Plywood often make the best material for boat building. That's why I'm always on the lookout for good plywood boat plans as this material is the most commonly used and the easiest to procure when you want to build your own boat.
There are simply many wonders you can do with plywood. Building a boat is one such thing. Personally, I've always liked using plywood as it is really easy to cut and mold to certain specifications and dimension. This aspect alone of plywood makes it one of the best material boat building beginners can use with ease.
Furthermore, plywood is also known to be stable in terms of dimension. Which means that it does not contract or expand when exposed to extreme humidity and temperature
One thing you need to consider in building a plywood boat is the type and thickness of the ply. This information should be specified in the plans that you are using to build your boat. However, it's always good to go over the different types of plywood and know for yourself the advantages and drawbacks of using a specific type of ply and so you can use the one which suits your purposes best.
For example, okume has always been a widely popular material for plywood boat building. Its strength to weight ratio is ideal for boat building. It has one of the highest quality relatively speaking. However, its main drawback is that it is not specifically treated to resist rotting. Which is why you need to be thorough in applying varnish or epoxy all over the surface to seal it and prevent water from penetrating and causing the wood to rot.
Additionally, you need to choose which boat building technique you are going to use to build your boat. The easiest boat building method to build a plywood boat is stitch and glue. This is one of the most cost effective as well. With this method, you'll only be needing copper wire for stitching, epoxy glue for gluing and fiberglass to add some durability to your boat structure. For this method of boat building, it is quite imperative that the plywood is cut accurately.
However, that's not saying that stitch and glue is the only method I recommend. Depending on your skill set, you may also try different boat building techniques. One such technique is called ply over frame. This method can be more tedious that stitch and glue but it definitely has added durability because you will need to build a boat frame beforehand over which you will be gluing the plywood.
Whichever boat building technique you choose to employ, it is imperative that you use a very good plywood boat plan. It will definitely make the construction process less frustrating. Easy to implement plans will speed up the project and will likely help you keep the cost of building your own boat very low.
Resource: Ezine Article
