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Bryon Anderson

Wooden boat plans?

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So I have been woodworking for 6 or 7 years now, and for several of those years I have been intrigued by the idea of someday building a simple wooden boat from one of the many plans available online. Up until recently, it was just sort of an idle daydream because I did not have anything like the kind of space a project like that would require. Now, however, I do, and I'm starting to get semi-serious about the boat idea. 

I have found a few sites that specialize in pretty simple plans that--according to them--an average novice-to-intermediate woodworker could execute. One of them even goes so far as to say something like, "If you can build a simple box or a birdhouse, you can build this boat." 

So, as I said, I'm intrigued. I'm thinking of something pretty simple that I could build using mostly plywood (marine grade), and then fiberglass the bottom and sides. I'm looking at plans for a 14/48 Jon boat on this site Jon-boat wooden boat plans (unclejohns.com)

If any of you have had any experience with building a wooden boat from plans, I'd be very curious to hear about your experience. And of course I will post pics if this harebrained scheme of mine starts to come to fruitition. :)

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Yes we built stitch and glue duck boat similar to Devlin cackler type wish I had digital photos. would recommend a few books Boatbuilding with Plywood (Glen Witt), Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction (West System) Devlin's boat building (Sam Devlin) It was a 2-owner build and experience ended up selling the boat due to conflict of time and use. Boat turned out well was heavier than plan weight, but we used heavier cloth and more epoxy than planned (cloth was a deal we could not say no to- free) took longer than timed plan for and we had to move it to another location to finish it, just over a year part time and very fussy with our work. Planning a kayak stich and glue if I ever get around to it and build a set of frames.

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19 minutes ago, cphubert said:

would recommend a few books Boatbuilding with Plywood (Glen Witt), Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction (West System) Devlin's boat building (Sam Devlin)

Thanks, I will check those out! However simple the plans might be, I'll take all the help I can get. :)

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This is not a hare-brained idea at all. It’s also not a difficult woodworking project and the tools required are minimal. Clamps, you need lots of clamps. It’s a space and time difficult so if you have those areas licked the rest is easy. I would encourage you to ditch the row boat idea and go for at least a 14’ drift boat. Don Hill drift boats use no fiberglass at all so the bottoms can be replaced. I have worked with fiberglass before, it’s not difficult just messy. At least for me it was messy.  I have never built a boat but researched it extensively. I see nothing difficult in building a boat and I am confident you would do an outstanding job. I didn’t do it because of a lack of suitable space and time.
 

I have the Glenn L Witt boat building with plywood book that i will gladly mail to you free of charge if you PM me an address. I would love for somebody else to enjoy its content. The book was read once and in brand new condition.

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1 hour ago, Poopdeck said:

Glenn L Witt boat building with plywood book that i will gladly mail to you free of charge if you PM me an address

Very generous offer Greg, got to like this forum.

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8 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

 

I have the Glenn L Witt boat building with plywood book that i will gladly mail to you free of charge if you PM me an address. I would love for somebody else to enjoy its content. The book was read once and in brand new condition.

 Wow - very generous offer, Poopdeck, thank you! PM has been sent.

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9 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

I would encourage you to ditch the row boat idea and go for at least a 14’ drift boat.

My reasoning in choosing the 14/48 Jon is that I could equip it with a small outboard and have the option of motoring or rowing. For example, on bigger rivers, I could motor upstream and drift back down to my put-in, thus eliminating the need for a car spot. I also do a lot of bass fishing on lakes, and I thought the Jon would be good for that. 

I love driftboats, but most of the plans I've seen for them are for the classic Mackenzie River style with the high rockered bow and stern, which isn't that practical for Michigan rivers. If I could find plans for something that was more of a skiff style (like a Ro or Adipose Boatworks skiff), I would be into that.

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Picking out the boat is half the battle. A 14/48 is a perfect pond or small lake boat. No so sure about a big river. Big river to me means it has giant cargo ships going up it. 

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2 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

No so sure about a big river. Big river to me means it has giant cargo ships going up it. 

Yikes -- nothing that scary on the rivers I'd be on. Biggest boat out there would be other fishing boats, mostly power drifters or jet sleds in the 16-18' class. Rivers I float in my kayak now.

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Denduke, those pirogues are cool boats. They remind me of the Au Sable riverboats used by guides on that river up here. Thanks for the pics!

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I have to say, the US Post office has to be one of the dreariest places on the planet. Dilapidated building, Unmotivated disheveled sloooooooooooooooow moving employees who clearly cannot hold a job at any other company. My thought after leaving was, it needs to be closed down and moved entirely into the private sector. There is simply no reason to maintain such a system. 
 

onto the good news, the book was mailed at 10:00 AM this morning. This should be fun to see how long it takes to get to you. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

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4 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

onto the good news, the book was mailed at 10:00 AM this morning. This should be fun to see how long it takes to get to you. I hope you enjoy it. 

Can't wait to read it! I will keep an eye out for it. Thanks again!

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Always wanted to build Robb White's plans for his 16' Sportboat  (cedar strip build) I have a Grumman Sportboat but his was very nice and without the noise of the aluminum hull. Tried contacting his web page for ordering info and never received a reply. Have you looked at Glenn L for plans and idea's?

Jamestown Distributers is a good source of tools, hardware, and stuff. We used the scarfing jig for one pass plywood scarf joints (up to 3/8") it attaches to 7 1/4 circular saw. 

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17 hours ago, cphubert said:

Always wanted to build Robb White's plans for his 16' Sportboat  (cedar strip build) I have a Grumman Sportboat but his was very nice and without the noise of the aluminum hull. Tried contacting his web page for ordering info and never received a reply. Have you looked at Glenn L for plans and idea's?

Jamestown Distributers is a good source of tools, hardware, and stuff. We used the scarfing jig for one pass plywood scarf joints (up to 3/8") it attaches to 7 1/4 circular saw. 

Thanks for this information! I will check out both sources. The scarfing jig in particular is of interest to me, as I have no experience making that kind of joint. 

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