DIY plywood boats. Homemade boat: is it worth taking on and which one, from what, manufacturing options, diagrams, theory. Materials and drawing

The punt-type boat is made of planks and plywood. No scarce materials are required for its manufacture. For the hull of a homemade boat, select dry boards 25 mm thick and plywood 6 mm thick. The boards for the sides and stern should have a width of 305 mm. All parts located inside the boat (stern seat, middle seat and struts) are made of 25 mm thick boards and have the same length - 864 mm. It should be noted that the dimensions of these parts must be maintained very precisely, since they are attached to the body only with screws.

The parts of a homemade plywood boat have the simplest geometric shape, and their manufacture is unlikely to cause any difficulties for anyone. Pay special attention to the precise fit of mating surfaces and the assembly and painting of the boat. The joined edges must be carefully adjusted and have minimal gaps along the entire length. To fasten all parts, it is advisable to use galvanized or tinned screws. The casing should be fastened with short screws 3x18 and 3x26, other parts (for example, sides with stern, seats, etc.) with screws 4x60 and 5x64.

The bottom of a homemade boat is made of 6 mm thick plywood. To ensure the waterproofness of the boat, the joints of the hull with the bottom should be made with preliminary application of VIAM-B/3 type glue and secured with screws along the entire perimeter with a pitch of 40 mm. If purchasing VIAM-B/3 glue turns out to be difficult for you, then using thickly grated oil paint for these purposes can give quite satisfactory results. Although the paint has very weak adhesive properties, when reinforced with additional fasteners, it provides a fairly strong and waterproof connection. It is advisable to glue the seams on the outside with percale or canvas using AK-20 glue.

A grid of slats with a cross section of 50x20 mm should be laid on the bottom of the plywood boat between the spacers so as not to press the bottom with your feet.

Specification of parts for a homemade plywood boat

The final and, perhaps, the most important operation is painting a homemade plywood boat. The boat must be primed before painting. The primer is made with natural drying oil. For better absorption into the wood, the drying oil should be heated until it begins to boil. Apply drying oil with a thick brush both outside and inside the boat. After the primer has completely dried, the boat is painted. To make the boat look elegant, the best combination would be red up to the waterline and the rest white. The inside can be painted light green.

To obtain a red color, use red lead, and lead or zinc white will give a white color. The paint should be diluted very thinly on clean drying oil in such a way as to paint the boat 2-3 times. Liquid paint spreads better and gives a more even and durable coating. Painting should be done with wide, soft brushes.

For a homemade plywood boat, you can use any suitable oar or make it according to the dimensions given in Fig. 3.

The oar is made from birch boards 35 mm thick. File a spike at the end of the oar spindle and attach a handle (K) to it. Edge the edge of the oar blade with a brass trim.

To prevent water from draining, put a rubber ring on the oar spindle.

The oar of a homemade plywood boat also needs to be soaked in drying oil and painted.

Specialized stores offer a fairly large number of boats designed for fishing or tourism. On sale you can find products of various shapes and sizes, but drawings of motor boats made of plywood, which are in the public domain, allow you to make such a vessel with your own hands literally from scratch.

So why don’t you try your hand and build a boat with your own hands from plywood; you will find drawings and all the recommendations for construction in this article.

If you still doubt the advisability of using a material such as plywood for boat construction, check out its main advantages.

Advantages of plywood sheets:

1. A boat made of plywood, the drawings and patterns of which are made correctly, will have a very light, but at the same time quite durable structure, because laminated veneer has much less weight than solid wood.
2. The structure will have excellent stability, since the plywood sheets have clear geometric proportions, allowing for impeccable installation.
3. Low costs when purchasing the necessary materials, namely: plywood boards, specialized adhesive composition, boards, compositions for priming.

Note! Any person with at least basic carpentry skills will need no more than one or a day and a half to make a boat from plywood with their own hands; a drawing with patterns can be purchased in a store or drawn up independently using our recommendations.

Selection of tools and materials

The modern market provides customers with a huge selection of specialized varnish and adhesive compositions, all kinds of impregnations designed for working with plywood products. To make a boat from this material you do not need to look for special tools and devices.

The list of necessities includes:

1. Plywood boards. Birch plywood, the thickness of which is 0.5 cm, is suitable for the structure; for the manufacture of the keel and frames you will need thick slabs of about 1.2-1.5 cm.
2. Wood used to install internal spacers and work on boat sides and seats. It is best if you buy edged boards made from light wood, such as pine or spruce. However, each of these materials has its own characteristics. For example, spruce has a higher water resistance rating than pine and its wood appears whiter, so it is most often used for sheathing. But spruce boards also have their drawbacks; they can split as a result of hammering nails.
3. Material for seam fastening of individual cladding parts. The material used is flexible thin wire, plastic clamps, thick nylon fishing line, etc.
4. An adhesive composition used to seal seams. Experts recommend using compositions based on polymer resins.
5. Specialized impregnation and varnish compositions for wood protection.
6. Fiberglass used as a protective material for seams.
7. Waterproof dye.

Note! To make a boat with your own hands, purchase only high-quality materials. Plywood should not have any damage or defects on its surface that could affect the reliability of your product. The cost of purchasing high-quality material is much higher, but safety is much more important.

Tools:

• a saw designed for working with wooden surfaces;
• jigsaw and a set of blades for it;
• Sander;
• hammer;
• fixing clamps for securing plywood during installation;
• varnishing and coloring compositions, as well as brushes for their application.

Initial stage of work: drawing up drawings

If you have not yet decided how to make a boat from plywood, drawings play an important role in this matter, so you need to start the process of making your product with them.

The first thing your drawing of a plywood boat should take into account is the features of the future vessel. Do not forget to indicate for yourself the purposes for which your vessel will be used. For example, do you want to make a boat that has a flat bottom for fishing or do you want to design a motorized vessel for tourism.

Note! In this article you can find ready-made drawings of boats for self-building from plywood with different design features. You can use these options to avoid making mistakes in your calculations.

