No plans, I just made it up as I went along. Scratch built mostly from stuff I already had in my garage. So-far it doesn't leak! Next is to find a motor for it.
This boat is still in good shape. Took it out a few times with an electric trolling motor. It plays second fiddle to my alumacraft/Mercury setup, so it sits face down under my carport out in back. Thinking of pulling it out and painting it green to cover up that ugly paint job I did on it. Been working on a wooden ultralight aircraft from Fisher Aircraft,for last few years, so boat building has been put aside. But this boat is staying in the family, never getting rid of it. Good solid little boat. The Game Warden who inspected it liked it, stamped and approved.
SGT D Always wanted to fly an ultralight or do some paramotoring, but not sure I’d wanna cut my teeth on a craft I built. I don’t trust my skills that much. Lol. Glad to see you still active here. I started a plywood bass boat about a week ago and keep coming back to this vid. Mine is inferior in every respect. I just don’t have some of the tools I need to make long perfect cuts, but I plan to use kwik wood to fill some of the dubious seams on the bottom, and silicone the inside. I also plan to use fiberglass fabric on the outside of the bottom like you did, but I’m not sure what to buy? What product did you use for this?
@@adammeade2300 For the fiber glass I bought what's called a: Mas Epoxy kit from Jamestown Distributors, and I also got the fiberglass cloth from them too. It's pretty expensive but hard as a rock. 'Mas' is the name of it. There's all kinds. As far as tools I didn't use much fancy tools, at the time I just had a skill saw and a drill and some sanders pretty much. I have a whole bunch of clamps. Didn't ever use any caulking or silicone seal. I glued it all up with either T88 epoxy or Tite-bond wood glue in places. Used plain 1/4" plywood and other wood I had around. Just painted the heck out of it. I would dry-fit something together, make sure it fit right, took it back apart and then glued it and screwed it back together. Dry-fitting first is important. I was wrong, I remember now, I got that epoxy from Chesapeake Light Craft. not Jamestown Dist. It's been a while. clcboats.com - good place to look at stuff for boat building.
SGT D Right on. You sure did well with what you had. I have all those tools, save the clamps, but think those are cheap as dirt at harbor freight. With my approach, the only angled part of the boat is the dead rise at the bow, and the sides curve in slightly at the bow, but the rest of it is essentially a box. I tried several different approaches with the bow but would always run into unforeseen issues with matching angles and such. Just need something to get me out on large ponds and small lakes until I finish my degree and can get a proper aluminum craft. Anywho, thanks for the quick answer and good luck with all your projects. Godspeed!
Great build. Nice application of the K.I.S.S. Principle! And you did it w/o plans. I'm looking to do something similar to down "weight" my boat. On a personal note, I would have switched paint colors w/the lighter grey on the interior and the darker color on the hull. I'd like to think that it could be hotter than BLEEP in the summertime. Good job!
hey ,if anyone else wants to discover wood ski boat plans try Joolaim Rudder Replication (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some incredible things about it and my cousin got excellent success with it.
Thanks for the good words! Now that this has been a success my confidence is high enough to build a bigger one. For a while there I wasn't sure if I was building a boat, or a submarine. But it turned out really strong and water proof.
From what I've read and heard from experienced builders, you're never certain about that part until you get it out on the water. Do smash a bottle of champagne over it for me, will you?
Good job - nice idea with the bolt-on jockey wheels ! How about superimposing the length, beam, weight, thickness & type of plywood ? Thanks for sharing your build !
I'm going to use regular on my boat as well for the same fact, it's my first boat and once I learn more about it I will use Marine on my next. I would rather mess up some regular plywood then marine
This is the best looking JonBoat design i've seen yet! I love the way this boat looks. Have you not sketched anything up as far as plans? I would only be concerned with the front of the boat. It looks amazing! I would want to build one just like this. Could you maybe tell me measurements on how to get the front to look like this? Angles etc?
