How to learn wooden boatbuilding on a shoestring budget

“I want to learn boatbuilding, but …”

I’ve been in touch with a lot of people who want to learn wooden boatbuilding but are held back by obstacles that feel difficult to overcome.

What I hear the most is:

1. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have access to a suitable workshop.
2. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have the time.
3. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I can’t afford it.
4. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I’m afraid I’ll fail.

These are all real and relevant concerns. But in most cases, I believe they can be overcome.

In this blog post series, I’ll address each of these four issues, one by one.

Obstacle 3: I want to learn boatbuilding, but I can't afford it

New, commercially built wooden boats are very expensive. They usually range from €/$10.0000+ for small, simple dinghies to several million for larger yachts. 

Only a fraction of the cost is materials. Boatbuilding is very labor intensive, so the biggest expense by far is the time that goes into building the boat. 

As an amateur builder, you're in luck, because your labor won't cost you anything. You only have to pay for your materials, your tools and your workshop space. 

This is probably the reason why the best boats at the various boat shows are very often amateur built: Much more time can be put into these boats, because the hours won't be invoiced.

And a lot of amateur builders enjoy the work so much that they can't help but spend the extra time needed to build a really great boat.

That said, a workshop space, tools and building materials can still represent a significant cost.

Buying a new bandsaw, jointer, thickness planer and drill press - plus hand tools and sharpening equipment could easily run you over €/$10.000. 

But here's the great thing: While we all dream of that perfectly thought-out workshop with top notch hand tools and machinery, it's not necessary to begin learning boatbuilding. 

In this blog post, I'll outline a few strategies that can can help cut your costs drastically:

Buying used tools

One of the reasons I love wooden boatbuilding so much is because traditional hand tools such as planes, chisels and hand saws still play a big role. 

Almost every piece of wood that goes into a boat has an odd shape, which is often quicker and easier to create using hand tools than by using machinery.

For centuries, until industrialization kicked in, boats were built using manually powered tools only. After the 1950s, hand tools were almost entirely abandoned in commercial woodworking. And boatbuilding quickly switched from wood to fiberglass. 

This switch allowed boats and furniture to be produced industrially at a very high pace and at low cost. And the craftsmen of the past quickly became factory workers. 

Industrialization has given us immense material wealth, but - unfortunately - it has drained Earth's resources at an alarming rate while also making "obsolete" the wonderful, wholesome, creative work of the craftsman.

I believe that we can gain a lot by insisting on taking back some of the healthy, creative work that has been made "obsolete" by technology. Even if we're not as efficient as the machines.

The reason I put quotation marks around the word "obsolete" is because I believe there are other factors than efficiency that can determine if a technology or a craft should be deemed obsolete or not.

Perhaps being less efficient could be a goal in itself?

First of all because we'll use up Earth's resources less quickly by working slower.

Second, because we'll use our own, human resources in a healthier, less stressful way.

But also because when we put so much effort into creating manually, we will want to create objects that have true, long lasting value and beauty.

We will want to take the time to care for these objects and preserve them for the future.  

So, with this bit of background info, now back to the topic of buying and using vintage tools:

The great thing is that buying good, vintage hand tools today is easy and very affordable.

Hand tools such as planes, saws, chisels etc. from before 1950 are generally all very good quality. They were built to last a lifetime (at least). And because they were used by craftsmen to earn a living, they had to be designed and produced to work flawlessly. 

These tools are abundant in flea markets and in online marketplaces. There are so many of them, that high quality tools can still be found very cheap. 

Quite often, the tools you find have been neglected for decades. They will need to be fixed up a bit to get it back to their former glory. 

Here's a video I've made, which goes through how to sharpen a damaged flea market chisel.

And here's a video by Paul Sellers about how to restore a Bailey pattern hand plane.

Finding and restoring used tools will take more time than buying new ones. But if you're willing to spend this time, you will get very high quality tools for very little money that will easily last a lifetime . 

Outsourcing the milling work

Used machinery such as bandsaws, jointers/thicknessers and drill presses can also often be had for very reasonable prices. 

Again, these machines may need some attention to get back to full working order. But most older machinery is so simple and sturdy that this is doable if you spend the time needed. Quite often, spare parts and technical assistance can be found at enthusiast fora online. 

But if you'd rather spend your time working with wood and learning boatbuilding, you could go another route: Outsource the rough milling work.

To build a wooden boat, you'll need lumber (and/or plywood) that's been cut and planed to various dimensions, as specified in the plans.

Milling the wood into smooth planks will require a big bandsaw and thickness planer. A jointer and a table saw can be useful, too. 

Most professional boatbuilders and carpenters have these tools. So instead of buying expensive machinery yourself, a good option might be to have a local craftsman help you out. 

You could do the work together, with you as a helping hand. You'll learn a lot from this.

And with good, powerful machinery, you should be able to resaw and thickness the boards you'll need for a small boat in a day's time - or perhaps less.

