Is boatbuilding the pinnacle?

Hello to everyone, I have been designing and building timberframes structures my entire adult life or about 21 years. I get this wierd feeling that I am in the wrong craft. Is boatbuilding the pinnacle of craftmenship? The word craftmanship does have the word "craft" in it and the word "ship". Historically, were the best carpenters, boatbuilders? Thank you, Derek

 

As you leave land, design becomes more interesting. Aircraft are interesting -- but not as interesting as watercraft.

From my perspective, it has a lot to do with leaving gravity behind as a structural aid -- and employing it as a environmental consideration. If you're bored doing timberframe, nautical will both challenge and humble you.

"Carpenter" as a trade was at one time held to a standard that today we would call "engineer" -- today a carpenter is a cog on a wheel.

"Designer" as a trade is held to what standard?

Time to move on?

 

I grew up in a cabinet shop as a kid. I learned how to use hand tools and how to make things nice to touch. out of high school I became a machinist for 4 years , but the art of "craft"manship wasn't there. then i got into plastic fabrication somehow. And that was fun and interesting but just production. I had a feeling there was something out there in wich i could use all my skills to make something beautifull and get paid doing it.
I was in an employment slump when i heard of a job at a fiberglass boat mfg. company looking for patchers/buffers. I needed a job so i took it. after learning fiberglass, gel coat, and fillers. I discovered something . Tooling and mold making. NOW! I could make something, anything.
And i love boats. I started small designing RC boats. www.plumkrazyrcboats.com
I've done 8 models for a man that produces them. Some have done over 100 mph!!!! AWESOME.
I'm designing and tooling a 19'6" boat right now and plan to finish it and make the mold july 24. And am extremely proud of one i tooled 2 years ago named the 220 LSE. It can be found in GO BOATING magazine march 2006.

To answer your question, boat building has some awesome rewards. To be able to have a part in making someones happy memories,, feels good. When I come upon obsticles in performance or functionabilty and overcome them. I feel on top of the world,, or water,,,,,ha ha. When i go to the lake and see a grown man giggling because of how his 20 foot boat makes him feel. And think "I helped do that" ....WOW how cool is that. Building toys......
If boats are calling you ,, get in the wake!!!!!

 

There are many brilliant folks in my profession. Ouch, Sheetwise, very profound, but ouch. I never thought I would become bored timberframing and I could use some humility. Craig, cool work, I have made some happy memories for clients too. You can see a little of what I have done. www.swanwood.com
I am saddened by the demise of the historic role of the carpenter. You nailed it on the head Sheetwise. The split between the architect and the master builder destroyed the master builder. The architects kept all the power.
How can I transfer this vast amount of building knowledge in my head and leave gravity behind. Where do you begin? Timberframers make a living but don't make any money. Most of us can't afford to live in the houses we craft. Does the same hold true for boatbuilders? I may be in a unique position to do the flip in trades with a limited amount of risk. A few of my clients have expressed interest in having me build them a boat. Of course they would be wooden boats. I have lots of wood. Thanks for the good advise. It is time for me to move on. It feels good to know nothing about something built from wood. I am a novice again.

 

Hi, I have a friend that has just bought a share in a 60 ft. power cruiser made in GRP but with extensive woodwork on the whole interior. It was manufactured in Taiwan.
What is the relevance of the last sentence? Labour costs are very important 99% of the time and boat building in timber is very labour intensive and much slower than composite laminating for boat construction.
Unfortunately many designs that are more than 40 years old, and still very desirable, were once built in wood, but now in composites.
The traditional "shipwright" is a dying out profession or artisan.
This is a sad reflection of our times, that boating customers generally prefer to pay less for a product that requires far less maintenance, and will last longer if neglected. Price seems to come well before aesthetics.
Now having got that off my chest, I can say that having built boats in both wood and composite, (epoxy carbon/fibreglass) it is infinitely more satisfying to actually cut and shape and smooth the timber, then mould or laminate then sand the other.
The appearance of clear finished planks floating in the water as part of a boat seems much closer to a living thing than the endless white plastic hulls that seem to come off production lines.

 

Is the no shelter on the water either. I am surrounded by a sea of beige track homes. The "housewright" as a real profession or artisan is dead to me. Robotic hands took it's last breath. I think I would rather be on the wood boat in a sea of white.

 

No, there are those that will cheat you in this craft

Not really, not more than there was in other crafts. Boatbuilders have a higher standerd to answer to, but not a higher requirement.

 

Thank you, What counts as cheating? Is there an ethical standard in boatbuilding? I understand the higher standard but not the a higher requirement. Regarding the word "craftmanship" I really did just want to know if it came from boatbuilding. In case I am ever on a quiz show "Alex, I'll take trivial boat knowledge for $200"

 

Most all of our slang and phrasing comes from a marine heritage. Recent additions also come from the automotive industry and a huge increase in vocabulary from the surge in electronics in the last few decades.

The most high tech thing you could be involved with, for the last thousand years was a wooden sailing ship. Specifically, the war ship. These were the most advanced machines devised in there day and much vocabulary came from the everyday workings of men employed on there construction, repair, maintenance and crewing.

The origins of many of these phrases can be easily traced; freezing the balls off a brass monkey, starboard from steering board, etc., but many just do not trace back well. I would think anything with ship in it will have some ancestry with marine history.

The 20th century has brought more advanced machinery with the onward march of technology. Our sailing ship heritage is being supplanted with new slang and phrases, based in the last century's advances. So call me, I will be flogging a dead horse.

 

If you want to indulge in a bit of wood craftsmanship on a small scale and build something quite beautiful that you can also get some use out of, see Ted Moores excellent book. Canoecraft. Wonderful wood building book for the purist wood worker. Ted is a bit of a perfectionist and creates wonderful cedar stripper canoes. Have a look at the web site and if possible look at the book as well. http://www.bearmountainboats.com/

 

I can picture a caveman chopping away on a log telling another cavebuddy, "Ugg craft man ship ugg get hell out of cave ugg"