Old designs question

[Dave R]

I was snooping around the other day and came across the following site :http://www.svensons.com/boats/

This person has scanned a bunch of boat designs from "Science and Mechanics" and "Boat Builder Handbook" magazines. I've been looking at some of these designs and thinking they look kind of neat. Mostly I've been looking at the sailing designs but some of the others are appealing as well.

So what do you think of these designs? Are they worth considering for a next project? I know some of the building techniques and materials are a bit dated but making allowances for those things might not be so hard.

[Bob Cleek]

Interesting collection... great find! Problem with most of the "Popular Mechanics school of boatbuilding" plans is that they were drawn for nincompoops to build out of stock lumber. They aren't necessarily designed for ordinary marine construction techniques. These were the "stitch and glue" boats of their day, really. Still, a lot of them are interesting and usually very easily built.

It is really a shame that nobody has collected all the Atkin designs, and others, from the Rudder and MoTorBoating and Sailing magazines from the Depression through the 50's. THOSE were really some great boats. Atkin himself designed one a month for years. L.F.Herreshoff himself even did a few for Rudder. I think H-28 debuted in Rudder, as a matter of fact. These designs were accompanied by how-to-build-it articles and included all the offsets and lines.

[John Kohnen]

Originally posted by Bob Cleek:
...

It is really a shame that nobody has collected all the Atkin designs, and others, from the Rudder and MoTorBoating and Sailing magazines from the Depression through the 50's. THOSE were really some great boats. Atkin himself designed one a month for years.

...
Somebody has a collection of most of the Atkin designs: John's widow Pat. She'll sell them to you for a reasonable price too (only a few of John's designs are listed on the Web page, but the catalog contains hundreds from Billy and John):

http://www.by-the-sea.com/atkin&co/

I've got an incomplete index on the designs in the MoToR BoatinG magazine Ideal Series books (mostly be the Atkins) here:

http://www.boat-links.com/Ideal/

John

[On Vacation]

If there was anyone with the complete knowledge of the water related designs and water related paraphenlia, John knows. :D

[dld]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by John Kohnen:
I've got an incomplete index on the designs in the MoToR BoatinG magazine Ideal Series books (mostly be the Atkins) here:

and thanks to your page I have 9 of MoToR BoatinG Magazine's Ideal Series of Books tht are listed on your page and a 10th on order. Your page is a big help in locating what I want "THANKS"

Dana

[Keith Wilson]

The plans from old magzines vary widely. Some were, as Bob says, designed for construction by the ignorant; sort of like predecessors of Bolger Boxes but drawn by folks with nowhere near Bolger's talent. OTOH, there may be a few gems in there - the Dolly Varden by Weston Farmer is a wonderful little outboard boat, originally designed for strip-planking in the old fashion (pre fiberglass). Weston Farmer is not as well known as he should be; his best designs are very good indeed.

[ken mcclure]

There's quite a few plans at the following link, some pretty old.

Free Plans (http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boatlink-05.html#freeplans)

[Dave R]

Thanks for the opinions. some of the plans I've seen seem pretty interesting. Oh well, it's intriguing to see how designs have evolved. Especially those designs that were intended to get the "everyman" out on the water in his own boat.