If you did not find the option you need among the presented samples, then you can try to design the vessel according to your own scheme. So that as a result of your work you do not end up with a decorative version of the vessel, which is simply impossible to fully operate, place the main emphasis in your calculations on the carrying capacity.

Studying existing projects that have been successfully implemented will help you navigate the first stage.

You can use the drawings and videos presented here to make a plywood boat with your own hands. This video review examines the manufacturing technology of a simple design that even a beginner can handle.

After you have selected the appropriate version of the boat, you need to transfer the contours of its main parts onto paper. To make it more convenient for you to work with plywood after this, you can make a paper template.

All the most important parameters of the boat should be included in the drawing:

• product size;
• width;
• height of the structure;
• shape of the main parts.

The design of the boat hull may seem complicated at first glance, but if you follow all the recommendations, the result will not be long in coming.

Execution technology:

• Using a saw or jigsaw, complete all the design details according to your drawing. The permissible error in dimensions is 1 mm, otherwise you will end up with inconsistencies in parts during assembly.
• The parts of the rear side and frames are glued together to provide the structure with the required level of strength and thickness. Despite the fact that these elements will have a lot of weight after gluing, this fact will not affect the quality of the design you are performing.

• To make the connections holding the transoms and frames very strong, you can use fastening elements, such as self-tapping screws. It is very important to calculate their length: the fastening element must fully connect the parts, but not pass through them. The surface of the screws must be galvanized or tinned. The parameters of the screws required for the work are 3x25 mm and 2x18 mm; for the seats, stern and sides, 5x60 mm and 4x60 mm self-tapping screws are used.
• To make your work easier, make goats from 5x5 cm beams. During the installation process, it will be more convenient to place the transom on them.
• The sides and bottom of the structure are attached to the transom so that they meet each other at the bow.

• If you are using not very thick plywood, then all the cladding parts can be fixed using joint material or adhesive. If you use glue, the edges of the parts where the joint area will be located must be cut at an angle.
• Make sure that all parts of the boat match each other in size. If you need to reduce the gap, you will have to re-disassemble the structure and trim the frames in some places.
• In those designs where the presence of a motor is provided, the transom must be glued with fiberglass and strengthened by fastening boards made of hard wood.

Upon completion of the rough assembly, all parts are glued and fixed. When the adhesive composition has completely dried, the surface of the boat should be degreased, impregnated with a composition intended for treating boats, the unevenness should be filled, applied with hot drying oil and covered with a coloring composition.

A boat is an indispensable thing if you want to go fishing or just spend time with friends or family on the river. This is a great device for a walk or even a whole water adventure that you can do yourself.

If you are interested in the technology by which you make a punt boat from plywood with your own hands, the drawings presented in this article and the recommendations will be useful to you in your work.

Making a simple boat from plywood is the most budget-friendly way to get a boat. To do this, you just need to stock up on everything you need, including tools and drawings, and also show a little patience and diligence. Otherwise, making such a product will not be difficult for you, the main thing is to strictly follow the prepared drawing.

What do you need for work?

The material on which the structure is created is, of course, plywood. It consists of veneer layers glued with phenolic glue, which are pressed in production. There are several types, but not every type of plywood is suitable for making a boat with your own hands.

Note! The highest quality and waterproof plywood is marked FSF. It is usually made of birch veneer. When using it, you can achieve reliability and quality from your future product. As a result, you will spend significantly less effort on sanding and finishing your boat.

If for some reason you do not have the opportunity to get plywood of a high-quality brand, buying not very high-quality products, pay special attention to the execution of the end parts on the sheets. The absence of through cracks, knots, holes and defects is a sign of a good material.

The quality of the chosen plywood will depend on:

• the quality level of the product itself;
• performance characteristics of the boat;
• cost of finishing work;
• time spent on finishing work;
• volumes of required material;
• number of seams in the finished boat.

Therefore, you must treat your choice with maximum responsibility. Some parts of your flat-bottomed boat may require blocks or boards, preferably dry and completely free of any flaws or damage.

To cover the boat, fiberglass is used, sold in rolls. You can cut it into pieces of the required size, which will be convenient for gluing joints and seams. A solid piece will be more appropriate for processing the bottom.

Varnish, glue and paint are used to protect the boat from moisture. It is best if the varnish is ship-grade and the paint is not water-based.

To make brackets for your boat, you can use plastic clamps and copper wire. Any other material will also work, which can then be easily removed.

List of tools:

• electric jigsaw and a set of files for it;
• sander;
• hammer and plane;
• clamp;
• tape measure for measurements, a metal ruler and a simple pencil for marking;
• brushes for applying varnish and glue;
• spray gun for working with paint;
• a spatula that will help level the fiberglass during the gluing procedure.

Boat manufacturing work: splicing method

After you have selected the appropriate drawings and prepared all the necessary tools, you can begin making the boat.

Note! In the event that you cannot find the plywood of the size required for your boat, it can be joined together using plywood miter splicing technology.

Sheet splicing technology:

1. Sheets of material must be laid on top of each other, mark a line of the mustache (its length is ten to twelve thicknesses of a plywood sheet).
2. To obtain an even and high-quality result, it is recommended to secure the material using clamps and a limit bar. It is along this bar that the mustache will be formed. Make sure that you do not have sharp changes in the length of this line.
3. The formed mustache must be sanded with a machine to an ideal state, constantly combining and adjusting the sheets.
4. An adhesive composition is applied to the mustache area, after which the plywood sheets must be stacked on top of each other with the treated surfaces and secured with clamps, placing weights on top to ensure complete gluing.
5. Excess glue must be removed immediately, without waiting for it to dry.
6. After the glue has dried, you can remove the clamps and leave the product alone for 24 hours until the glue completely hardens.

The remaining glue must be sanded off with sandpaper to even out the seam and make it less noticeable.

First, you need to mark the bottom on plywood, having first laid it out on a flat surface. Based on your drawing, draw the centerline of the boat, after which you can place a grid on the basis of which the contours of the future product are marked.

To ensure a tight fit of the joints, chamfers can be made at the edges of the plywood junction. A grinding machine is suitable for this. After this, you can sew the parts together using staples and clamps. The procedure should begin from the stern, gradually moving to the bow of the boat, slowly bending the plywood. Both the sides and the transom are secured.

