Homemade folding boats for fishing. DIY boat: the best projects and tips on how to make a wooden or plywood boat. Sailing

Despite the abundance of fishing and tourist boats of various shapes and sizes in specialized stores, many are still interested in how to make a homemade plywood boat. The main reason for this interest lies, perhaps, in the indestructible craving of our compatriots for creative work.

Let you buy anything today, but in a home-made boat or dinghy, made according to drawings almost from the Fisherman magazine, there is some kind of indescribable charm.


In the article we will give some tips, using which you can quickly learn how to make boats - homemade plywood.

Materials and tools

Not so long ago, homemade plywood mini boats were very popular. This made it possible to work out methods for their manufacture, as well as to determine the most suitable materials.

Of course, today the list of available varnishes, impregnations and adhesives for plywood is much wider than it was even ten years ago - but for the manufacture of small-sized boats with our own hands, we do not need anything complicated:

  • Plywood is the most main component . For the manufacture of boats, sheets of glued natural birch veneer with a thickness of about 5 mm are most often used. Separate parts, such as frames or keels, are cut from a thicker (10 - 15 mm) material.

Note!
In order to ensure sufficient reliability for the sides, only high-quality plywood should be used for sheathing, without cracks, delaminations, knots, etc.
Of course, the price of material of the first or second grade will be higher, but then you will be sure of the safety of your boat.


  • Wood is used for the installation of internal struts, the design of the sides, seats etc. It is advisable to use an edged planed board made of light wood species.
  • The suture material is used to connect individual parts cladding in one piece. Seams can be made using a fairly thin and flexible wire, plastic clamps, thick nylon fishing line, etc.
  • Glue is needed to ensure the seams are properly sealed.. To date, masters have practically abandoned natural compositions based on casein, and prefer modern polymer resins.

In addition, we will need special varnishes and impregnations that protect the wood from swelling and decay. It is also worth stocking up with fiberglass or similar material for gluing all seams. As an alternative to fiberglass, fiberglass can be used - then the entire bottom and sides will be pasted over with it.

Well, do not forget about the paint - after all, we want our ship to be beautiful!

As for the tools, the set will be almost standard:

  • Saw on wood.
  • Electric jigsaw with a set of blades of different lengths.
  • Sander.
  • Hand tools (hammer, pliers, chisels, etc.)
  • Clamps for clamping plywood when gluing.
  • Brushes for impregnation, varnishing and.

Making a boat

Drawings and layout

Before starting work, we determine what kind of vessel we need. Today, on the net you can find a variety of drawings of home-made plywood boats, so nothing is impossible either in building a punt for fishing or in assembling a tourist kayak.

If none of the found drawings suits us, you can do the design yourself.

True, in this case, you will need certain skills to calculate the carrying capacity, otherwise the boat can turn out to be extremely decorative.

  • Having studied available projects home-made boats from plywood, or having made our own, we transfer the contours of the main details to paper.
  • Using paper templates, we draw lines on plywood sheets along which frames and sheets for sheathing will be cut.
  • If the factory length does not suit you (and this happens in 99% of cases), then it is necessary to splice them. To do this, we cut off the ends of the plywood at an acute angle so that the length of the resulting bevel is 7-10 thicknesses of the sheet itself.

  • Having attached the beveled parts to each other, we coat them with glue and clamp them with clamps. This technique is called the connection "on the mustache."
  • In parallel, we prepare wooden bars from which the frame of our future boat will be made.

Advice!
To facilitate the work on the project, you can assemble special goats from bars with a section of 50x50 mm.
It will be much more convenient to place all the details on these goats during the connection process, especially if you work without helpers.


Case assembly

When everything is ready, we begin work:

  • Using a wood saw or electric jigsaw, . The indentation from the design size should not be more than 1 mm, otherwise the sides will not “converge” during stitching.
  • We glue the transom parts (tailgate) and frames to obtain the desired thickness and strength. Glued parts will be somewhat heavy, but it's not scary!
  • If you plan to install outboard motor, then the transom should be additionally glued with fiberglass and reinforced with a hardwood board.

