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Compil ed by the Editors of Popular Mechanics Magazine

POPULAR 2 00

MECHANICS

E AST

CHIC AGO

O NT A RI O 11 ,

PRESS

STR EET

IL LIN OIS

Copy right 1950 by Populo r Mechonics Co.

Bootbuilding is part of the American heritage. The settlers of New England developed the sturdy dory to cope with the storm-wracked Atlantic waters in which they fished. It was a rare son of Maine or Massachusetts who could not fashion his own boat with crude hand 1001s. The rivers ot America were explored by men who learned from the Indians how to make bark and dugout canoes. Flatboats carried a large part of the goods of the pioneers during the westward movement. Today, boatbuilding is no longer a part of everyday life, except in some fishing communities where boats slill are built by men who earn their livelihood from them. But there ore a surprising number of amateur boatbuilders.

Altogether there are more than half a million persons in the United States who are regularly building boats for pleasure or for profit. They form a cross section of American life. The sleek mahogany cabin cruiser of the Chicago banker shares Belmont Harbor with the plywood sailing dinghy of the shipping clerk. On Chesapeake Bay, in the Florida Keys, and through San Francisco's Golden Gate, the rich man's selfdesigned yacht and the home-built sloop of the ordinary man head out toward the open sea together. Self-built canoes and rowboats of fishermen and hunters glide on the inland rivers of the country, and on its lakes, ponds and marshes. Theirs is a double reward-the pride of craftsmanship and the thrill of navigating Ihe boat when the building is done.

With all this in mind, the ed itors of Popular Mechanics have chosen wilh care the croft that make up the contents of 23 Boals You Can Build. Boats built from these plans are now in successful operation in various parts of the country. The instructions, pictures and plans were prepared for ease of understanding. Those who have never built a boat before are urged to read ParI 9, "Build Your Baal Right," which begins on page 161. The editors believe this book offers something to tem pt every lover of boats- a pion that will make his hands itch for tools and materials. Choose your favorite- cobin cruiser, sailboat, rowboat, inboard, outboard, ice yacht, bicycle baal, canoe, kayak, sea sled, paddle board, catamaran. Good building, happy launching, and bon voyage!

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The kind of a boat you'd like to have is sure to be within the covers of this book. In 23 BOATS 'lOU CAN BUILD, the editon of popular r-.lechanics present a wide variety of craftranging from "Seacraft," a 25-foot cabin cruis'er sleeping four persons, to "Tiny," a six-footer that flaunts a muslin sail from a boom made of a sawed-off broomstick. There's "Su-Lu," a plywood dinghy built like a Navy PT-boat ... three boats of sheel plywood . . . an eight-foot duckboat for sportsmen . a three-section rowboat thai fi.ts inside itsell like a Chinese box puzzle ... a CanadianIype canoe ... a kayak of the North . . . a ponloon boat pedal-powered by a converted bicycle a sea sled that runs on a converted washing-machine engine. . a racing ice boat that will take you skimming along at more than 80 miles an hour ... a mol or_driven catamaran ... a paddle-propelled pontoon.

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PART 1 "Su-lu"-the PT-Type Plywood Dinghy

7

PART 2

21

Trio in Plywood PART 3

35

"Seocraft"-o 25-Foot Cabin Cruiser PART -4

65

Bools for Sportsmen PART 5

85

"Zephyr"- l-4-Fool Soiling Dinghy PART 6

99

"Arrowhead"-21-Fool Sloop PART 7

119

"Just for Fun" Croft PART 8

147

Training "Ships" for Young Sailors PART 9

161

Build Your Boat Right PART

10

Seamanship and Servicing Your Boot

177

- - --"""\ 5

PART 1

"'See-Lee" - the PT-type Plywood Dinghy

Robe.t t. Smith, Monrovia, Calif., builder of the o,ig;. nol "Su-tu," hold. the light but sturdy boat upright with one finger. Ther. or. no

hidden prop' - b.li.... ull

7

Wilh Iwa pa ueng ers aboard, "'Su_lu" planes the walft. like Navy PT bagl" afler which it wgS pallerned

