How to set up a boatbuilding workshop

This video is a part of my mini course Getting Started in Boatbuilding.

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Video transcript:

In this video, I'll go through the basic features and functionalities you will want in a workshop for building small boats.

First of all, you will need to have space for the boat that you are building - *and* you will want some space around it. Around 3 feet or 1 meter of free space all the way around is enough to allow you to work comfortably on the boat from all sides.

If your space allows you to view your boat from a bit of a distance it is ideal, because it makes it a lot easier to evaluate the shape of the boat - as you are building it.

Also, it is great if your space is big enough for you to turn around the longest pieces of wood that you will be using for your boat. My workshop is only 3,5 meters wide and the canoe here is almost 4,5 meters long. So when I have full-length planks, I need to go outside to turn them around. It *is* doable, but it's of course not ideal.

This next feature you will want in a boatbuilding workshop might seem ridiculously obvious: You need to make sure that you can get your boat out of the workshop once it's completed. Supposedly boats *have* been built that have ended up forever stuck in the shop. My canoe here just barely makes it around the corner. You really don't want to make the choice between cutting up your boat or cutting up your boat shop door.

You don't necessarily need to have your own stationary machines to build your first boat. But if you do have a bandsaw or a thickness planer you will want to have sufficient infeed and outfeed space to process planks the full length of the boat. My machines are on wheels, so I can move them to the middle of the shop when I'm processing long, curved pieces.

A lot the work you'll do will take place on the boat itself. But you'll also need a workbench prepare the pieces that will go into the boat.

In small boat building, you will often work with pieces that are as long as the boat you are building. So if you have a bench that is as long as that, it's ideal.

If you have a workbench that's isn't very long, you can get by with that, too. A sawhorse can be used as a bench extension to support long workpieces. And you can move the workpiece as you work on it.

If you plan to work with hand tools, your workbench needs to be stable and rigid. You will exert a lot of force to the workpiece, especially when you work with hand planes.

I like to have my main workbench in the middle of the room so I can work from any side of it.

But most boat shops just have long benches along the walls, like this one. They are often made of simple 2-inch construction lumber and fixed to the wall and to the floor.

This is a cheap and easy way to get a sturdy and very functional boatbuilding workbench.

If you build your own workbench, it's a good idea to try to get it flat, straight and level. It will be sure to come in handy, especially when you are doing glue-ups on it.

The workbench will need to have some sort of vice. I have a wonderful leg vice on my main workbench. But for a lot of boatbuilding tasks, a metalworking vice with some soft padding works great, because it makes it easier to work many of the odd-shaped pieces that a boat is made of.

You will also want some way of holding down your workpieces. Both when you work on them, and when you're doing glue-ups. Clamps go a long way, but holdfasts or hold-downs can be very useful, too.

The next thing you will need is storage, both for your wood and for your tools and materials. I have this shelving that I use for long pieces of lumber, but anything goes as long as it suits the space that you have available.

I have put some time into making some wall racks for my most used hand tools. This is simply a way to try to avoid messing up the place. If it is as easy enough to put the tool back in its proper place, I tend to do that instead of just leaving it on the bench when I'm done with it.

Building small wooden boats often involves quite a bit of metalworking. So if it's possible for you, it's great to have a dedicated space for that. I have a small metalworking section in my shop where I keep my bench grinder, my sharpening equipment, my metalworking tools and a vise. This makes it easier for me to work efficiently - and to keep metal dust and dirt away from the other parts of the shop.

A few final things you will want to consider for your workshop is lighting, electricity and heating.

You need good light to work accurately. If you have natural light, that's great. But you will probably still want general electric lighting, plus a focused lamp for detailed work.

Electricity is obviously necessary for lighting and for power tools.

My workshop is heated, but I've previously worked out of unheated workshops, and that worked fine, too.

If you will be working from an unheated shop, there are a few things that you need to consider: First of all, glues, paints and varnishes should never get below the freezing point. If your shop gets cold in the winter, you will probably want to store these things in a heated space.

Most glues can be used at quite low temperatures, as long as it is above the freezing point. But the cure time, especially with epoxy, gets a lot longer.

Paints and varnishes are usually formulated so that they work best at around room temperature. But if you work in a very cold or a very hot shop, the flow and drying properties of most paints or varnishes can be adjusted with thinners or additives.

So those are the *functional* basics for a boatbuilding workshop. But: You *will* be spending a *lot* of time in this shop. So I feel that it's important to also take a bit of time consider how to make it as comfortable and inviting as possible. Keeping it neat and tidy goes a long way. A bit of maritime decor on the walls helps, too.

Harry Bryan, who designed the Fiddlehead canoe, suggests that you have a "pondering chair" in your shop. Howard Chapelle has a similar concept in his Boatbuilding book, but he calls it a "Moaning chair". You *can* use this chair for moaning when you've made mistakes. Or you can use it for coffee breaks and for guests that are stopping by. You can use it for considering the next steps in your project. Or for just admiring the beautiful boat, you're building.