Advice!
To increase the strength of the connection, the frames and transoms can be additionally fixed with self-tapping screws.
In this case, the length of the self-tapping screws should be such that the point does not pierce the part through and through.

  • We install the transom on pre-made goats and begin to attach the bottom and sides to it, bringing them together on the bow.
  • We fasten the sheathing parts either with the help of suture material (if not very thick plywood is used), or exclusively with glue, cutting off the edge of the plywood at an angle.

  • On the this stage it is very important that all elements converge in size, since in order to reduce the gap, it will be necessary to disassemble the entire structure and partially cut the frames.

After the "rough assembly" you can start gluing.

Adhesive work

The instructions for gluing and sealing our vessel are as follows:

  • We prepare a mixture of epoxy resin and aerosil (silicon dioxide). We mix the components in a 1:1 promotion using a nozzle on a drill. The optimal consistency of the mixture is like thick sour cream.
  • We strengthen the corners between the bottom, sides and transom with the help of wooden fillets - small corners that ensure the rigidity of the connection.
  • Strips of fiberglass and fiberglass are glued to all seams from the inside, carefully lubricating the joints with an epoxy-aerosol composition.

Note!
Since most adhesives contain volatile toxins, all paint work must be done with respiratory protection!

  • After the glue has dried, we install the frames in the selected places.
  • To fix the frames, we use the same glue. If the dimensions of the vessel are large enough, then in order to strengthen the structure, the frames should be additionally fixed on the bottom and sides with overlapping strips of fiberglass.

  • We lay the flooring on the bottom, fasten the oarlocks, seats and other parts provided for by the design.
  • If it is planned to equip the boat with a cockpit (an enclosed space in the bow), we install a cover, fixing it on the sides and frames.

After waiting until the whole structure dries, we remove the boat from the goats, turn it over and grind the outer surface. Then we process the seams with an epoxy mixture and glue the bottom with fiberglass.

Coloring

At the final stage, we need to provide our boat with protection from moisture and give it an attractive outer appearance:

  • First, carefully degrease all the details.
  • Then we process the wood with impregnation. Here, the composition for sea or river vessels from Tikkurila is quite suitable.
  • We putty all planes, masking cracks and irregularities, and then we process it with a special primer.
  • You can paint homemade plywood boats with almost any paint, but if you want to ensure the ship's durability, it is better to use special pigment mixtures designed for processing wooden boats.

  • Average consumption paint is 1 - 1.5 l / m 2. It is best to apply it with a brush, but the use of an airbrush is also allowed.

Conclusion


A homemade plywood boat made using this technology will be quite suitable for fishing trips, family walks, etc. Of course, it is not worth going out into the open sea in it, but as practice shows, for large rivers and lakes in our country, such a design is quite reliable. In the presented video in this article you will find additional information on this topic.

Similar content

Before you start building a wooden boat, you need to prepare the main part of such a structure - the sides. To do this, you need to take the most even, long, wide enough boards that are made of spruce or pine.

Look at the photos of homemade boats and you will see that there are no boards on its sides that have knots - this is very important. The boards for this part of the boat should be in a dry place under slight pressure for at least one year.

Choice of boards for work

Before you start production, you need to make sure once again that the boards are absolutely suitable for the job. Next, for each board, you need to measure the desired length and carefully cut them off at an angle of 45 degrees. These boards will go to the bow of the boat.

After that, it is necessary to plan them and check that the boards connected to each other have no gaps. Then treat the ends with an antiseptic.


The next step is to prepare the bow of the boat, and a triangular bar serves them. It should be one and a half times longer than the width of the sides. The beam is also planed and covered with a layer of antiseptic.

Further instructions for making a boat with your own hands is to choose a suitable board for the stern of the boat. Do not neglect the stock, because it is better to cut off the excess later than to look for and start all over again.

Boat assembly

When the elements of the wooden boat are assembled, you need to start assembling the product. You should start with the bow. Both sides and a triangular bar must be connected to each other using self-tapping screws. It is advisable to immediately cut off the protrusions from above and below so that they do not interfere in the future.

The next step is very important and responsible, as it is necessary to give the future boat a shape. It is necessary to determine the width of the boat and put a spacer in the middle. Choose a spacer board the size of the height of the boat, so your sides will not burst.

