Mastermummy

Member

Registered: 5 Feb 2014

Posts: 2

Wood

I am building a boat.  At the moment, I am still planning.

The book I am using is "How to Build Wooden Boats with 16 Small-Boat Designs" by Edwin Monk.

The book is quite old, and was first published in 1934.

It says I should use oak or spruce for the frame.  Would these types of wood still be used for boat building or could I use marine plywood for the whole boat?  Do I need to use actual wood for the frame?

I want to build a Rowboat that is 8 foot 6 inches.

Thanks,

MM

DerekD

Member

Registered: 12 Aug 2013

Posts: 33

Re: Wood

Hi MM

Yes these woods are still used for boat building.
Yes you could use ply for the whole boat if you have an idea of what the piece of wood was doing - is it under compression or under tension etc. bearing in mind that ply behaves differently from solid wood.

Is there a reason that it has to be 8' 6" ?

I am not familiar with the book you are intending to use but its reviews on amazon all say much the same as anyone says about old boat building books from the 30's to the 60's .... things have moved on and for the better.

The internet is littered with these old books and "free" plans and there is a reason that they are cheap or free.

I can strongly recommend the plans available from Fyneboats especially if you are new to boat building. Once you have built a relatively simple pram or dingy then you can go ahead with a framed (heavy) boat with your newly enhanced boat building skills.

Plans here may seem expensive compared to a £6 book with 16 plans but at least the plans here can be built and will save you days or weeks of head scratching and trying to convert old plans to what can be done this century!

P.S I don't work for Fyneboats but I have had great fun building one of their boats from plan which has taught me a lot about my woodworking skills... or lack of!

Mastermummy

Member

Registered: 5 Feb 2014

Posts: 2

Re: Wood

Thanks a lot.  Now I know quite a bit thanks.  I have decided to use a plan from a boat building company, as you suggested.

MM