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Journal of the building process. In this section I hope to take you thru the building process step by step. In these first photos you will notice you need two things, at least 30’ of room and a lot of clamps.
The first step one must undertake is assembling your material. A typical parts list for a Riverboat looks like this.
1. Front deck: 2pcs ¾ x 9 ½ x 27”
2. Live well: 2pcs ¾ x 12 x 37”
3. Inside live well: 2pcs ¾ x 12 x 15 ¼”
4. Live well doors: 2pcs ¾ x 8 x 18, 2pcs ¾ x 5 x 18”
5. Live well seat: 2pcs ¾ x 8 ½ x 18”
6. Braces: 2pcs 2 x 12 x 25 ½”
7. Rear seat 2pcs ¾ x 12 x 25 ½”
8. Gunwale: 4pcs ¾ x 2” x 13’
9. Sides and bottom: 3pcs 4 x 8 x ¼ marine plywood
This list should give you a good idea as to what you will need in the line of lumber. Each boat is a little different, but this should give you the idea.
Next we will splice the plywood into a 24’ sheet, using tools pictured above. After sizing the plywood for the bottom and sides (generally 25 ½” for the bottom and 11”for each side) a scarfing saw is used to prepare the ends of the plywood for joining. I use a 16’ long 2’ wide table to glue the plywood together on. I use epoxy glue as the adhesive for joining. I use a 3’ long by 1” piece of square stock to hold the wood together while the epoxy dries. See above pictures
After the bottom of the boat is glued together each end must be shaped. An easy way to do this is to use the boat you are copying as a template. Place the boat to be copied upside down on a pair of sawhorses. I tape several pieces of newspaper together then I use masking tape and tape the newspaper down to the boat bottom at each end. Then I take a razor blade and carefully trim the newspaper flush to the side of the boat. Then you must carefully fold the template in half lengthwise. If the boat is ¼ inch plywood as most are, you must trim another ¼ inch off the curved side of the template. This will give you a perfect pattern for your boat bottom. Tape this down to the plywood you have just glued together and trace around the pattern. I use a fine blade on a saber saw to make the actual cut. Then I use a small block plane to smooth out any dips in the cut. Be careful to check out the overall length of the bottom. It should be at least 13 inches shorter than the overall length you desire the finished boat to be.
The next step in construction is the ripping of the chine strips. These pieces allow the fastening of the sides to the bottom of the boat. I rip the pieces out of 1”x4”x12’ (see above) boards. You set the saw to the angle of the boat between the center and the back of the live well. Once you set the angle adjust the saw to rip the 1x4 in half, which gives you two chine strips. You will need two for each side. I also rip one 1”x4”x8 in half for cleats across the bottom. Once you have the strips ripped you need to prepare the chine strip for splicing them together, using either a scarf or shiplap join of 2 inches. After this you have to temporarily clamp the two strips to the bottom of the boat. Then you must mark where the curve starts on each end. At this point you must curf or cut partially thru the chine from the inside out to allow bending. After I have marked all four strips I take the two fronts and the two backs and clamp them together. Then you can curf both of the pieces at a time. Only cut enough to allow bending. After you finish this carefully set the pieces aside.
Now you must cut out the pieces for the live well and the braces in the boat along with the transom and bow piece. You can copy these pieces from another boat simply, with a bevel. These pieces are very important so make sure to copy them closely. Any change you might make in them will change the overall lines of your finished boat. You must also carefully measure their location in relationship to the bottom of the boat. I turn the pattern boat upside down on horses and measure from the stern forward. Look for the screw holes to find the center of the livewell pieces and the braces. Now transfer this to the bottom of your new boat. It is easier to do this before the chine strips are installed.
After you have transferred you measurements to the new boat bottom you are ready to secure the chine strips to the bottom of the boat. This is where you need a lot of clamps and some degree of patience. Apply clue to the bottom of the boat and bottom of the chine strip. Start by clamping the straight sections of the chine strip then slowly bent the chine strip around the curves; you must take it easy here and let the wood relax from time to time. I also install my cleats on 16” center along the bottom at this time. See above pictures.
Now you can secure the livewell pieces and braces to the bottom of the boat along with the transom and bow piece. For this I use screws along with clue. You will need two furniture clamps for gluing livewell together.
After you have secured the livewell and braces to the bottom you must carefully turn the boat upside down. The bottom is supported on the livewell and the two braces. It is important that the support at the transom end is not wider than brace as the boat turns down at this point.
Now comes the most intricate part of the construction! The finish shaping of the chines. First you must blend the chine area from rear brace to rear section of the livewell. This consists of shaping the plywood bottom to the same shape as the chine itself. For this operation I use a block plane. Next is the most time consuming part of construction. You must shape chine from rear section of livewell to bow and rear brace to transom. For this operation you will need an at least 4-inch wide piece of ¼ plywood 6-foot long and the block plane. Hold plywood against livewell assembly and bend toward bow piece. You will notice plywood touches top of chine and is away from bottom of boat. You must gently plane away top of chine a few inches at a time until a continues fit is achieved. This is slow tedious work and can only be done a few inches at a time. When you have completed one side use a bevel and transfer same angles to other side of bow. Repeat same process at the stern area of boat. A word of advise here. If you take off a little to much chine you can always fill area with epoxy after boat is clued together. Both sides must have same angles on them or boat will not look right.
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