When the strut is properly installed, you can begin to shape the boat, call a few people for help or stock up on ropes to hold the structure.

Use the drawings and adjust the dimensions of the stern for the manufacture of the boat in such a way that there are no gaps and cracks when connecting the back wall and sides.

When the backdrop is installed, cut off the excess part from the bottom, and on top you can make an element in the form of a triangle. Next, we deal with the struts that will constantly maintain the shape of the boat, as well as the seats that are installed on top of the struts. You can determine the number, as well as the location of these elements yourself, so it can be one, two or more places.

We align everything on the lower part in one plane and treat the entire surface with a protective layer. When the glue dries, start making the bottom of the boat.

The best option for the bottom will be a galvanized sheet of metal. Try to find one that matches the size of the boat.


How to make the bottom of the boat with your own hands

Put the future boat on a sheet of metal and circle its borders with a marker, do not forget to grab a margin of a few centimeters just in case, you can always trim the excess.

The next step is to cover the connection of the boat with its bottom with a special silicone sealant along the entire length in one line. On top of the sealant, until it dries, a cord is laid in several rows - all this is necessary so that the bottom of the boat is airtight and does not let water in.

When this process is completed, we proceed to the connection of the bottom with the frame. Carefully lay the bottom of the boat over the bottom of the boat. Use nails or screws to connect.

Start connecting from the middle and move to the edges of the boat. Do the work as slowly and carefully as possible, as this part is very important.

We cut off excess metal that sticks out more than 5 mm from the edge of the boat, and bend the rest with a hammer. It is also important to protect the bow of the boat from external factors using the same metal. Cut out a rectangle of tin according to the size of the boat.

Everywhere where wood and metal are connected, it is necessary to walk with sealant and lace. By this time, before you start "wrapping" the nose with metal, you need to treat the entire boat with an antiseptic.


Be sure to make a mount on the bow for the chain. This will help if someone wants to steal a brand new boat, as on the pond it will attract special attention due to its novelty.

Before you build a boat, think through and review all the ideas of what you can make a boat out of. Perhaps you will choose for yourself a special material with which it will be more convenient for you to work, or maybe you need special protection or massiveness.

Do not forget to cover the bottom with a special paint on the reverse side, since galvanized metal collapses over time upon contact with water. And the wooden parts of the boat must be covered with several layers of special impregnation and, as a result, the boat should be left to dry in the shade.

For convenience, inside the boat at its bottom can be decomposed wood flooring. So the bottom will not rattle when you move along it.

This will complete the boat. Read more articles on how to make the best homemade boats with descriptions to find out some other nuances that may be useful to you in future buildings.

DIY boat photo

In fishing and hunting shops you can find anything you want, and boats are no exception.

But many people want to make their own watercraft, because it is interesting and inexpensive.

Do-it-yourself boats have a number of advantages over factory options:

  • Ease of construction. Such a plywood fixture will be much lighter than wooden or metal structures;
  • Water stability. For such a boat, solid sheets of plywood are used, and its shapes are ideal for launching;
  • Low cost. You will only need to spend money on plywood pieces, glue, varnish and boards;

To ensure the safety of the structure, you need to use only high-quality materials. Plywood must be solid, without damage. The price of the first varieties is slightly higher, but reliability is also important.

For people who have a skill in carpentry, the work will be easy. It will take a week and a half if you make a boat in free time, then a couple of full days.

But only a professional can do designing with his own hands, because you need to accurately calculate the carrying capacity, capacity, nose shape and other nuances.

Construction assembly

When there are materials and drawings, then you need to start work. The first step is to cut out the details from plywood. For this, it is best to use a jigsaw. It is important to accurately cut to size, otherwise the design will not converge.

Then the frames are glued to the tailgate, these parts will be very heavy. If a boat needs a motor, then the tailgate is strengthened.

The next step will be the fastening of the transom with the sides and bottom. Sheathing parts must be fixed with glue.

After assembling the structure, you need to prepare aerosil and epoxy resin. These substances are mixed 1 to 1. The resulting substance is used to seal the seams. Also for this purpose, inside the boat, the seams are sealed with fiberglass strips.

