What sort of wood do I use?

Hello,

I'm new to boats, I'm looking at doing a small boat as my first project. Just so I can make mistakes on something not very costly. The plans I'm looking at are here.

https://www.diy-wood-boat.com/support-files/buzz.pdf

I'm looking at the New Zealand equivalent for wood, what I'm finding is a mix of

- untreated or treated
- rough sawn or dressed
- ply or marine ply?

What sort of wood am I supposed to use? I obviously don't want it to rot or be structurally poor.

Cheers,

 

That is a VERY old set of plans, never mind that it is 'free' - boat design has come a long way since then, even for little 11' runabouts.
Even though it is 'free', you will still need to invest a fair bit of money, time and effort into building this boat.
And it looks rather complicated and difficult, relatively, compared to more modern methods - and you will hopefully be using modern methods when you graduate to building your houseboat later.
Have a look on the usual sites like Duckworks, Glen-L, Boatbuilder Central et al and see if they have any small runabouts around 11' long (and built with modern methods) that might appeal to you?
They might be a better way of starting off on the boatbuilding journey?

 

- always untreated.
- usually rough sawn
- usually marine ply
Plans normally specify the species to be used for different parts of the boat, if you don't know the equivalent species available in NZ just ask here. For example douglas fir is known as oregon pine over there.
Plans also specify finished dimensions, dressed wood is only useful if it matches, otherwise it needs resurfacing, rough sawn is cheaper.
Marine ply has waterproof glue and no voids, if a "normal" ply is known to possess this attributes it can be used. Nowadays this is a function of manufacturer reputation, there is no actual control (outside class compliant ply). The wood species from wich the ply is made can be more or less rot resistant, and the weight varies, this will affect what and how you use it.

 

Sam,

I've been following your houseboat thread.
I built a houseboat hull from a design and put a custom, live-aboard cabin on it.
I was curious about you so read through all your other threads.

Based on the above (and years of varied marine experience) I would suggest
you build a stitch-and-glue (SAG), from a proven design that would meet your needs (SOR).

SAG's are fast builds, light, strong and can drive home some sound boat building concepts.
The toughest part is matching the design to your SOR.

Keep reading and looking at houseboat designs, asking questions while getting your hands dirty.

BB

 

Thanks blue! I'll look into this

 

Good advice given above. I would second the mention of Boat Builder Central (also known as Bateau.com) I built a 12 foot boat from one of their plans. It was fairly simple to build, didn't cost much overall, and almost 99% Plywood. The other wood I needed I salvaged from an old bed It was oak and mahogany. This was used just for trim pieces. The most expensive item was epoxy resin. The whole thing came to about $600.00 not including the outboard, which I already owned. The type of boat you want to build (if the plans you posted are any indication) would probably cost more than that but the big benefit is the simplicity of building a stitch and glue boat. see Building A Stitch and Glue Boat. Picnic Table Boatbuilding. https://substack.com/inbox/post/110503829