Once you have your boards milled, the remaining part of the work can be done with hand tools or small power tools such as a jigsaw or a handheld circular saw.

Consider local wood species

Boat plans usually contain a specification for the species of wood that the designer suggests for the boat. For the Fiddlehead Canoe, for example, Harry Bryan specifies Northern White Cedar for the planking, the decking and the bottom panel. 

This makes perfect sense, because this is a lightweight and rot resistant wood species that's readily available in New Brunswick, Canada, where he lives. 

But in Denmark, where I live, Northern White Cedar is very hard to find. And if I find it, the price will be astronomical. 

That's the reason I chose a different species for my planking: Larch. 

Larch is common where I live. It's heavier than cedar, but it's harder and stiffer, too - and rot resistant. I reduced the plank thickness slightly to keep the weight down and to compensate for the extra stiffness of the larch.

So, wherever you are in the world, I would suggest that you contact a local boatbuilder and ask what wood they normally use for their small boats. This will almost certainly be time-tried wood that is available at reasonable prices. 

Also, the carbon footprint will be reduced, because the wood hasn't been transported very far. 

You might need to make adjustments to the scantlings (the dimensioning of the wood) depending on the properties - especially the stiffness - of the wood you have on hand. 

The Wood Database is a good place to look up technical properties of various species of wood.

You might also be interested in my video on Good boatbuilding wood - and how to find it.

Building fraction-scale boats

If you're on a very tight budget, even used tools and locally sourced lumber can be out of reach.

And, especially for those who live in a city, suitable workshop space can be difficult to find at a reasonable price.

If that's your situation, I would suggest that you start learning boatbuilding by building a scale-model boat, as I wrote in the first instalment in this blog post series.

Scale model boatbuilding will teach you the vast majority of the skills you'll need to build a full-size boat. 

But you can build the boat at your kitchen table, using readily available materials and a small set of affordable hand tools.

Learning from books, in person or through video

Once you've committed to learning boatbuilding, you'll need to figure out some way of acquiring the skills. 

The most affordable way will be books. There are many great books on boatbuilding out there. But if you only buy one book, I would recommend Building Small Boats by Greg Rössel. 

This boat is clearly written and illustrated - and a fun read, too. 

The downside to books, in my opinion, is that it's really difficult to put the spatial, temporal and haptic processes that go into boatbuilding into writing in a manner that's easy to grasp. 

It's a bit like explaining in words how to tie a shoelace. I personally wouldn't be able to do that.  

But tying a shoe is not difficult if you see it it, and practice it a few times.

I feel it's the same with boatbuilding. If you see each process and then try it out yourself, it's not as complicated as it might seem when you read about it in a book.

This was how apprentice craftsmen learned boatbuilding in the past: The master boatbuilder would show how a job was done, and then the apprentice would practice doing the job on their own. The master boatbuilder would be available for advice and feedback. 

If you can find an experienced boatbuilder who is willing to mentor you, this is perhaps the very best way of learning the craft. 

Another option might be physical boatbuilding classes at local boatbuilding schools or maritime museums. 

If these options won't work for you, the online based training I offer at Small Boat School might be relevant.

My Building the Fiddlehead Canoe program is designed to work just like a traditional boatbuilding apprenticeship program, except you'll be mentored through pre-record video material and an online forum and you'll be working from your own workshop, with your own tools and at your own pace. 

The Fiddlehead Canoe program contains around 13 hours video material which first covers all the skills and techniques you'll need to master before you start building your boat, and then it illustrates ever single step involved in the construction of the actual boat.  

At the Small Boat School online Apprentice Forum you'll post photos of your work, and I'll provide feedback. If you run into problems or challenges I'll be available at the Apprentice Forum to help you out and make sure your project stays on track. 

In the long term, wooden boatbuilding is inexpensive

Building a boat can be a significant expense - both in terms of tools, workshop space, materials and training costs. 

But the biggest "expense" in boatbuilding is the time you put into it.

Perhaps "expense" is not the correct word. Because if the time you spend building the boat is enjoyable and valuable, isn't it more the other way around? 

If you're enjoying the work, each hour spent in the workshop has value.

So, in the long term, I think boatbuilding is inexpensive. 

As an illustration, I'd like to make a hypothetical calculation:

Let's say you spend €/$1000 to set up a workshop in your garage with a workbench, tools etc.

And you spend another €/$ 1000 to buy lumber, fasteners, paint etc. 

Perhaps you spend €/§ 1000 on a boatbuilding course

That's a €/$ 3000 total. 

Perhaps you spend 500 hours over the course of a year (10 hours a week) setting up your workshop, practicing basic skills and building the actual boat. 

That's a cost of €/$ 6 per hour in the workshop. 

You're having fun when you're in the shop.

You acquire an incredible amount of skill that you can use for future projects.

And you end up with a beautiful wooden boat that - if you take proper care of it - can easily outlast you, your children and perhaps even your grandchildren. 

- Mikkel Pagh