The next stage is checking the geometric dimensions of the structure. After which you need to tighten the clamps more tightly, place spacers in the places where the frames are mounted to fix all the parts.

The seams are glued from the inside of the product. To do this, you need to take glue and fiberglass, which must be cut in advance into strips 7 cm wide. Using a brush, apply the adhesive to the joint, glue the fiberglass and level it with a spatula, removing bubbles and wrinkles. The seams need to be taped two or three times.

After the seams have dried, you need to secure the fender bars, which should run along the upper edge of the structure. And the frames are fixed on the inside. The transom should be reinforced with pads. The fasteners are removed from the outside of the bottom, the structure is modified with a sander and glued at the joints with fiberglass.

Finally, let the boat dry, paint it and cover it with a layer of varnish.

Captain Vrungel believed that whatever you name the ship, it will sail. We will not argue with the old, proven sea wolf, but we will still put forward our opinion - the more carefully and carefully you prepare the drawings of a plywood boat with your own hands, so it will serve you for many years and in any weather. It is the drawings of the vessel that will determine all your future decisions.

They are the ones who will introduce you to this world of shipbuilding, where Anglo-Dutch terminology rules. And understanding the terminology of boat design elements, and therefore successfully reading the proposed drawing, is fundamentally important.

According to the old axiom, start from the stove

Indeed, terminology, if you are throwing yourself into such a bottomless field as boat building, is of great and crucial importance. We bring to your attention its fundamentals regarding the design of boats, which appear everywhere in the drawings.

Terminology

Therefore, understand these terms very carefully; they literally permeate any worthwhile drawing of a boat made of any material.

In the side view we note the following structural elements of the boat, and it is impossible to say which of them is most important, which is less important, all elements are required to be used:

• A – frame. You can choose the option of an ordinary punt, without frames, but when it comes to such an aspiration thrown on the Internet as “do-it-yourself plywood boat drawings”, the reliability and strength of the structure comes to the fore, which means frames are required;
• Spacing is the distance between two frames. The most important characteristic of the design of any boat;
• B - sternpost;
• C - stem;
• D – beam
• E – keelson. A very desirable design element, which, however, is often discarded for boats;
• F – fender. You cannot do without this element if you are going to add a superstructure to the boat. For open models, the fender is not used.
• I – breshtuk. We strongly advise you not to neglect this element; the strength of the entire structure greatly depends on it.
• J – book. The bracket is also extremely important in ensuring the strength of the boat.
• K – stringer. It is also an indispensable element if you approach construction with the utmost care.

The top view introduces a few more important terms:

• A – beam;
• B – half beam. Goes into a full beam if you do not build a superstructure on the boat;
• C – karengs;
• D – midsection.

The view from the forecastle introduces terms that will be fundamentally important at a more advanced stage of construction, when it becomes necessary to strengthen the hull of the boat and install a sail and keel, also improving sailing performance:

• A – tongue and groove belts;
• B – keel. By ensuring the keel weight is 50 percent of the weight of the entire boat, you significantly increase its stability. After all, you never know how the rolling will affect you or future passengers, and a solid supply of sucking sweets and even ginger can do little to prolong the pleasure of being on the water, except to quickly get to the shore;
• C – steps. Mandatory if you are putting up a mast;
• D – tongue and groove;
• E – partners. This is the name of the hole in the superstructure for the passage of the mast. Of course, if you don’t have an add-on, then you can forget about partners for now;
• F – velhout. A very important sheet pile belt at the level of the waterline, water;
• H – shearstrek. The topmost tongue and groove belt.
• G – water level;
• I – waterweiss. This element is already an element of the add-in.

Plywood

The most common material for making boats today is, of course, carbon fiber. But this material is the domain of industry. When it comes to independent creativity, such “folk” material as plywood comes to the fore..

Plywood, or in other words, wood-laminated board, is a building material created by gluing together specially produced veneer. Usually the number of veneer layers is odd and, in any case, more than 3. To increase the strength of plywood, each subsequent layer of veneer with its wood fibers is perpendicular to the fibers of the previous layer. Frames are the basis of any floating craft. Drawings of plywood boats that claim to be something more than the title of punt must have a separate option - the location of the frames

Characteristics of plywood

When choosing plywood for boat construction, it is very important to choose the right type.

Based on the arrangement of wood fibers on the outer layers, plywood is distinguished:

• Longitudinal, when the fibers are directed along the long side, and,
• Transverse - along the short one.

To build a boat, it is better to choose a longitudinal one.
Of course, such an isometric drawing is also possible, but this is the simplest option for the “free plywood boat drawings” section - there are no frames, and the work is in many ways similar to assembling a children’s construction set, except that the parts are tens of times larger

By purpose, plywood is divided into:

• construction,
• industrial,
• packaging,
• furniture, and
• structural – this is exactly what we choose for our purposes.

There is a classification of plywood in relation to the effects of moisture, which is fundamentally important for a boat:

• FBA is like this, but you shouldn’t choose it, it doesn’t meet the strict requirements for moisture resistance;
• FC – this is the designation for plywood that is sufficiently resistant to moisture;
• FSF - and so, with increased moisture resistance;
• FB – impregnated with bakelite varnish, such plywood is considered the most resistant and can be used even in aggressive environments, which is important in our case, and under water;
• BS - this one is simply impregnated with bakelite glue. Consider that if you have such plywood at your disposal, then the success of the whole business is 50% guaranteed. This type of plywood has been specifically used in aircraft and shipbuilding for quite a long time. It happily combines all the qualities necessary for a boat craftsman - excellent flexibility, highest strength, complete waterproofness, and also resistance to rotting and deterioration;
• BV - but don’t be fooled by this one, it is in many ways similar to BS, but does not have moisture resistance.

