fiber vs wood vs aluminum, which one it better and what is the best school in Canada

Hello guys
I do have a question about boats building I am totally newbie, and I am looking for schools to learn boat building and generally they are considering wood as their best track except VIU university in Canada they have a close track using aluminum as primary. However, what do you think is easiest, and the most in-demand boat type in market, and can me manufactured by one person. In addition to that, how much does each one of these types can last (fiber vs wood vs aluminum), and what is the advantages and disadvantages of each one of these.

 

Hello Isslam and welcome to the forums.

I would suggest that you find a copy of this book. It will provide you with all the fundamental information you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Boats...07024233X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Regards,

MIA

 

thank you buddy you was great I was also searching for a book, and do you have university slide for this book

 

The most used material in the recreational boat market is fiberglass. However, aluminum is also a popular choice in some regions particularly for work boats, and areas where conditions for boats are rocky. In other words where boats will take a beating. There are still some wooden boats being built but mostly by DIY, or custom builders. Schools tend to teach the basic fundamentals and those are most easily taught with wood. Building a wood boat teaches all of the basic design elements and components that go into a boat, no matter what material you build in. After that, learning to work in Fiberglas, composites, or metal is just an add on to the fundamentals.

Which is better? None. Each has it advantages and disadvantages. One of the basic elements in building a boat is what it will be used for, and where it will be used. That usually determines what material the boat will be built with. For instance, if the boat is to be mass produced and sold to the public for generally boating use, fiberglass would most likely be the choice. If it's a work boat and will see rough use probably aluminum is best. If it's a one-off custom build, either wood or metal. In that case the clients preference may be the deciding factor.

 

perfect do you know any school that teach aluminum boat building like the Canadian one I posted does not matter USA or Canada, but I am really into aluminum, because It survive long and I can do business with like who know you can own a fish shop and sale crayfish

 

On this page Boat Building Links | Ike's List | New Boatbuilders Home Page https://newboatbuilders.com/pages/links.html I have a list of boatbuilding schools. Scroll down a bit to Schools Offering Boat Building and Marine Design Studies, it's on the left side. If you are interesting in aluminum try contacting the Metal Boat Society. Metal Boat Society - Home https://metalboatsociety.wildapricot.org/

 

As Ike said, if you are building a lot of boats and are willing to invest in a mold for each boat and do not have to customize a boat layout to suit a customers needs, then fiberglass has stood the test of time. Molds are expensive and
need to amortized over many builds. I am sure there are others who can comment on the cost of molds for say a 40 footer.

If you want to be able to build from 10 feet up to whatever, but say 40 feet, with various layouts, command bridge, varying beams, deadrise, then aluminum is a strong contender.

If you have a maximum towing width and customers want to pull their boats out after each use, or after a season. You can pick a beam and deadrise, and use the same jig to build hulls from say 18 feet up to maybe 32. So the jib cost is
a small part of the cost to build a boat. While many aluminum boats fit into the work boat category, there are some very finely fitted aluminum boats that rival the best made fibreglass boats. A quick look at
Coastal Craft and Eagle Craft ( their non work boat fleet) to see how they stack up.
There are a lot of middle of the road finished aluminum boats, that offer great amenities for fishing with compete live aboard capabilities. Kingfisher, Hewescraft, Thunderjet, the list goes on. Certainly the north west coast of the US and Canada
have an extremely strong following.

The aluminum hull part of building a boat, is a small part of the build though. Mechanical, electrical, electronics, stove, gray, fresh water and head systems are probably close to 2/3 of the cost of a total build.

Wooden boat building is normally done by do it your selfer's with strong wood working abilities but they are not main stream production boats. For a one off, wood works

Is the Westlawn school still in business. I thought that they were at one time the leading edge of boat building colleges?

 

Westland is still there but it is a design school, not building.