a poll on books

[Phillip Allen]

What (needs to be readily available) book on glued, lapstrake construction? The boat size will be about 10 feet.

[NormMessinger]

I've managed with two. Oughtred's and the one called something like Ultralight Boats, the one with a picture of the guy holding a boat over his head with one hand. I've not actually owned the latter but looked at the pictures once.

I keep telling myself I gotta quit building boats or I wont have room in the hanger for the Long EZ. Still I almost bought the new one WoodenBoat published. It's a bit pricy for someone who's trying to go on the wagon but it sure looked good when I broused it.

A senior moment and lazyness precludes me looking up titles at the moment but the WoodenBoat Store has them all.

[Venchka]

One Old Guy helping another...

The author Norm couldn't remember is Tom Hill. That's Tom on the cover holding a wee canoe over his head. I own both books and they are good.

Wayne
Older and soggier by the minute in the Swamp. :D

[Keith Wilson]

I have the same two books. Tom Hill's Ultralight Boatbuilding describes one particular method, and goes into a lot of detail about building a small canoe and a flat-bottom skiff. Iain Oughtred's Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual is more general, has lots of pictures and not as much text, covers more different types of boats, and gives more detail on things other than the basic hull. They are both in print and readily available; you can get them from the WoodenBoat Store, among other places. This (http://used.addall.com/) is the best used book search site I know, with many copies of both. They're both useful; I'd get both if I were just starting. I haven't yet seen John Brooks' long-delayed book on the same subject, but he had a how-to-build series in WB magazine a while back that had some useful information. He has an interesting method of clamping the laps with screws that avoids the need for vast numbers of clamps, although you have to fill all those screw holes afterward.

[ 11-03-2004, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[NormMessinger]

Two old guys helping another. tongue.gif

Brooks's book is not over priced. It's very well done. I'll get it for Christmas unless I'm very careful not to drop a subtle suggestion that I'd like to have it but can't reallly justify it cause I'm out of the boat building business. Why, I could also as easily get the plans for the Beach Pea.

[JimD]

Oughtred's book does not cover lofting, which can be a bit tricky for lapstrake depending on the design, but otherwise is a good book especially as an aid to building one of his books. A more general book such as Rossel's Building Small Boats will be less specific to glued lap but more comprehensive overall and covers lapstrake construction very well if you more or less just add glue.

[almeyer]

I'll add another plug for Oughtred's book; I wore the spine out on mine while building my glued lap daysailer. John Gardner's Dory Book gives some basics on lofting, but if you've got a set of plans designed for a relative beginner, lofting shouldn't be necessary.