Helpful advice!
When choosing plywood for boat construction, we recommend paying attention to laminated plywood.
At the very least, it will be just great if you use one as tongue and groove belts or on the outside of the case if it is single-layer.
This will greatly improve the driving performance of your creation, because water is a medium in which frictional force plays a significant role.
On the other hand, you should not use laminated plywood inside the boat.
Its slippery surface itself, and even wetted with water, can cause a lot of trouble.

Principal characteristics

When it comes to using plywood to build a boat, it is important to choose plywood based on its quality, determined by the number of knots per square meter of the outer layer.

There are 5 quality levels here:

• E – so-called elite quality, when there are no knots at all. It is probably unnecessary to say that it is always necessary to strive to choose just such plywood;
• Well, then, a simple classification of quality - I, II, III and IV. In the latter case, the number of knots is not controlled.
• I – maximum length of knots and warping does not exceed 20 mm;
• II - cracks no more than 200 mm, wood inserts are permissible, and glue leakage is permissible only on an area of ​​2% of the total sheet area;
• III – no more than 10 pieces of knots with a diameter of no more than 6 mm. There is even a limit on the total number of deficiencies - no more than 9;
• IV – this is the worst quality with even fallen knots and edge defects of up to 5 mm.

Operating conditions requirements

Most likely, for building a boat you will choose as the most common one. There is also birch plywood, but its use is limited by too high a price.

Another thing is very important here - the quality of processing of the outer surface of the plywood sheet.

Based on this indicator, plywood is distinguished:

• NS – unpolished;
• Ш1 – polished on one side;
• Ш2 - polished on both sides.

Here it is fundamental and mandatory to use the sanded side of the plywood on the outside of the body. It is advisable, for safety reasons, not to use the polished side on the inside.

Dimensions

A natural characteristic of any sheet of plywood is its size.

The industry, according to standards, produces sheets of the following four sizes:

• 1525 x 1525 mm;
• 1220 x 2440 mm;
• 1500 x 3000 mm;
• 1525 x 3050 mm.

Your choice will largely depend on the size of the boat.

Helpful advice!
All the given characteristics of plywood must be indicated in the specification of the boat drawings.
Under no circumstances agree to purchase the proposed boat drawings if they are not accompanied by a detailed explanatory note describing all the nuances of manufacturing, and most importantly, the choice of type of plywood.
The drawings must indicate the degree of processing of the external sides of the housing.
In this regard, the grinding machine will be one of the most in demand in your work.

conclusions

Building a boat is a fascinating creative process for people who still like to live, who are not afraid to experiment and have a design streak. (see also) But, on the other hand, you shouldn’t reinvent the wheel; be sure to familiarize yourself with all the photo materials, study the terminology and various design solutions.

Prepare yourself for possible reworking of unsuccessful decisions. Know how to “talk to yourself” and communicate with experienced masters. Only in this case is the success of the entire enterprise called “building a plywood boat with your own hands” possible.

In the video presented in this article you will find additional information on this topic.

1. Organizational issues
2. What's a yes and a no?
3. Which one should I do?
4. Basic truths
5. Materials
6. How to make a boat?
7. Supply
8. Examples of projects
9. Finally

A boat on the farm may be needed not only for fishing, hunting or recreation on the water. In sparsely populated regions with a developed network of waterways, admiralspb.com pvc boats are a necessity, and in populated areas, the production and rental of watercraft is a profitable business. Everyone knows how boatmen make money at resorts. However, in trade classifiers, small vessels are not classified as goods whose pricing is subject to regulation. Therefore, the question: is this even possible, and how to make a boat with your own hands is quite popular. The answer to the first question is clear: yes, and much simpler than is commonly believed. A good, roomy, reliable and seaworthy boat can be made away from the water without a boathouse or slipway, in any room of suitable size. And how - there is this article about this.

In the preparation of materials for this publication, the books “300 tips on boats, boats and motors” were of great help. Compiled and scientific editor G. M. Novak L. Shipbuilding 1974, “Boats, boats and motors in questions and answers” ​​Handbook ed. G. M. Novak. L. Shipbuilding 1977 and “Kurbatov D. A. 15 projects of ships for amateur construction” L. Shipbuilding 1986. The author expresses deep gratitude to the authors of these informative manuals. Further in the hints for the illustrations they are designated “H74”, “H77” and “K.”, respectively. As for the years of publication, have the waters and winds changed since then? Today's ships are built and sail according to the same laws, only modern materials and computer technology allow them to be used more fully.

Organizational issues

The reader probably already has some questions: is it really that simple? Build it and float? With your wife, kids, passengers, at sea in a storm? Depending on the circumstances, you may need a wake on your rigid hull boat. documents and supplies:

• A boat just for yourself, a small non-navigable body of water - sales receipts for used materials in case you need to prove that they were not stolen. A small body of water is considered to be a body of water in which the distance from the shore is possible no more than 500 m, and the boat is only for one person;
• A boat for yourself, a navigable body of water of any size - additionally a certificate of the right to operate a small boat (analogous to a license for motor vehicles) and a certificate of its registration. Both are issued by local transport (water) inspection authorities. On board the boat, its registration number must be indicated in the prescribed form;
• The same as in paragraphs. 1 and 2, the boat can have free passengers - except for the documents under paragraphs. 1 and 2 also a life jacket for each person on board and a mandatory minimum set of supplies, see below;
• Everything is the same, but passengers or cargo are paid - additionally a license for the right to transport passengers or cargo by water;
• Everything according to paragraphs. 1-4, sailing boat or sail-motor boat, incl. with a complete emergency sail - in addition, a yacht helmsman’s certificate or other certificate for the right to operate a sailing vessel;
• The boat was made for sale, not serial - a license for the right to produce small watercraft.

It must be said that on non-navigable water bodies, violations under paragraphs. 1-3 are widespread, and in sparsely populated areas - endemic. The water inspection has neither the legal nor the organizational and technical capabilities to get there. Therefore, claims against the owner of the vessel arise or criminal prosecution begins only after the consequences of the accident.

What's a yes and a no?

