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Always fair your plank line with a batten. Sight it and plane it and repeat until the curve looks like heaven. Going off predetermined plank marks on templates to actually lay out the shape of the...

EXTENSIVELY discussed on here. Bottom line is that it is no good. On a plywood boat kept in your garage it is probably fine. Other than that just don't do it.

Ok so maybe we should include rigging failure- but I am specifically looking at what part of the mast will subsequently fail, whether caused by rigging failure or otherwise. Things will probably...

Friends,
I am looking for information on the common failures of wooden masts, both hollow and solid. I plan to use a hollow birdsmouth mast for the Maid of Endor I'm building, but it was designed...

http://www.boatdesign.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Lew_s_tender.jpg

http://www.newfound.com/images/rowboats/lawtontenderkit.jpg

Same boat, built both ways. I consider one to be more beautiful...

Here's how I did it. Dovetailed, no half lap. Not even sure what you mean by that. It is very obvious this way that there is no gap, but I'm not even sure a gap would hurt much if the boat is kept in...

John Gardner's Building Classic Small Craft has details on the real version. Show your customer the beauty of a real lapstrake boat with that heritage and they will probably want it instead. Of...

I've got a couple thousand board feet stacked out back and I've noticed that the pith always cracks. Especially in the hardwoods there is guaranteed to be a crack going to the center of the tree in...

I've used wheelbarrow and garden tractor wheels from the big box store with success. This only works if the boat will live on the trailer. For something a little more long lasting in the marine...

Avoid using a shutter if you can, but if you need to use one and have the option of locating it CHOOSE THE EASIEST LOCATION. Usually below the turn of the bilge but before the beginnings of the tuck...

That is a lovely vessel Peter! Maybe its just what I'm used to but I keep tilting my head to impose more drag to the keel. Something to take into account in the discussion about deepening the hull....

http://spirainternational.com/study/TillamookStudy.pdf

On that simple frame setup (two 2x4s fastened at the chine) I'd use the bolts as the clamps to close the glue joint. It doesn't matter...

Nice! I may or may not have a new mast glued up, the old spritsail re-cut into a lug, a mizzen in the making, and plans for flotation chambers for my wherry... And that may or may not be because of...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that ANY boat planked with 2 inch thick planks will not hydrofoil under sail. At all. It is a very rare heavy displacement 30 footer that has that thickness of...

Shoot man. You have my sympathies. Looks like our worries were not without warrant!

Do they hang free in space or do they bevel onto the top of the keel or what? I don't have any experience to back it up but I'd lean towards sealing the endgrain with an epoxy based product and then...

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l545/JMadison1/Framing%20Out/Finalizingthefashiontimbers031_zpse6652495.jpg
...

After half lapping the deck beam to the fashion timber halves, two vertical supports were let into the frame. These strengthen the frame as well as keep the transom planking from having too much...

This is a serious project! I had no idea this kind of work was going on.
http://coronet1885.com/
http://coronet1885.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2012-IMG_2891.jpg
...

He mentioned once that he had a daughter in the Oregon City area. I tried looking up "Zatara's" but didn't have any luck. I don't know her name or if she is even still here. I do wish he'd pop in,...

My university library (Oregon State) has a pretty amazing selection, especially on things that could never be justified on store shelves. Vast collections of industry periodicals and research...

Pushing the boat through the eye of the wind when tacking seems like the best explanation yet.

For a galley it would be great but for bulkheads that receive chainplates I would be skeptical of its tension strength. Never used it though. Anybody have info on the strength properties of the...

Very cool! I really enjoy these updates. Can you tell us more about the paint? What is special about it? Is it meant to go over linseed oil? How many coats are needed? I'm always interested in the...

You mean the air cooled gasoline type? Been talked about on here quite a bit. Never really works out well. Huge amount of noise and heat, not to mention gasoline fumes in the cabin. These engines...

Here is an option, similar to what Nick is saying. This is from Bud McIntosh's book.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l545/JMadison1/breasthook_zpsf61b0fb0.jpg

Not hard to find stock that...

That breasthook has some pretty short grain at the very deep throat. It is further weakened by the fastening hole right at the area of shortest grain. I would look long and hard at your conscience...

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l545/JMadison1/Framing%20Out/DSCN9550_zpsa52d9c47.jpg

After setting for a week the two layers were epoxied together and riveted while still on the jig to...

We have been having some success with that car. The engine is unsiezed and with just a little aerosol motivation it fires right up. The young lady involved is very happy to have it running. We...

The Atkins were fans of those reefing gears. If you don't mind having something not quite original an old bronze winch handle could probably be modified to work without undue fuss. Maybe Ebay? Or...

1/4" is pretty thin. Making the bottom a foot wider might mean the thin ply needs additional athwartships support. It will also need some heavy duty interior stringers and knees to take the load of a...

Always a pleasure to read your updates Ole! I am very excited to see it in the water.

Do you have any pictures of the boat? I have an idea of what a burmudan cutter looks like but I haven't seen one in a long time. Just judging by the tiller I'd sure love to see more.

I don't know- can you picture the poor folks trying to edit his brilliant prose to make it morally acceptable for reprint? You might end up with an embarrassed and moderately aroused editorial staff...

Wood boats don't "dent" to the scale that can be hammered back out from the inside. The butt is damaged. Frames may even be damaged. Refastening the butt block is a minimum of what's needed. Put up...

Those machine gunners look like they'd sink straight to the bottom if they tripped over the camouflaged toe rail.

Do crocs attack boats?

People built boats before epoxy was invented.

Hello Luke!

Thank you for the advice. That is a very compelling argument about potential damage to the mitered corner. If I do run the hull planking over the transom planking how do I assure a...

Here's what I did on a smaller boat:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l545/JMadison1/Backbone/Stem002.jpg

The knee is a stack of laminations bent to the curve with a filler block of solid...

Well I didn't have more than one layers worth of plywood laying around, so I cut that to shape and then bent it to the curve using the radiused pattern. This was placed against the sternpost for a...

Standing there ladling the molten lead for an hour or more in the name of safety seems like it may have missed the point of safety. When I made a similarly sized ballast pour I used this setup:...

That would certainly work, but I am trying to stay away from that type of construction. If I can't make things go together using traditional methods then I will consider it, but planking the transom...

Hey Dorybuilder- I just wanted to stop in and say kudos to you for receiving all this (helpful) criticism as gracefully as you have. Lots of guys blow up and go away when they hear that things aren't...

http://books.google.com/books?id=BYfbxjbfsnoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=how+to+build+a+wooden+boat&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YjRaUcfGIeqziQLB54C4Bg&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA This one has some good info too. It is very...

The points were connected with a very tiny batten. Taking these sharp curves in two planes at once is hard on batten stock.
...

Its finally time. Time to get back to working on what we are all here to see. Work has recommenced on the Maid, and it feels good. I wont even bore you with stories of all the things I've been...

The original decking has sure lasted. Why not do the same thing and be good for another 70 years? The canvas sheathing on top won't last that long, but it very well may outlast you.

Looking good. And just to bring up a point that was made a few posts back, the ceiling as you have installed it is perfectly correct for this type of vessel. As you have seen in the plans, the...

My roommate has plans and offsets for the BB-15. (I'm a bad influence on him.) If I remember right each station has its own page in the offsets. Doesn't explain the 53, but it gets you closer. He...

And I see our very own James McMullen is teaching a course, and so is Sam Devlin. Pretty great class lineup.