Free wood best method to build a boat?

[Darnell B]

Ok so I'm purchasing a portable saw mill and the island where I live I
have an unlimited supply of mature southern pine,red/white oak, cherry,
sweet gum and maybe some cypress.

I want to build a 19-23' pilot house boat.

Most plans online I've looked at call for a lot of CNC marine plywood.
I'm trying to leverage the free stuff i have vs a bunch of stuff i have
to buy.
I've been looking at cold molding, clinker, carvel, stick and glue, etc.

I'm a novice to learning curve is a factor and I'm not appose to mixing
in fiberglass or metal if it can simplify and speed things up without
adding to much to cost.




--
Darnell B

[Mark Reuten]

The first thing that I would suggest is to look at designs that call for solid timber as opposed to plywood construction. In my experience, traditional construction can be just as approachable as modern construction i.e: plywood/epoxy. Designs by Harry Bryan are well worth considering and he is very approachable should you need some guidance. Secondly, once you have chosen a design, I would build a small tender using the same construction technique. This will give you some valuable experience and see you through to a finished product in a reasonable time. Depending on the design and details, a 19-23' decked over boat can easily suck up six months to a year of full time labour so I would be a little cautious before diving in to the larger project. While the standing trees might be free to you, the effort of getting them down, moved, milled, dried and dressed will require a goodly amount of effort. Lastly, if you are very new to boatbuilding, I highly recomend you try your hand at some lofting and model making to get the ball rolling. You'll have about a year to kill before that wood is ready to use anyway.

[waynebatr...@hotmail.com]

===

All good advice in my opinion. Another thing to keep in mind is that
typically the cost of the hull and decking is much less than half the
total cost. The cost of hardware, supplies, fittings, engine,
controls, etc. will eat up more than you might think.

[Mark Reuten]

Good point and very true. It's so easy to stop esitmating the costs once you tally up the wood pile. Likewise, finishing alone can eat up a significant portion of the build time. I try to tackle as much of that as I can while building so that the task isn't so huge at the end. The better the job you do at first, the longer the first finish will last.

[Alex]

Red oak is porous, prone to rot and split, and is weaker than white oak. White
oak is a much better choice, and works well if you will be steam-bending it.

Southern pine is not as strong as white oak, but is easier to work, and the
difference in strength is probably not significant for your project.

Look on the Web for ways to distinguish between white and red oak. It's not
always easy to tell them apart, especially if you are the sawmill.

Alex

In article <Darnell.B...@boatbanter.com>, Darnell B says...