Depends on how much you like building stuff out of wood. This was a lot of work but I sure the heck enjoyeddoing it. Might want to get some plans first, could make your project less likely of being abandoned. I winged it on this boat and I had some things to figure out as I went along. Almost everything is either curved or at some weird angle so it takes some patience.
Awesome job !!!, (on both the skiff and the video). If you are looking to build a little bit bigger boat, try a stitch and glue skiff, (use copper wire for the stitches, trim and flatten them in a bit, then just fill and glass right over them, it works great). Just don't get boggled down with everyone's how to advice, and overly elaborate plans, just build it.By looking at how you built this boat, i am sure that you'd do a fine job of building a bigger stitch and glue boat. (P.S. ... marine grade plywood, fasteners, and paints are well worth the the little bit of added expense). Again, great job, much respect !!!.
Hey thanks a lot for the advice and the compliments. That sounds like a good plan. I did see a video from someone called Agairs G called 'wooden boat building' and that guy was doing a stitched boat, thats how I learned about the fiberglassing.
what were the measurements for this boat? looking to build one for me and the little brothers to take on the lake every now and then to fish. like the length of the 2x4 you used to create the bow, how far from the front or back did you put it, how wide and long was it after finished, just anything you can tell me would be great
Good luck. I decided to fiberglass mine and I'm glad I did. I thought I'd just paint the heck out of it and it would be okay. Nope. Fiberglass it. I never fiberglassed before in my life before I ordered: MAS#1 Economy kit. Its perfect stuff. Hard as rock. Youd need about 140 sq ft of FB cloth with it. It would be about 200 bucks together. Well-spent.
no its regular ply wood. I know, shoulda used marine. I didn't. Went cheap. This was an experiment for me. I never built a boat. 1/4 on the sides and bottom. 3/4 ply in front, 3/4 pine and spruce here and there. some oak. I have a small motor for it now. Its a good tough little boat. No problems.
Great little skiff, but I was wondering, how is it holding up for you so far ???. By now, I am guessing that you probably wished that you had glassed all the way up the sides of the hull, and also probably added an additional layer or so of fiberglass to the entire hull.
+Bill Blast I did learn a lot about epoxy and fiber-glassing watching a video called: "wooden boat building" by Aigars G on youtube. He did stitch and glue boats. But I was already far into this project when I saw it. Next time around I will go that rout. Looks like the way to go.
@hunter gibson, I ordered whats called the Mas #1 economy kit. You can find it and order it from about any marine supply company, and with it I got whats called wood-flour and I mixed it with the epoxy to a peanut-butter consistency then I filled all the gaps. Its like rock in the gaps and the epoxy and fiber glass covering made it seal up.
I got his name wrong, it’s actually Woody Hyezmar, who was going to sell his collection of woodworking plans but now is giving it for free on his website!
@Mike Goll, it ended up 10 1/2' long, 4' at the rear and 3' at the front. I'd go 12 ' or more if I was you. The fiberglassing will cost you some money. Good luck.
Did you build that from a set of plans? I was in a home depot and saw 3 sheets of 5/8 roofing sheathing that were so warped and 90% off so I bought the 3 sheets and saw at a Lowes a bundle of 1"&4" and 1'&2" lumber that was 65% off and built a 20' tunnel hull plywood and wood johnboat. My dogs thought I was nuts until I put it together.
Mite take up to ten HP..,.not strong enough for more.....be care if you do.....there no true framing back there......I build them too....mines 16 foot....40 HP....with half cabin and a pull out extension.....for 13.5 feet of cabin space at night
While standing on a bathroom scale I lifted the front end and it came out to 60 lbs. The back end was 80. Must be about 140 pounds give or take. I think less.
Please can you email me your plans and measurements, everything don't have to be exactly right just a sketch pencil drawing close enough will be good enough for me thank you.
I'm not sure but ,if anyone else needs to find out about homemade wooden boat plans try Joolaim Rudder Replication (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my brother in law got cool success with it.
