I am thinking of building a boat, but all the plans i’ve looked at call for marine plywood or fir wood. Can a boat be built with regular plywood and other woods found at your local hardward stores? What would be the downside to doing that? Can it be treated like you would a deck? Please any advice would help.
I’m no boat builder but I can tell you that your boat will have to be marine plywood or hardwood. Traditionally, Oak was the wood of choice for the big schooners and clippers of the 16th & 16th century and I’m just telling you that to indicate how successful these boats were.
Marine ply will work out cheaper than hardwood’s so it’s really a mater of taste versus budget.
One think you can be sure of – don’t build a boar with regular softwood or lumber as you call it – water will just come through it…
Great project – enjoy
Tom London
July 10th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I’m no boat builder but I can tell you that your boat will have to be marine plywood or hardwood. Traditionally, Oak was the wood of choice for the big schooners and clippers of the 16th & 16th century and I’m just telling you that to indicate how successful these boats were.
Marine ply will work out cheaper than hardwood’s so it’s really a mater of taste versus budget.
One think you can be sure of – don’t build a boar with regular softwood or lumber as you call it – water will just come through it…
Great project – enjoy
Tom London
References :
Life Experiences & one of my work sites http://architects-supermarket.com
July 10th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
You can build a wooden boat using strip plank or marine plywood. The finish surface is epoxy. For cannoe building teak wood is prefered. If you go strip plank I am sure it would be the tongue and groove method. Why buy untreated plywood when you’ll have to treat it anyhow? There are several web sites offering wooden boat kit projects. I have list one below. Years ago when I worked I would eat my lunch at a local park along the river. I observed daily a homeless man build a raft type boat right there on the shore using scrap wood he dug out of bins, etc.. It took him about a month to complete and it looked decent. At launching he got about 100 yards and it sank. Felt sorry for him.
References :
Wooden boat projects; http://www.BruceRoberts.com
July 10th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I have built a rowboat and sailboat out of regular plywood from the local store. Fir is quite common. I had no problems at all but you need to keep a good coat of paint on it.
References :
July 10th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Typically it’s best to use marine grade epoxy, fiberglass, and plywood. Like Tom said, you don’t want to just use softwood because you will sink :-p
References :
http://www.plans4boatsreviews.com