newbie

[leatherwood]

A few of my friends and I decided recently to undertake a project that originally sounded absurd and was presented as a passing thought. This idea, of course, was building our own boat for enjoyment during the summer months. As we began to research what this project would ensue, we were disappointed to find out that it was going to cost a large sum of money, especially when looking into boat kits. We began to look even harder for other less expensive options that might present themselves and sure enough, a reasonable boat plan was found that cost a reasonable amount for materials Being college students, the financial burden was something that could not be overlooked and the following plan fit our budget perfectly.
We discovered an old book that was originally published in 1882 called The American Boy’s Handibook that later became a hallmark of the boy scouts. In this book there are simple plans for making flat-boat type vessels that appealed to us and we chose what was called a “floating camp” design. The boat is 14’ long and 6’ wide and had a simple 3’ tall square cabin towards the rear of the boat. After construction, we would like to embark on a float trip down the upper Buffalo River in Arkansas and camp along the way. We are unexperienced in the art of woodworking/boatmaking, and as amateurs we tried to find help.
After looking tediously online for information about traditional methods of boatbuilding that are composed of wood, I finally came upon your site and have found it very helpuful so far; you guys really seem to know what you’re talking about. The boats talked about in this forum are obviously much, much more advanced and complex than our simple flat-boat, but any advice to a beginning boat builder would be very much appreciated.

Here are some questions that arose:

1. Will pine wood rot if it is untreated? If so is there any way to prevent it such as using a sealant of some sort? (This is our main obstacle as we do not know how the water is going to affect the wood)

2.Which is better to use for fastening, nails or screws?

3. The boat plan calls for a watertight hull, but I have been reading a lot about floatation material such as styrafoam. Is this necessary and will it aid in the overall buoyancy of the boat?

[L.W. Baxter]

Neat idea, leatherwood! Build a boat and go camping.

As far as your "pine" goes, that depends on what it is. If you're talking about stuff from Home Depot, you might better move over an aisle to the construction grade dimensional lumber and select the best Douglas Fir you can find. Choose the stuff with relatively tight growth rings, and make sure not to leave any sapwood or pith in your boat. The sapwood is the whiter wood, and the pith is the central core of the tree. Both will rot quickly, but DF heartwood will last a while.

There are all kinds of chemical preservatives you can apply if you want to, but I'll leave that for others to comment on.

The plans you are looking at call for nails, I'd wager, and they will do fine. Hot dipped galvanized hold very well.

Adding floatation is an excellent idea, possibly even a legal requirement. It will definitely help the boat float better if water gets in somehow, which is liable to happen at some point. ;)

Your plan sounds good to me.

--Lee

[Wild Dingo]

Cause you could always build it and slather the hell out of it with epoxy and then fibreglass the whole shootin match! :eek:

Well yer could! tongue.gif

Yer could also do the Huck Finn thing and just bung em together and rope the lot together and hope for the best... mmm slather the boards as you bung em together with paint or varnish whatever handy then let dry set sail and hope for the best!

Well yer could!!! :eek:

Then again the distructions that come in the book if anything like the old Mechanics and MotorBoating books will have directions on how to put it all together... just follow em! Bet yer a bloke eh? Blokes cant read manuals or follow directions can we! :D

okay okay shut up yer mad dingo! :rolleyes:

[maa. melee]

Don't fuss too much about the little things. Build it anyway you can and have fun doing it. Your bound to get some great stories out of the whole experience (like the time I sat on the over turned lid of a tar barrel). Use screws on the floors, because I know college kids can be rough on boat floors (I know because I'm one of them). Sail her and have fun. When she rots, build a new and better one and start all over.

[Neville Striker]

I saw a pbs or learning channel special on a group of kids about your ages who did something similar and took a raft trip up the kennebec? River in Alaska. They used 55 gallon plastic drums as the flotation and built a very stable raft platform around them. It was a very interesting trip and craft. I wish I could remember where I aw it, because I would like to read more about it. The raft option in my opinion would be better suited to what you have in mind.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

The intended purpose of this diatribe is to suggest that you get a plan, not only for a boat, but for travel on this river.
Your problem is as much understanding the Buffalo River as it is coming up with a boat.
Unless a river is very deep and languid it can present problems like rapids, snags, boulders, rising and falling water levels etc., that must be considered. You have to be able to steer around or thru' problems or get off the water and carry your equipment around them.
Since none of us know what this 1885 craft looks like we can only guess as to how it will handle, how much water it will draw, how much it weighs and if it is suitable for it's intended purpose.
Think this over thouroughly.
Even when the water is flowing in your direction it is not always your friend.
Charlie

[Keith Wilson]

The trouble with using plans from 1882 is that the cheap and readily available materials have changed a lot since then. Good white pine and even white oak was once cheap and common; now it's not. Plywood was unknown, screws were fairly rare and expensive, reliable waterproof glue was nonexistent. Things are very different now.

A couple of suggestions: For an inexpensive temporary boat (five or ten years) construction-grade fir or yellow pine plywood will work fine, and will be a lot less hassle than trying to duplicate 1880s construction methods. Fir or pine construction lumber is generally usable as long as you pick through the piles for good boards and avoid hemlock, which rots. Build heavy to compensate for poor wood and possible rot. Square-drive galvanized deck screws are cheap and common, will last a very long time in fresh water, and hold a hell of a lot better than nails. (They have the added advantage of being easy to remove if you make a mistake.) Weldwood plastic resin glue or PL Premium construction adhesive will work, although the more-expensive epoxy is better for critical applications. Latex porch and floor paint is good enough; marine paint is costly all out of proportion to its superiority.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

we were disappointed to find out that it was going to cost a large sum of money Oh what the hell, just start building it, then somehow the magical boat fairy will zap any concern you ever had about spending money out of your head never to return.... ;)

[maa. melee]

I might undertake one of those temporary boats in the future but how long would some good SYP from...that orange store...last out on the water?

[Keith Wilson]

. . . how long would some good SYP from...that orange store . . . last out on the water? Well, I made a Bolger Gypsy skiff with ACX fir and (gasp!) polyester resin 14 years ago, I painted it with oil-based house paint,and it's still going strong, despite indifferent care. The mast, made from 2x4s and glued with Weldwood, had to be reglued two years ago, and the daggerboard rotted and had to be replaced (painted crappy plywood, no glass), but the hull's fine. I suppose it depends on the use. If you want to build a boat and sail off to Bora Bora, or to build something to pass down to your great-grandchildren, you have to use the good stuff. If you want to build a cheap and quick boat to have fun in for a few summers, use what you can afford.

How long would it last? Anyhere from a couple of years to longer than any of us will care about, depending on how it's cared for.

[ssor]

Down there in Memphis you should be able to find a saw mill cutting nice clear longleaf pine. If it is free of sapwood it will last long enough for you to get tired of it. Of course it won't be down in the night club district. You might have to just try one of the older lumber yards. Not one of those that even looks new. One of those that has piles of wood tucked way back against the fence and an old hound laying on the porch and maybe even a bell that rings when you push the door open.