Building a 14 ft skiff

I tried to make a but joint, and succeeded but then i made a half lap joint and it was alot nicer. is the half lap joint good enough ? It seems strong and looks alot better. This is my first boat and I really want to make it nice tell me what you think.

 

What do you mean by half lap, and where is the joint at?

 

instead of a scarf on my plywood i was going to router half the sheat of plywood three inches wide on both pieces then glue them together with fiberglass epoxy

 

It depends on how the pieces will be loaded, but generally the half lap creates a "stress riser" at the most vulnerable portion of the joint. Scarfs are used to maintain the integrity of the joined pieces, even under load.

Now you can do a "stepped scarf" which is much better at eliminating stress risers, but they need several steps to be effective.

In short, if the joined piece needs to bend, you should scarf, as a stress riser will likely snap the joint right in the middle after a while. If the piece isn't highly loaded, you'll probably be okay with a half lap.

Of course it would be a lot easier if we knew what you were doing.

 

a fourteen ft power skiff from cmd boats

after numerous tries in the garage i found out that a scarf is the only way to go. the plans call for a scarf or a butt joint. I will go with a scarf.