"Set-Let"-- a Plywood Dinghy THIS LIGHT and sturdy little dinghy is actually a 1O-ft. model of a Navy PT hull, that is, with adaptations to the materials used and to the limitatio ns of a home workshop. "Su-Lu" can accommodate four adults and is light enough for one person to pulon top of a car. The "skin" is merely two layers of %-in . plywood with muslin between, laid (lVel" a frame of spruce battens. The result is a rigid, strong but very light shell. The transom is built to take an outboard motor, and a mast step and centerboard tJ'unk are provided for sailing purp oses. Oarlocks and sockets also may he ploovided, though not shown on this model. Erecting frame: Once the strongback and station molds are properly installed on the erecting frame, the shape of the hull is bound to be correct. As in all small boats, it is most convenient to build upside down and the erecting frame is thus designed. First make the strongback, Fig. 1, of a::! x 7 plank, notched to receive the five station molds and cut away to clear stem and tran-

som knee. If your workshop has a wooden floor you can set up tJ1e erecting frame directly upon it. If a concrete or dirt floor is used, however, you shou ld make a large open rectangle of planks with corner braces and cross members upon which uprights are SUppol"ted, as in Fig. 4, which in turn carry the strongoack. Note that the strongback is also supported at the end by 2 x 4s, but that these al'e not screwed to it, in order that when the boal is lifted up to be turned over, the strongback will come away. This applies also to the upright supports amidships. A taut wire is installed as shown by which the station molds are to be centered. In Fig. 2 is a side view of the eloecting hoame with stem, transom and keel in place. These are tempol'arily secured willi screws for removal when the boat is turned over, and so that the stem can be taken off for cutting the batlen notches after marking them while on the frame. Diagonal braces are located where indicated, and these are screwed to the frame only at the bottom

TABLE OF OFFSETS IN FEET, INCHES AND EIGHTH INCHES TO INSIDE OF SKIN Heights above

b,,,,

line Halfbreadths

8

Station Sheer Chine Keel Sheer Chine Keel

0 1-8-2

•

1 1-6-7 0_1_2 0-3-3 1-0-3 0-8-4 0-0-6

2 1-5-5 0-6-0 0-2-1 1-5-4 1-1-5 0-0-8

3 1-4-6 0-5~2

0-1-5 1-8-3 1-4-2 0-1_4

4 1_4_1 0-4-4 0-1_1 1-9-6 1-7-0 0-1_4

5 1 ~4-3

0-4-5 0-1-1 1-8-1 1-7-2 0-1_4

T 1-4-3 0-4-6 0-1- 1 1-6-3 1-5-5 0-1-4

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, , '_+-+-~ ~ Ann"" 'l'0"+++-H 1H --, N -chines. The hull can n ow be removed from the form . T he mold frames and their b rucing are removed and the hull is s upported right side up on saw horses. Th e main and bilge-

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• A. th e hull i. bui ll in an inverted pa litio n, me,,.· u re me nh or heigh t< ar e giv e n fro m the btl l e lin e, Fi g. 2, 10 Ihe bOllom of th e hu ll. Oim en . ion. tire in feel, inc he. o nd e ighlh inches 10 Ihe ouhid . of Ihe planking . All plu s or m inu s dimen.ion. are 10 b e COn· verled o . req uire d when Htllf·widlh dimen.ion . for mold frame . tir e 10 in· ne r ftlce of in.ide chine

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runner clamping pieces come next. These are fastened to each frame and holes are drilled in them for the runner bolts. The holes are located either aft Ot" forward of each bottom timber as indicated in Fig. 10. Do not pass bolts through bottom timbers. The mast step block is fastened to the bottom timbers as shown in Figs. 9 and 11. The mast step itself is a length of %-in. galvanized pipe. This is threaded into a standard pipe flange and the flange is screwed SeCUl"ely to the must step block. The pipe should be just long enough to pass through the mast partner, which pt'oyides an upper step, and the deck strake, coming flush with a flange screwed to the strake. Cockpit frami ng and the stanchions which support it are installed next. Note that stanchions also are installed at the center of the frames, fore and aft of the cockpit. The ends of the stanchions at'e cut to lap the face of the frames as shown in the detail above Fig. 12. With all interiol' fmming completed up to this point, the decking is laid. Narrow planks, 1 % in. wide, make this a simple job. The same procedure is followed here as was used in planking the bottom, working outward from the deck stl'ake and trimming off the planks flush with the inner chines. For a neat job, countel'sink all screws and fill with wood putty, As will be noted in Figs. 8 and 11, the face of the inside chines and the edges of the deck and bottom planking are covered with an outside chine piece, 1h: in. thick, which also is beveled off flush with

the deck and bottom planking. Before fastening the outside chine, the rub rail should be flanged ovet· and tacked to the inside face of the chine. The rub rail, of brass or copper, is applied to the chine from the mast station to the aft end of the cockpit and prevents scuffing when the hull is heeled over. After the outside chine has been fitted, the sheer t!"im is attached. This is set inward about 1f4 in. and covers the joint between the decking and the outside chine. Completion of the hull involves fitting a COOut • JU

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