Best Trees for Masts and Spars
Which trees are best for making masts and spars for your wooden boat? Richard Jagels breaks down the species and their properties.
Articles
Japanese Woods
Richard Jagels discusses the boatbuilding capabilities of Japanese woods, including cedar (sugi) and cypress (hinoki).
14
Building a Trap Skiff
Over decades of cruising the Newfoundland and Labrador shores, the author was captivated by the region’s ubiquitous and revered trap skiffs. He takes us through the steps of building one of his own.
7
Make a DIY Canoe Backrest
The author’s simple backrests, made of a two-layer lamination of steam-bent wood, are held in place by shock-cord or zip-tie lashings, allowing them to rotate enough to self-adjust to a paddler’s shifting position.
23
Building a Fowey River Boat
Fowey River Boats are a one-design racing class that enjoyed a resurgence in 1991. They are gunter-rigged and have brightly colored sails.
Three Solutions for Indoor Boat Storage
Be sure to check local building codes and regulations before beginning any of these projects.
10
Building the Wood-and-Canvas Canoe
What Is the Eastern First Nations Canoe? The Eastern First Nations canoe is a textbook of native material use, employing large sheets of birchbark wedded to thin bent white-cedar ribs,...
Selecting and Sawing Bending Stock
5 Tips for Choosing and Sawing Wood Stock Over several decades of working with steam-bent wood, I’ve developed some tips and guidelines for choosing and sawing stock. Following these points, I...
Steam-Bending Frames at the Bench
The combination of an accurate adjustable template (a so-called “chain gauge”), a compression strap, and an adjustable bending table allows for quick and accurate reframing of even complex-shaped boats.
Black Mold Removal
Dr. Richard Jagels offers tips and insight into black mold removal from wooden boats. Read the results of his experiment.
19
Building a Camden Class Knockabout Sloop
"PONYO was named by my three young granddaughters after an Anime goldfish princess who longs to live out of the sea. The name proved to be completely appropriate for this boat."
7
A Short Discourse on Metal Files
Files come in a variety of coarseness and types of cut. This guide outlines the different metal file shapes and the best uses for each, as well as how to clean your files when your project is done.
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Three Histories of Local Boats
Tasmanian Piners’ Punts: Their History and Design, Legacy in wood, the Wahl family boat builders and tugboat SAND MAN.
27
Building a Plywood-Epoxy Sea Bright Skiff
Having designed and built two Sea Bright models for himself, including a 50' cruising ketch, boat-builder Reuel Parker wanted a smaller boat—13' overall—as a seaworthy tender and lifeboat for his 53' deadrise cruising motorsailer, PEREGRINE. He shares his process.
5
Varnish Brush Care
Good varnish brushes are an investment. Protect them with these techniques.
13
Thoughts on Lapstrake Planking
"I will focus here on planking in which only one edge of each plank is beveled, which is by far the most common method and the easiest to understand."
3
A Magnetic Lap-Planing Guide
Boring holes and tapping them for a guide bar might increase the value of a plane for a small number of boatbuilders, but it could harm its aesthetic value for most future woodworkers.
5
DIY Glued Lapstrake Plywood Plank Clamps
To avoid the blemishes of screw holes, try using these DIY slot-and-wedge clamps to hold the planks together while the glue cures.
19
Building a Dark Harbor 17 1/2 | Part 2
In the second part of this series, the class finishes out the completed hull.
High-Grading at the Lumberyard
Improve your odds of getting the best-quality wood by selecting large-dimension stock and ripping the boards to the needed dimensions.