There are countless designs of small vessels, but for a novice amateur when choosing a prototype need to be guided by the following. considerations that a homemade boat must satisfy:

1. The boat must be built according to a proven design and/or with full consideration of the vital provisions of the theory of the ship, the rules of shipbuilding and navigation, see below;
2. The boat must be reliable, i.e. strong, durable, stable, spacious in weight and volume, sufficiently seaworthy for the given sailing conditions and at the same time controllable in waves, currents in a river and in a shallow overgrown reservoir;
3. The boat must be light enough so that the owner can pull it ashore or launch it alone, and, with an adult and moderately developed assistant, load it for transportation;
4. The technology for building a boat should not include operations that require special qualifications or production equipment, but should forgive the mistakes of a beginner and the replacement of standard materials and manufacturing methods available in the given circumstances;
5. It is desirable that the boat can move well and stay on the wave with oars, under a motor and sail - to save fuel and have a complete beneficial rest;
6. The costs of building a boat should be minimal;
7. If the boat is stored away from a body of water, it is highly desirable that it meets the requirements for cartop vessels, i.e. allowed transportation on the top trunk of a passenger car.

Based on all the qualities, in addition to the price of materials, the best choice for your first vessel would be a plywood boat. The boardwalk will cost approx. half the price, but it will be the same number of times heavier and will last much less, except for the option with a thin-walled steel bottom, see below. Homemade fiberglass boats are expensive and difficult to build, although they are reliable and durable. Taking into account all these conditions, the following are not considered further:

• All-metal welded and riveted boats.
• Planing ships.
• Small pleasure catamarans.
• Boats made of foam plastic, plastic bottles, pontoon boats and rectangular planks, etc. exotic.
• Inflatable boat.

The reasons for this “truncation” are as follows. All-metal homemade vessels are not inspected or registered by transport inspection bodies due to the fact that it is technically impossible to ensure their proper reliability in makeshift conditions.

Building a speedboat is not for a beginner. The standard dynamic loads on the planing hull are high, and you can take it on after making sure that your first boat still floats well. Although, I must say, with some experience, at home it is quite possible to build a cartop boat that goes on planing on a small wave with an engine of only 3.5-6 hp, see for example. track. video.

Video: an example of a homemade planing boat and its testing

A small catamaran, let the reader know, is easier to build than a boat of equal capacity, and the restrictions on the choice of materials for it are milder; for example, polystyrene foam can be widely used. On the bridge of the catamaran (the platform connecting the float hulls) you can stand, walk, tumble as you like, you can put up a tent there and even cook a barbecue. However, a catamaran is not a boat and the issue of homemade catamarans requires separate consideration.

Exotic boats made from scrap materials are simply dangerous. For example, a monohull boat made of foam plastic will turn out to be either something extremely fragile, suitable for swimming only in a fenced “paddling pool”, or an almost uncontrollable raft, highly susceptible to drift by current or wind.

As for inflatable boats, the enthusiasm for them is explained, in addition to the possibility of carrying on oneself, by the fact that in order to register a purchased “rubber” boat on a navigable body of water, it is enough to present a manufacturer’s certificate, and even then the water inspection turns a blind eye to it. However, this in no way applies to homemade inflatable boats.

At the same time, it is enough to look at the patterns of a simple inflatable boat (see Fig.) to be convinced: properly gluing its seams in artisanal conditions is much more difficult than building a more spacious and reliable boat with a rigid hull, and quality materials for a soft plastic boat will cost much more than the best plywood and epoxy glue.

But the most important thing: without special equipment, it is generally impossible to reliably (without the possibility of inspection) glue safety bulkheads into the cylinder. A homemade “elastic band” will be single-cylinder: suddenly there is a hole, and you are not wearing a life jacket, it is far from the shore, or the reservoir is very overgrown - you will only have to mentally take stock of your life. For its end is near.

Note: If you absolutely want to glue your boat, not build it, then it’s better to make it from... scraps of water pipes. Such a boat cannot be blown away and hidden in a backpack, but it will be unsinkable. How to make a boat from PVC pipes, see the video below.

Video: example of a homemade boat made from PVC pipes

Which one should I do?

There are also many designs of plywood and plank boats that do not require production conditions for construction; People have been swimming since time immemorial. Let's try to decide how a novice shipbuilder/navigator can navigate this diversity. For example, boats such as a canoe (item 1 in the figure), kayak, canoes or domestic boats are very fast, very seaworthy and at the same time are not afraid of overgrown shallow waters. However, managing them requires not just experience, but great art. In terms of the number of drownings among beginners, canoe-type boats are firmly in the top ranking among small boats. In addition, such boats with a rigid skin are technologically complex, because their contours are double curvature.

The Russian fofan boat (item 2) is no less legendary in its reliability than the American dory (see below), but it is very stable, roomy, and can be driven by a green newbie. The twisted contours in the bow make the fofan well able to ride waves when fully loaded, and together with the “pot-bellied” hull, gentle contours in the stern and a recessed transom, it is capable of traveling quite quickly, up to 20 km/h or more, under a fairly powerful engine in transitional (semi-planing) ) mode. But, as we see, the contours of the fofan are also doubly curved, and it is heavy: to move the fofan, you need at least 2-3 strong men.

The Russian tuzik pleasure-fishing boat (item 3; Russian because there is also an American dinghi tuzik boat, see below) is light, but again with double-curvature contours. The same applies to the sea sailing boat, pos. 5, although under sail she stays steadily on course on a 4-point wave, and it is possible to pull her ashore alone.

Bend once!

So, we have decided on one more requirement for a homemade plywood boat: its contours must be single curvature, i.e. The surfaces forming the body must be curved planes. For small, quiet inland waters, the optimal choice would be a skiff-type punt boat, pos. 5. Scythians in such conditions have proven themselves to be the most reliable ships. In addition, skiff boats are cheap, easy to build, and lightweight: a 4-meter skiff with a galvanized bottom can be lifted and loaded by one person. An additional advantage for these sailing conditions is that the skiffs handle well in currents and in overgrown reservoirs. There is simply nothing for water or algae to grab onto.

Note: Contrary to popular belief, a skiff boat can sail perfectly, see below. But - only on calm water! In rough weather, the skiff, like any shallow-draft punt, becomes dangerous - the wave hits the bottom, knocking the vessel off course and trying to capsize.

