Boat building
- Thread starter SENC
- Start date
Built a pirate ship one time (somewhere around 35 years ago) - well sort of. Have a Boy Scout and Cub Scout camp here that wanted to upgrade the experience at the CubWorld at the Boy Scout Camp (Boxwell). Built a stockade of tree trunks (with gate, and walkway at the top), a replica of an old west street storefront, a rock castle, Native American Village and a floating pirate ship - but cheated. Had a floating dock built, and built the "pirate ship", on top of the dock. Sunk two telephone poles so it would stay in place, but ride up and down as the lake level rose and fell. Had a taller mast, but a storm broke it off. Also did some restroom buildings, additions to the dining hall, some camping platforms and like literally 4 miles of water piping (in pretty much solid rock) to get to the different restrooms. Luckily, no Codes officials were involved! Think the Boy Scouts had some influence!!
The castle.
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- #403
I think it all depends on how much time you're putting in... and how long you want it to last. I can't imagine putting in the time I am and risking a shorter lifespan by trying to save a few dollars on wood.
But for a boat I'm putting together in a few hours over a couple days, I agree marine plywood is probably not worth the extra $.
I think if I were going to build that little jon boat with expensive plywood that I would also want to use the same quality on the rest of the boat. Perhaps ss screws and cedar lumber, I'm not sure about the gorilla glue, I know the stuff holds good.
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- #405
That boat is good for a limited use, and for a single season. With annual repainting (above and beyond damage repair painting), you might get a handful of seasons out of it. Not bad for what it is.
Ran across a short video that describes Marine grade plywood. I have purchased wood from this company in the past, although I've not bought any plywood from them. Great store! Helpful video! Chuck
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- #407
Inching closer towards finishing the bottom. The bulk of fairing is done, and got the runners on today. Needs a seal coat and aluminum strips for keel and runners before any final prep and painting.
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- #409
It does, indeed! Though I generally feel like I'm being attentive to detail, I suspect when I get to putting bottom paint on I'll find plenty of flaws. While most of the boat will be painted with a forgiving dead flat paint, the bottom will be a slick, glossy paint and show every flaw. Fortunately, that will mostly be under water!
I'm still dreaming about building a old school flat bottom skiff without epoxy. I've made a rather crude scale model and I am pretty satisfied with the overall shape. It would be 14' long with a beam width of around 60". I got started milling my pile of cedar logs and am getting a little suitable material.
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- #412
Did my seal coat early this week and thought I was getting close to getting paint on the bottom.
But, I'm gonna have to get control of my obsessive side or this is going to take a while! Upon inspection and while sanding the seal coat, I decided I had not done as good a job as I should have sanding after fairing. Sanding the seal coat, in particular, showed more flaws than I could tolerate, so pulled back out the 80 and got everything back to flat. These pics are before blowing off the dust, but it's a lot better now... but will need another seal coat or two. Fortunately, I got more comfortable and quicker with roll-and-tip light coats doing the last seal coat, so shouldn't take too long. I have a couple small areas around the strakes that could use some thickened epoxy, so will do that Monday and drill/fill holes for the Step-N-Trim tabs at the same time. Then (hopefully) final seal coats.
But, I'm gonna have to get control of my obsessive side or this is going to take a while! Upon inspection and while sanding the seal coat, I decided I had not done as good a job as I should have sanding after fairing. Sanding the seal coat, in particular, showed more flaws than I could tolerate, so pulled back out the 80 and got everything back to flat. These pics are before blowing off the dust, but it's a lot better now... but will need another seal coat or two. Fortunately, I got more comfortable and quicker with roll-and-tip light coats doing the last seal coat, so shouldn't take too long. I have a couple small areas around the strakes that could use some thickened epoxy, so will do that Monday and drill/fill holes for the Step-N-Trim tabs at the same time. Then (hopefully) final seal coats.
Looking great Henry. And I agree with you that you'll be happier in the long run taking the extra steps and time now. Anything worth doing is worth doing right - that's what my Dad always said.
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- #414
Not much of an update, but just to say that final seal coats and light sanding are complete, and I've started on securing the aluminum runners. Prep process includes a good acetone wipe, light sanding and follow-up acetone wipe to remove aluminum dust and any remaining contaminants. Rather than going through the chromate conversion processes to prep the aluminum, I'm using PreKote from SoCoMore for pretreatment - specifically their PreKote Wipes. I'm using Sikaflex 291 for bedding.
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- #417
Me, too! But that will be a slow slog for a while, too... plenty of fileting to do and getting bulkheads in place before I get to more fun stuff like wiring.
Then sole/flooring and, finally, decking. I'm resigned to the fact it wont be done before duck season... but maybe before the season is over. If not, there's (hopefully) 2026.
it'll really get up and move after you get that motor and tank from @ripjack13 installedMe, too! But that will be a slow slog for a while, too... plenty of fileting to do and getting bulkheads in place before I get to more fun stuff like wiring.
Wow! That’s starting to really look sharp!