How they built a cheep boat

[disco]

Hi all
I was talking to a fishing friend the other day and he asked me how my boat was coming along,he told me how his now departed father in law who was a professional fisherman built his own fishing boats.He had jigs for a 16 and 18 footer.he would set the jigs up and plank the boat with redlead edge painted baltic pine weatherboards and the decking was redlead edge painted baltic pine floor boards.Boat was nailed and roved and painted with redlead and housepaint,not much money about in them days....
So this got me thinking..JEEEZ..
I need a little 14 foot knockerbout for whiting fishing and thought about going down the second hand timber track.I already have a boat on the go and i can,t afford more plywood,but i have found out that the table saw and thickneser makes wood new again..
So watcha think about building a boat like they did in the old days only poxy it together..could bring a smile to one,s face.. and cheep too.....
Cheers
Disco..

[Boatmik]

Epoxy doesn't work very well if the wood can swell unless you use ply which is more dimensionally stable.

That's where traditional construction with rivets etc makes so much sense ... the timber can come and go as it swells and dries. You still need to have the traditional frames and/or ribs to prevent the planking from splitting. Or to glass the lot a'la strip planking.

If you wanted to build something semi disposable the Americans play with Luan Door skins or cheap exterior ply and either polyurethane or the exterior modified PVC glues and waterbased gloss paint.

Not the best answer from a longevity point of view ... but you'll get a couple or a few seasons out of her.

Michael

[PAR]

When building "prove of concept" boats, I'll use cheap lauan plywood. I can get it for less then $10 a sheet and though not particularly strong, it holds up long enough to work as a test bed for ideas. I rarely bother with paint on these things, but have been known to use acrylic house paint to make something pretty.

As Mik has suggested, these techniques are not long lived. I have a few different concept boats dieing a slow death in the side yard now. I'll go out with a reciprocating saw and hack off a piece of planking when I need some scrap, but other wise they'll end up on the burn pile.

If you have used lumber, you can build conventionally (plank on frame) or you could rip the stock down to strip planking dimensions and do something different as Mik mentioned. The trouble with reclaimed lumber is old fasteners seem to leave holes or worse have broken off inside the piece. The holes have to be filled and the missed hidden fastener will usualy leave a tell tail rust stain after a short order as a boat.

I'm an alphatic resin guy for cheap build adhesive.

[disco]

Thanks for the reply guy,s,forgot about the the expansion bit.
Current project should be finished about march,had mixing epoxy for a while so i will dust off the steam pipe,strip down some ribs and find my nail and rove gear at the bottom of tool drawer.A nice little 13 foot clinker dingy should be the order of the day.Saw the other day copper prices have dropped,wonder if nail and roves will be cheaper...
Cheers
Disco