

Pavel

[Deering]

Check out the plans from Sam Devlin. Plywood but easily modified for aluminum. He's in WA with you. Google him.

[sal's Dad]

I built a Bolger Teal of 1/8 aluminum plate a few years back - see the instantboats website referenced above. Heavy (weighs about the same as 3/4 ply) but indestructible, and zero maintenance.

As long as the panels are curved, and supported on all the edges, there is little need for stiffening. The flat panels, on the other hand...

I think you could do just about any plywood stitch-and-glue boat out of aluminum. Anybody for an industrial-strength kayak?

Sal's Dad

[hoagey]

Try this Dudley Dix design. It can be built in aluminum for those who have the skills.

http://www.dixdesign.com/dinghies.htm

[Raggi_Thor]

We make laser cut kits of these dinghies in plywood or alu :-)