Where to start

After 10 years I have finlay got tired of watching YouTube and reading about boat building. I am going to bite the bullet and start one. I have 25 years of carpentry experience and basic tools. I have decided on a drift boat for a number of reasons simplicity and life style. My question is do I spend money I dont have on plans or do I build it out of scratch? I am some what confident I can pull it of but if it's a flop iam more intrested in the learning
experience

 

Why not. It looks like you have done the hard yards in build experience, but your "economic" talk doesn't make a lot of sense.

Plans for a well thought out design actually SAVE you money, and for a "drift boat", they are going to be a very small investment.

Why don't you post some photos of boats you like, and I am sure there will be heaps of people suggesting either free or inexpensive plans.

 

Thanks for the response and the plans.
I have access to all sorts of lumber,fastener, big box store plywood,sawmill and have a good stack of ash and white oak.
I want to do this first one as cheap as possible the plans I have found would be the same cost as the epoxy and some other things. Not against plans just fill like I could learn more whith out them. If it was a more complicated hull I could see needing offsets.
The boat iam looking at would be the McKenzie river drift boat. Thanks for any help I could be dead wrong about my assumption that's why iam in hear

 

I think I am going to buy the $25 plans from DIY drift boat building https://montana-riverboats.com/?layout=orderform I love his beaver tale boat

 

cheap, money well spent

 

Y9u will get to a time where you are looking at oars and oar locks.
Buy good ones as the cheap type that are found on some aluminum 12 footers etc are not strong

The Sawyer oars with the weighted handles are an incredible set, they place weight in the handles which balances the long oars to take some of the work out of the process.
Shafts are fibreglass/composite and the paddle ends are wood which can be replaced. Of course if dollars are not an issue, they also have composite blades but I found that often we were needing to push over bars, rocky shoals and the wood blades were able to take a beating.

Length is of extreme importance as well. Too short and you have to have a higher hand location when pulling on them. Longer, gives a longer time for the paddle in the water and a lower handpull location.

There are many sites that refer to matching the length of the oar to the length of the boat. BUT also, and we found this out the hard way, the distance from the gunwhale to the waterline is also very important. Ie higher sides means that you need a longer oar.

The oar locks, or at least the piece that goes around the oar and fits into the boat mounted oar lock portion should be the type that the oar handle ends can be pulled into the boat as compared to this part clamped to the oar. Above a couple of pictures. The round type is the way to go. The U-shaped ones have a habit of letting the oar shaft slip out of the oar lock when you need it most. The round type lets you pull the oars across opposite gunwhales to clear obstacles, take a rest, or land a fish

You will note the hole in the bottom. You put say a 3/16 inch cord through this when the oar is in place so that in the event of a disconnect of the oar lock out of the pin hole, you don't lose
anything. ie tie the cord to a spot on the boat

Consider a layer of fibreglass on the bottom, heavy cloth so that you can drag the boat up over rocks when beaching and also when slipping over rocks in the river

Quite a few designs suggest a woven seat. The area under the rowers seat is a great place for storage and I would suggest a wood compartment instead.

While some designs do not include it. If you are in tough water, you need a couple of adjustable foot rests so you can lean into the oars so that you feet don't slip and you lose control

Sure you can leave them out but if you are in white water heading for a log jam, you really want to be able to lean into the oars.

 

Nice looking boat. At the price of those plans you’ll spend far more figuring it out by yourself. But if you’re going to go through the expense and effort, spend a little more on quality materials. Plywood from Home Depot won’t cut it. Get marine grade plywood

 

I bought some 5/8 exterior grade plywood from HD about a year ago. The glue they used was so bad, when I put a screw into the plywood, it literally delaminated internally with a heluva lift, followed by a cracking noise. I shudda took it back, but it was doomed material anyway for a trailer bed. I figure it'll last a couple years maybe.