In slightly more difficult sailing conditions, with waves up to 2-3 points, a dinghy boat will be optimal. In appearance, dinghies can be easily recognized by the bow transom-forestpigel and the keeled (as they say, having a transverse V) bottom, pos. 6. The latter allows the dinghi to ascend the wave more easily, and the forespire makes the ratio of capacity to overall dimensions and dead weight of the dinghi almost a record. Thanks to this, the dinghi is the most popular weekend boat among residents of places remote from the water: a 2-3-seater dinghi on the top trunk fits into the dimensions of a passenger car, and can weigh less than 50 kg. Technologically, a dinghy is even simpler than a skiff - it can be assembled by sewing plywood (see below) simply on the floor of an apartment.

The sailing dinghy (item 7) is quite safe, but very nimble, and is therefore an excellent vessel for initial sailing training. Once you have learned how to control one, you can safely move on to the tiller/wheel and sheets of a large yacht. In the USSR, “Goldfish” dinghies were widely used to train teenage cadets in yacht clubs.

Note: in coastal areas you can often find seaworthy, sharp-nosed dingas. Outwardly, they look like a fofan compressed along its length (pos. 8), but in fact the hydrodynamics and mechanics of their hull are almost the same as those of a dinghy with a forespigel.

Finally, if you live by the sea or a large inland lake, know big water and want to finally build a boat for it with your own hands, then you should choose a dory. Dory boats are truly ocean-going. Newfoundland fishermen have caught and continue to catch fish with them 280 and even 400 km from the coast. The seaworthiness and reliability of the dory are phenomenal: there are many cases where large, reliable ships were wrecked in a severe storm, and the dory then returned home safely in the same waters.

Dory boats are known in 2 modifications: purely rowing and sailing (pos. 9). To drive a bank dory, you need to be a thoroughly salted sailor since childhood, because... their static stability is low. A sailing dory is not so capricious; a beginner who knows the basics of how a vessel moves under sail can learn to sail it. In addition, it is possible to install a motor in a well on a sailing dory. Equipping a boat with a motor well is, of course, more difficult than strengthening the transom for the motor (see below), but the motor and propeller will be better protected from damage, and repairing the motor on the water will be possible without fear of drowning a part or tool.

Basic truths

To make a boat correctly, you need to choose a technically competent design suitable for the given sailing conditions and available resources. To choose a project, you need to know at least the very basics of ship theory, small shipbuilding, navigation and maritime practice on small ships. So let's start with theory.

Sales rate

The performance of a displacement vessel is determined by the Froude number Fr. Physically, it means that with an increase in Fr, the length of the bow wave of the ship increases rapidly, see figure:

In this case, most of the engine power or sail thrust is spent on maintaining it. The engine goes into “fuel guzzling” mode, at the same time quickly burning its resource, and the sail, as a rule, is not capable of pulling the ship to Fr>0.3. Hence the important conclusion: do not try to increase the speed of the boat by installing an overly powerful motor on it. You will only make sailing more dangerous and waste your money on fuel. If the boat design does not indicate the recommended motor power, it can be determined from the table. on the trail. rice.

Moving at a value of Fr that is too high for a given hull is also dangerous: the boat may appear to be hanging on the crests of neighboring waves, or it will tend to slide back from the bow wave and bury its stern in the water. If, frightened by a wave rising in front of the bow, you sharply release the gas, the boat will be flooded from the stern by the next wave coming in: once formed, the waves move according to their own laws.

Just by looking at the theoretical drawing you can estimate at what Froude numbers a given vessel is capable of sailing. For example, a boat at pos. 5 – semi-planing. Next you need to check the coincidence of the drawing lines:

• The distances from the DP to the waterlines of the overhead line on the half-latitude projection must coincide with the distances from the DP to the frame lines on the hull projection, respectively. levels from OP. Taking into account the scale, because the body projection required for constructing patterns and frame templates is most often given on an enlarged scale (see item 4).
• The distances from the OP to the buttocks must be equal to the distances from the OP to the lines of the frames and waterlines on the same cutting plane parallel to the DP, also taking into account the scale.

Next, you should evaluate the performance of the vessel: using the trapezoidal method, the cross-sectional areas of the underwater part are determined by frames and segments, respectively. lengths are laid out along the vertical axis, see fig. The distance between the segments (on the same scale) is one spacing, i.e. distance between sections along frames. The envelope of segments, the so-called. marching along the frames, should form a semi-contour of some streamlined body.

The formation of a formation along frames is similar to the application of the area rule in aviation. But, firstly, in incompressible water its effect affects any speeds, and not transonic ones. Secondly, the ship’s hull is only partially immersed in water and therefore excites gravitational waves rather than pressure waves in motion. Therefore, the formation along the frames should look like half of not a drop, but an ogive-shaped body, like an artillery shell. The flatter the line along the frames, the more efficient the ship will be, and a wide line indicates its good handling. The “tail” at the back indicates the ability to walk at significant Froude numbers, and the “beak” at the front indicates good ability to ride waves, but at the same time a tendency to yaw.

Note: In addition to the frames, the true contour of the inclined transom is built according to the theoretical drawing, see figure:

Materials

Wood and plywood

Basic construction materials for a boat require some pre-processing. In order for a wooden boat to last as long as possible, wood materials must first be generously saturated with a water-soluble antiseptic (biocide) for wood. It won't be oily, it won't be exposed to air!

Plywood, incl. waterproof, impregnated in several stages with intermediate drying to avoid delamination. In the latter, only the glue is waterproof, and the wood veneer is as is. Next, in order to fix the biocide and reduce the swelling of the wood, the material is impregnated in the same way 2-3 times with a water-polymer emulsion. Unless otherwise specified in the project, the thickness of plywood for the sides of a boat up to 4 m long should be taken from 4 mm, for the bottom from 6 mm and for the transom from 12 mm; boards, depending on the type and quality of the wood, are three to four times more. The method of correct gluing of wooden parts and the permissible bending radii of the boards are given in Fig. higher. They are different from construction ones!

