Getting Started
Why build a boat? | |
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Don't build a boat if you just want to get out on the water, building will take up too much sailing time.
I wanted to build a boat for the enjoyment of having a big project and seeing it through to completion, to learn new skills and to have exactly the boat I wanted. I like character boats but didn't want a classic boat which might be slow to windward. I wanted to build a cedar strip West Greenland sea kayak but I visited Beale Park Thames Boat Show, got distracted by all the possibilities and failed to control the scope of my project. |
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Choosing a Design |
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I asked a boat builder about the time taken to build a particular design, his response was
that this was the wrong question and that time doesn't really matter
in the long run as the unique pleasure of building takes over your life....
There are number of designs for boats with traditional lines and more modern performance. The size of the garage limited the size of the boat and my woodworking skills (none) limited the complexity. I wanted some back up in case I had problems during the build - there is an active Yahoo group for builders of Selway Fisher designs and Paul Fisher has a justified reputation for being helpful. The final choice came down to the Stornoway 14 and the Northumbrian Coble with the construction options being stitch and tape or clinker ply. I chose stitch and tape as I had been told it was easier. I chose to build the Stornoway over the Coble as it was time to make a decision and get on with the project. |
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Planning |
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One boatbuilder I had spoken to had mentioned
the planning phase of a build. It was only once I had the plans and got started that I fully
understood what he had been talking about. There are a huge number of decisions to be made and as this was my first build
they were being made with no experience. There is wood and epoxy to be bought, a workshop to be equipped and less tangibly,
I had to get my head round the project, something that wouldn't actually happen for months. |  |
Wood |
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I received a number of quotes for wood which were almost identical. The difference in cost between planed
wood (par) and sawn was more than the cost of a budget planer/thicknesser.
I decided to buy sawn and use the money saved to buy my way out of problems later in the project.
Sawn douglas fir was bought for the softwood. This proved easy to work and was a cost effective decision. The hardwood used was utile which has interlocking grain and can tear out when planing. I got a local saw mill to plane and thickness the hardwood. During the project I changed timber merchants to S L Hardwoods in Croydon who remain my first choice. |
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Workshop |
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The workshop was equipped with the following:
Work Bench - Wolfcraft Master 800 Workbench. Pillar Drill - £40 from Axminster. Table Saw - £35 secondhand. Router & Wolfcraft Table - £45 secondhand - the table fits onto the Wolfcraft workbench. Mitre Saw - £15 end of line from Screwfix - cheaper than learning to saw straight, though almost redundant since I bought a Japanese pull saw. Dust Extractor - £100 from Axminster - to fit the table saw, router table, orbital and detail sanders. Orbital and Detail Sander - £20 - £30 from Axminster. Clamps, lots of them, you can never have enough. |
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Epoxy |
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I bought epoxy from Fyne Boat Kits for the simple reason
that their epoxy came with lots of helpful advice.
This is a virtually odourless epoxy with a slow initial cure time that makes it ideal for unpractised workers.
There is a guide to using epoxy on the Fyne Boat Kits website. Epoxy comes in 2 parts, resin and accelerator, the pump on each has a different capacity. Also needed are; lots of plastic pots to mix epoxy in, mixing sticks, silica and wood flour for thickening, glass tape for joining planks, brushes for applying epoxy, gloves to keep the epoxy off my hands and safety specs as I will always get an itch in my eye once I have epoxy on my gloves. A measuring spoon for measuring wood flour and silica is useful for mixing a consistent thickness of epoxy. |
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The Knowledge |
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I read the following books: A Manual of Modern Small Plywood Boat Construction Techniques by Paul Fisher Build the Instant New Boats by Harold Payson Devlins Boat Building by Sam Devlin I found the SFD Builders Sailors yahoo group very useful. Reading is useful there is no substitute for learning by experience, a process where I have to take the exam before I get the lesson. In return for a couple of hours filming in my workshop I received a copy of a boat building DVD. This arrived towards the end of the build and was a masterclass in everything I wish I had known 6 months earlier. The DVD is available from Jordan Boats |
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