Plywood

[larry larisky]

i moved, i have space in my garage, i want to built a flattie in plywood. around 14' so i can put a 4hp. will be out of the water (river) after every navigation.
no experience in construction. i don't care buying plan, i am not here for free plans, but for good advises and what plans i should look at.
thanks.

Larry,

you are aware of the most regularely mentioned sites?

Atkin boat plans
Bateau
Glen l (that is an ell)
Selway fisher

Regards
Richard

[larry larisky]

Richard, thank you, i will google all of them and investigate

[Petros]

you might look at this site that has some great old plans designed for first time builders. They are mostly simple boats meant to be built with local hardware store materials.

http://www.svensons.com/boat/

[PAR]

Larry, avoid the "free plans" sites, Like "Svensons" and etc. These plans are less then complete, often are difficult to follow and are so old that finding the materials they recommend can be difficult, assuming they still make it.

From what you've mentioned this is the boat you want
https://www.boatdesigns.com/11-15-Po.../products/857/
It's a cheap set of plans. The plans are complete. There's a network of support at Glen-L and here. It can be built in one of several lengths to suit your needs. It's easy to build, etc., etc., etc.

[Sheepy]

http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/index.htm#XX1

[larry larisky]

this is a good point par.
why someone will gave plans, it doesn't make sense, unless they are paid by advertising, but in any case i will stay very far away from these people.
if you don't respect your work to the point to gave it for free, something is wrong.
i believe to pay for what i want. if i don't have money i don't pay.
the only thing i get for free is the love of my friend from all over, but i gave back too, so perhaps I am paying for it
thank you all, you are generous and friendly.

[gonzo]

Some of us publish plans for free. Our job as shipwrights is also our hobby.

[Tim B]

Don't dismiss the free plans completely. They may not be as "complete" in the sense of frame-shapes and tables of offsets (though you can always do that yourself in CAD), but they may well have little gems of engineering brilliance hidden away in the details. Wise men look at how everyone else does something, *then* they do it better.

As I have said countless times before on this forum, take your time. Anybody can do a nice job of building a boat, as long as they are willing to spend time. This, of course, also involves choosing the right (or at least, almost right) project to start on; and here you have made the right decision. Find out if there is a local sailing club, as well. There will be a few experienced people (even Naval Architects at some clubs) around who will usually be happy to help (for a beer).

Best of luck,

Tim B.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by larry larisky

this is a good point par.
why someone will gave plans, it doesn't make sense, unless they are paid by advertising, but in any case i will stay very far away from these people.
if you don't respect your work to the point to gave it for free, something is wrong.
i believe to pay for what i want. if i don't have money i don't pay.
the only thing i get for free is the love of my friend from all over, but i gave back too, so perhaps I am paying for it
thank you all, you are generous and friendly.

The Svenson site has plans that are free because they're old and out of copyright, not because they're bad plans. Many of them are by well-known and respected designers, such as Howard Chapelle. But since they're old, a lot of the materials and methods are outdated; as a beginner you probably don't want to deal with updating them.

But they make very interesting reading anyway, and they might help you refine your ideas about size, shape, etc. of the boat you want to build.

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by troy2000

The Svenson site has plans that are free because they're old and out of copyright, not because they're bad plans. Many of them are by well-known and respected designers, such as Howard Chapelle. But since they're old, a lot of the materials and methods are outdated; as a beginner you probably don't want to deal with updating them.

But they make very interesting reading anyway, and they might help you refine your ideas about size, shape, etc. of the boat you want to build.

Still, it wouldn't be that difficult to adapt the newly available tools, materials and techniques to the old plans and end up with a high quality product.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

Still, it wouldn't be that difficult to adapt the newly available tools, materials and techniques to the old plans and end up with a high quality product.

I completely agree. But I think Larry would do better for his first boat not to deal with that; he's going to be on a pretty steep learning curve for a little while anyway.

[PAR]

Troy, Howard Chapelle was a buddy of mine and he's been dead for nearly a half a century now. Though his plans have some merit, particularly from a historical view, he hated plywood, mostly because he was of an age that remembered how unreliable some of the early stuff was (delaminated). He also wasn't much on outboards, which at the time I was in complete agreement on.

I agree though that for a first build, he shouldn't have to use CAD to flesh out the plans, he shouldn't have to make major material substitutions, nor adjust for different building techniques. He should be able to open the plans package, read the instructions, look over the drawings and pretty much figure it out without asking "what the hell is that?"

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by PAR

Troy, Howard Chapelle was a buddy of mine and he's been dead for nearly a half a century now. Though his plans have some merit, particularly from a historical view, he hated plywood, mostly because he was of an age that remembered how unreliable some of the early stuff was (delaminated). He also wasn't much on outboards, which at the time I was in complete agreement on.

I agree though that for a first build, he shouldn't have to use CAD to flesh out the plans, he shouldn't have to make major material substitutions, nor adjust for different building techniques. He should be able to open the plans package, read the instructions, look over the drawings and pretty much figure it out without asking "what the hell is that?"

I mentioned Chapelle as an example, to indicate that the plans on Svenson aren't necessarily garbage; many were drawn by reputable designers. His name came to mind because I was there looking at his sharpie/dory Southwind last week....

[larry larisky]

i owe an apology to troy, and he knows why.
i appreciate the constructive post for and con the free plans.
gonzo make the point as a love affair between the designer and the boat, so they not always make pay for it, they want the baby born and sailing. it is a valuable point.
troy said that not all free plans are bad since some are old and out of copyright, therefore for free.
par is more careful about free plans.
hoytedow warn against the difficulty to adapt old plans.
and tim b tell me very wisely to take my time.
i read an interresting thread by boston. i am not by far in the same league, but you all helped him very nicely.
thank you for your valuable input. i will research and will come back with some finding.