Sheets of plywood larger than 1550 mm are difficult to find, so they are glued together in advance into strips of the required length using a miter joint, see fig. It is impossible to learn how to accurately and accurately trim plywood from descriptions, so practice on scraps. We can only advise you to rough out the mustache with a plane, and finish it with a grinder or a smooth block wrapped in sandpaper. Glue the sheets with epoxy glue. The quality of the fastening is checked next. way:

• Cut a strip approx. wide. 10 cm. This is almost always possible, because Curvilinear parts will be cut out.
• The strip is brought into a ring and pulled together until the plywood bursts.
• If the joint is of high quality, the plywood should crack anywhere except it.

Stacked boat hulls are assembled using red copper nails (you need to drill holes for them), galvanized or conical screws. Red copper nails are bitten and riveted into washers; galvanized ones are bent. Holes are drilled for the screws; their dimensions, methods of working with nails and fastening tables, see Fig.

Note: Lately, quite a lot of amateurs have been assembling boats using confirmed furniture screws, using the same technological techniques as when assembling cabinet furniture - cabinets, kitchen corners, etc. For now, these boats are floating, but not for long enough to judge their long-term reliability.

Fiberglass

Fiberglass glued with epoxy glue is widely used in small shipbuilding. But there are a lot of complaints about it: they say, I didn’t swim until the fall - it started leaking. The reason is the wax that is used to coat the fiberglass before it is spun and woven. Paraffin from fiberglass is removed by boiling in water. You can’t burn it, the fabric will become fragile! Boil the fiberglass cloth in a clean container for at least half an hour, then allow the container and contents to cool completely, remove the paraffin crust from the surface of the water, and only then remove the fiberglass cloth.

Techniques for working with fiberglass on fiberglass and wood are shown in Fig. Gluing set parts from extruded polystyrene foam EPS is an effective way to increase the rigidity of a wooden hull, slightly increasing its weight, and assembling a plywood boat by sewing with epoxy glue is technologically simple and produces a completely reliable vessel. The staples are made of copper wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm; the pitch of pairs of holes for them is 40-60 mm. Looking ahead, the technology for sewing boats from plywood on epoxy is as follows:

1. Cut out parts without allowance;
2. The edges are planed to form a wedge-shaped profile joint with a width of 1.5-2 mm at the base;
3. If the bottom is keeled, staple its parts together, place the blank on keel blocks (see below) and sew on the sides. The flat bottom is immediately placed on the trestles, the sides are sewn on;
4. Align the body along the contours (also see below) and fill the seams with glue from the inside;
5. After the glue has hardened, the seams are also sealed from the inside with 3 layers of fiberglass (see figure above). There is no need to remove the staples: firstly, the seam with them will be stronger, and secondly, the putty holes from the staples are a potential source of water leakage;
6. When the last sizing has hardened, the transoms (transom) are glued in the same way;
7. Remove the body from the keel blocks (traces), bite the brackets flush from the outside and cover the seams on the outside with 3 layers of fiberglass;
8. They glue into the hull the frames, centerboard well, cans (seats), breshtuk (see below), gunwale, fender beam, etc., which is necessary for the project;
9. They carry out additional equipment and finishing.

How to make a boat?

Sew

In projects of cartop dinghy and skiff boats, patterns of their parts are often given. In this case, the boat is assembled by sewing (stitching) on ​​keel blocks or trestles, see fig. The dry-sewn body is aligned along the contours using templates and temporary mounting spacers. The seams of the sheets, being the most durable, are placed closer to the nose, as it is the most loaded and susceptible to damage.

We are building

The construction of a sharp-chine boat of greater than sewn capacity with single-curvature contours begins with the manufacture of the stem (see below) and the assembly of frame frames. The frames of sewn boats are often simply cut out of plywood (there are only 2-3 of them), but in this case it is uneconomical - too much of the rather expensive material will go to waste. The frames are assembled on the plaza, i.e. on a flat plane onto which the projections of the theoretical drawing on a scale of 1:1 are transferred. If the contours of the boat are simple and there is little space, only the hull projection can be transferred to the plaza. Methods for assembling frame frames, as strength, complexity and weight increase, are given in Fig. The grooves for the keel and stringers are selected in advance.

Next, the frame frames are placed on the frame (item a in the next figure), aligned vertically, along the contours, and the keel beam, stem (see below), fender beam and stringers are attached. After this, the body set is closed with a flat strip (pos. b). The purpose of the malkovka is, firstly, to create cuts in the keel beam, along which it will be planed to a given deadrise; secondly, check whether a section of double curvature has been tucked in somewhere, etc. trim the bottom edges of the floortimbers. Then the skin is applied, starting from the keel (below in the figure). After this, the body is removed from the frame, completed and equipped.

Note: Some amateurs, after the fry, are hacking against the rules of shipbuilding, removing the cutting of the skin from the ground set onto sheets of packaging cardboard. Then there is no need to suffer with geometry according to a theoretical drawing, and the boats float.

Nose

Forteven is the most loaded and important part of the hull set. One of the immutable rules of navigation safety is: if danger cannot be avoided, it must be taken on board. Therefore, the manufacture of a boat stem should be taken with all responsibility.

The designs of boat stems are shown in Fig. Waterstop plugs made of solid, non-rotting wood prevent water from seeping into the housing. In terms of reliability, all these designs are approximately the same. A stem with a false bow is used in cartop boats with a narrow stem.

In rough seas and when hitting obstacles, the stem experiences large dynamic loads that tend to push the hull apart, so it is reinforced with a bridge insert. Amateur shipbuilders often neglect it or do not even know what it is; This is one of the significant reasons that homemade boats last much less than the terms stated in the projects.

Stern

Another rather important part of the set, especially for a boat designed for a motor, is the transom. Transom design for motors up to 10-12 hp. is given in Fig. on right. The total thickness of the transom, with reinforcement, is from 40 mm. Possibly more: the mounting clamps on some outboard motors do not converge by less than 50-60 mm.

