First Post, Building a wooden boat

I wouldn't be too concerned about the cut 2x2s. You can always use for something else if they don't get used.

Ask yourself:
Will you ever be depending on this boat for your life? Or will you always be in protected water where you can stand up or swim to shore?
Does it need to impress other people?
Does it need to perform well?

Think about:
resistance, drag & windage: how easily will the hull slip through the water, in the direction you want to move. Conversely how will tall sides and underwater profile be dragged not how you want to go.

stability, weight distribution: how does it resist capsizing and turning over. And with whatever sail you envision. Weight in the wrong place hurts.

strength, stiffness: a good design achieves the required stiffness and strength with the minimum material required.

Every year there are cardboard boat regattas and concrete canoe races meant to learn from and they have fun. Start with how this boat will be used and if your life will ever depend on the boat. Decide at what level it has to perform to chalk it up as success for you.

 

http://www.atkinboatplans.com/Sail/WillyWinship.html
http://www.atkinboatplans.com/Oar/index.html#MaudeAndEmeline
Start with looking at these a lot. Atkins plans make very good boats due to the decades of experience the designers had, and they are mostly very simple.

 

ok so i started again, I've built strong back, was gonna use two 2x4's for the middle of the boat and attach Ribs' like a V but with a flat bottom.

 

yar, what say you?

 

WesQ you are surely a man on a mission. I'm wondering if have you decided on a design yet? For some useful advice round here you will need to let everyone know what kind of boat you are trying to build. eg one of the designs suggested above by Bataan.

If you have purchased a set of plans, the strongback details may be included, but for most they start with at least 2 off 4"x2" on edge for a very small boat and 6"x2's for say 10'-16' length.
Even better many of the stitch and glue plywood designs dont need a strongback. You just cut the panels, stitch them together and pull them into shape, then glue and tape the seams.

I would suggest your frame is going to collapse once you have some weight put on it. The A frames will pivot at the top and the bearers above will tilt over at all angles. If you want to test it, put all of your weight on it, if it moves even a little its not going to support your boat until its finished.

Suggest you obtain Gougeon Brothers wooden boat building book and read it cover to cover, it describes all these details and more and covers the set out, materials, workmanship etc.

If you keep on throwing together bits of wood in your shed without some kind of plan those 2x2s are going to be too short for anything but firewood soon

Take a browse though some of the posts here from people (mostly amateurs) actually building boats and kayaks, there are lots of photos, and lots of discussion about what they are dealing with. Different sizes and type of boats, but you will see all the builders have gone to the effort to learn everything they can about what they are building before starting and more importantly as they progress. This is in terms of learning about the design and materials, but also in taking the time to learn new building techniques and skills.

 

Wes don't give up-- you're one big jump ahead just for trying--Keep those photos and in a few years you can look back and see how far you've come. My first build some 55 odd. years ago was a piece of concrete re inforcing mesh bent to form a canoe and covered in a painters canvas tarp. As suggested, go with the stitch and glue system--Purchase "Devlin's Boat Building". Study the instructions on the stitch and glue system--a very easy and forgiving method of boatbuilding--Pick a smaller simple design to start -- come back and post on the forum with any questions and we can help you along if needed-- Good for you for having a go at it --All great builders had to start somewhere -- and some that could have been great gave up-- Geo.

 

WesQ go to a boatbuilding school, or take a look at a boat yard, and learn before you continue.
I think you learned ow to read before reading books? You learned how to drive before going on the highway? It is the same thing with boat: you learn first and then your act in accordance with your knowledge.
Why when it comes to boat people act with such stupidity?
And a reminder: boat are deadly.
Lister

 

This jig was posted by one of the other forum members on another thread. This is the proper set up to begin the build. It was by KnottyBuoyz.

http://she-kon.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-07-14T18:44:00-04:00&max-results=7

 

i was thinking of making something like this
http://www.atkinboatplans.com/Sail/WillyWinship.html

I'll remake the jig to stand on the ground like that other one then.

 

WesQ

Good for you! I just noticed this thread, some of those starting comments were pretty harsh, but at least you continued with your quest to build a boat. Warning, building wood boats I think is a form of mental illness, there is no cure so best to learn all you can, do the best you can, and have fun with it.

I have built 14 small boats, none had motors-all were either sail, oar, or paddle powered. It need not be expensive, using carefully selected lumber yard materials can be viable if you realize the limitations of the materials and build accordingly.

Below are some of my favorite links to some old but well proven designs for free plans for boats of all types. Most were designed to use lumber yard and hardware store materials. You might even be able to use some of those 2x2s with these plans.

I suggest start out with something small, like a sailing pram or scow, and than work up to something more complex after you have learned on the smaller simpler designs. Boat building schools are not really necessary for the hobbyist unless you feel you need guidance. But like most hobbies, most people just learn by doing, so start simple and work up from there. A small boat will come together faster for less costs, so there is something to reward your hard work a lot sooner.

Use Tyvek or Polytarp for your sails (quality duck tape works great for making sails, faster than sewing). You will only need a few hand tools to get started, but eventually you should pick up a table saw so you can rip your own stringers from larger stock. You will get better lumber this way, and you can cut it to size and shape you need rather than buying all 2x lumber to build with. I bought a nice Makita Table swa for only $20 at a garage sale, look around you will find it cheap if you are patient.

A friend of mine and I built a small tri sail boat in a contest last summer, we won the race and was second in total score which included time to build, cost of materials, weight of tools used, and a number of other categories. We only used $55 in materials (some of it salvaged), took 12 hours to build, and only used 5 lbs worth of tools.


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

http://www.polysail.com/oldboats.htm

http://www.boatbuilding-links.de/

http://www.boatbuilding-links.de/

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/

The last two links has lots of good articles about inexpensive boat building and other simple projects.

 

I think you made an excellent selection for your build.

 

WesQ while the boat you have chosen is a good basic design, before you get into building a craft that require framing and lapstrake planking which this boat requires, you might want to take a look at the stitch and glue system as suggested by many of the return posters on the thread. We suggested this system for a good reason in that it is possibly the best basic learning and building system for beginners with a bonus, that it will also allow you to build much larger boats using the same technique. Once again I recommend you purchase and study the Devlin book and from that knowledge there are an unlimited number of plans from many designers to choose from. Many almost identical to the boat you have chosen above-- Geo.

 

Two locally manufactured very good kit boats.
http://www.pygmyboats.com/

 

Willy Winship is a great little boat and the choice shows your immediate grasp of the essentials of this whole thing. Cheap, strong, well-shaped from long experience, simple and use it now.