Unsinkability

A radical way to avoid the serious consequences of accidents on the water is an unsinkable boat. It is quite easy to make an undecked vessel with a displacement of up to 0.5 tons unsinkable: foam blocks are glued under the cans and along the sides from the inside; then, in the bow and stern, you can fence off the corresponding. forepeak and afterpeak and fill them with foam. Volume of unsinkable blocks in cubic meters. m is calculated by the formula V=1.2W(1+?), where W is the displacement in tons, 1 is the density of fresh water, ? – mass density of foam plastic. For example, if?=0.08 tf/cubic. m, then for a boat with a displacement of 0.25 tons you will need 0.324 cubic meters. m or 324 cu.m. dm foam plastic. It seems like a lot, but in a dinghy boat 3 m long, such a quantity can be accommodated without any noticeable deterioration in habitability.

Supply

The minimum set of mandatory equipment for a pleasure and fishing boat consists of oars, life jackets according to human capacity, an anchor on a chain or cable, a mooring line and, in case of sailing in the dark, a white bow or masthead (on the mast) all-round visibility navigation light. The latter is often neglected, which is unforgivable in our time: now on sale there are autonomous LED lamps the size of a child’s fist with a built-in solar panel and battery. The anchor from this set deserves special attention.

Anchor

Joseph Conrad called anchors “honest pieces of iron,” and no wonder: an anchor may be the last chance to save the ship and the people on it. Small vessels are most often equipped with grapple anchors, but this is far from the optimal option. First, cats often get stuck on rocks. There are grapple anchors on sale with legs that fold back during a sharp jerk, but they are unreliable: the vessel can spontaneously unmoor just when it needs to be firmly held on. Secondly, the cat, like the classic Admiralty anchor, becomes dangerous in shallow water: the ship can sit with its bottom on the arm of the anchor sticking up.

For small vessels, Hall and Matrosov anchors and lightweight Trident anchors with increased holding power are also produced. They are quite expensive, but you can’t make them yourself; you need cast parts. You can make a welded Kurbatov anchor yourself (see figure), it is suitable for boats up to 5 m long. If it is impossible or undesirable to weight the anchor with a chain, on rocky soils a weight is lowered to it along a cable on a pin (thin cable or thick fishing line). pig of 2-3 kg.

What if Kurbatov's anchor gets stuck in the rocks; the pig needs to be lifted before it can be freed. The anchor, which is completely stuck, is released with a strong sharp tug on the cable. In this case, parts 4 and 8 may be damaged, but in most cases they can be corrected right there with the help of a hammer and pliers.

About securing the anchor

During manufacturing, you need to insert an eye into the butt of the anchor - a steel ring that dangles freely in it. The eye is also supplied with the cud-tack - the attachment point for the anchor cable/chain to the hull of the vessel. Eyelets greatly reduce wear on the cable/chain and the likelihood of sudden breakage.

The chewing tack is attached to the outside of the stem. You need to attach the chewing tack lower, above the waterline. In this case, the boat at anchor will be able to play better on the wave, not bury its nose in the water during waves, and the likelihood of the anchor getting stuck is much reduced.

Examples of projects

There are enough good projects of cartop boats, dinghies and skiffs in RuNet and in general on the Internet. Therefore, we will focus on more spacious boat designs.

Scythian

The appearance, data and design of the skiff boat developed by D. A. Kurbatov, suitable for transportation on the top trunk of a passenger car, are given in Fig. Its distinctive feature is extreme cheapness: the main material is boards, and the bottom is small, i.e. monkeys. If you choose the right boards for the bottom (highlighted in red in the next figure), then the plank bottom will be quite reliable. Moreover, these days the seams between the boards can be caulked with construction deformation cord (used to seal cracks in concrete) and silicone sealant. Of course, the bottom of this boat can also be made of plywood, then its weight will be reduced to 70-80 kg.

On the trail. rice. Drawings of the parts of this boat are given and a method of assembling it is shown, which is also very economical: on a simplified slipway using templates. Under the motor, the transom is strengthened as described above.

Next in Fig. the sailing rig of this boat and drawings of the oars for it are shown. The sail is a rack sail (emphasis on the “o”), you can learn how to handle it in half an hour or an hour, without knowing any theory at all. But – don’t set this sail in a fresh and stronger wind! The CPU of a rack sail is significantly higher, it heels the boat more, and it is a punt!

As for the oars, it is better to make them exactly according to the drawing. Scythian boats move very easily without oars, therefore, to save the rower's muscular efforts, the configuration of the oars and the profile of their blades become of great importance.

About the iron day

Skiff boats are sometimes made with a bottom made of galvanized iron. Firstly, such a boat with plywood sides weighs only approx. 50 kg or less, i.e. you can move it any way you want alone. Secondly, a boat with a steel bottom turns out to be much more durable in reservoirs with an acidic water reaction, of which there are more than enough in the Russian Federation: ions of even very weak acids spoil glue and protective coatings. Homemade boats with a steel bottom have one disadvantage: it is useless to submit them for inspection for the purpose of registration, and they will not be examined.

Dory

The same author also developed a design for a dori sailboat made of plywood, see figure; According to the table of plaza ordinates, the sheathing is cut, but, see above. In shallow sea waters with short, steep “angry” waves (Azov, the north of the Caspian Sea, Marquis’s Puddle in the Baltic), this boat showed itself better than a sea dinghy or an Azov longboat.

Below in Fig. a structural drawing of the boat is given, the method of its construction on a slipway, the design of the stem and the method of inserting the longitudinal parts of the kit are shown. Wood must be of high quality, without knots or defects, because... The wooden parts of the set are prestressed during assembly.

On the trail. Figure shows drawings of the dory's sailing rig. Since a dory can be sailed in quite strong winds, provision is made for taking one reef on the sail. Observe the specified dimensions exactly: dory boats are very critical to the relative position of the CPU and central nervous system!

Finally

After swimming, especially in cool weather, you want, need and benefit from eating and sipping something hot. Not intoxicating, on the water you must follow the dry law. Therefore, in conclusion, we provide drawings of a stove - a boat and yacht stove, which can also be useful at the dacha, picnic and in general on the farm.