Important: this work uses very toxic substances, so you need to work on the street, or in a ventilated area, and using special protective equipment.

When the glue dries, you need to put the frames. Then you need to install seats, luggage compartments and other elements. After the vessel dries, it is necessary to proceed to the final stage, this is grinding and sealing with fiberglass and epoxy mortar.

This is followed by the process of painting the structure, this will help to further protect the vessel from the influence of water and give a good appearance.

Painting consists of:

  • Degreasing of all parts of the vessel;
  • Processing wooden elements impregnation;
  • Surface putties. This will mask all defects;
  • Primers. To do this, you can use boiled drying oil;
  • Application of paints and varnishes. To do this, you can buy any paint, but special waterproof materials for plywood will help increase the life of the boat;

Prices

Building such a craft with your own hands is an interesting and creative activity for people who like to do things on their own. The main thing is to adhere to the dimensions indicated by the drawings.

It is possible that during this process, there will be errors that need to be redone. But, the result is a great and inexpensive boat. It is best to store such a tool on dry land. This boat is perfect for use on calm lakes and rivers.

It is forbidden to go out to sea or raft down mountain rivers. You also need to carefully monitor the seams and the integrity of the structure, if there are problem areas, then they need to be sealed.

With a thrifty attitude and proper storage, such a watercraft will last a long time, and will help you have a great time fishing, or just while walking along the pond.

Many did not even know that you can swim in a homemade plywood boat. The article will provide a step-by-step description of all the processes for its manufacture, drawings and lists of everything needed from materials to tools. The instructions are also accompanied by illustrations of work and a video on the manufacture of the structure by the master.

Preparation of material and tools

  • Plywood;
  • polyurethane adhesive;
  • Nails;
  • Latex based paint;
  • silicone sealant;
  • Construction syringe (it will be needed to seal the seams of the structure);
  • Sandpaper;
  • Jigsaw;
  • Screwdriver;
  • Roulette;
  • Brush;
  • clamp;
  • Drill;
  • Paracord (staples).

One of the sheets of purchased plywood must be divided into 3 parts for the bottom of the structure: 46x61 cm, 61x168 cm and 31x61 cm. The sides of the boat will be two pieces measuring 31 by 244 cm. To create props, we take 3 pieces with parameters 25x50x2400 mm. A cut of 25x76x2400 mm is required for the stern and bow of the boat. The hull of a home-made boat made of plywood for fishing is made from pieces with parameters of 25x50x2400 mm.

Note! Subsequently, the pieces on the body will be connected with paracord.

Creating a project with drawings

There are many projects for homemade plywood boats, ranging from a simple punt that is used for fishing to a complex tourist kayak. There are both prefabricated and folding structures. To begin with, let's dwell on the simplest drawing of the vessel, which is presented below.

If a home-made boat made of plywood according to the drawings that was found does not suit you, then you can design your own version, but such an event will require more accurate calculations regarding the carrying capacity of the structure. Otherwise, with the wrong parameters, you can make a huge souvenir that is not able to keep you on the water.

So, having chosen or created our own project for building a plywood boat, we transfer our parameters to paper, creating a design drawing. Using these paper templates, we draw the outlines of the main elements of the boat on plywood sheets, which will serve as an orientation for cutting sheets and frames for sheathing.

Note! In most cases, the size of the factory plywood does not allow you to cut out a single element of the side of the boat. Therefore, it will be necessary to carry out the procedure for splicing the sheets.

The splicing of the pieces begins with the cutting of the ends of the sheet at an acute angle. As a result, the hewn part should have a length equal to the thickness of the sheet, increased by 7-10 times. The connected parts with bevelled ends are perfectly shown in the diagram below.

Pieces that are ideally beveled under each other must be smeared with glue along the bevel and firmly clamped with clamps using the “whisker” method. While our pieces are sticking together, you can prepare the bars for the frame of the boat. It will be more convenient to work on goats specially created with your own hands from 5x5 cm bars.

You can also make a homemade folding plywood boat, the drawing of which is presented below.

Assembling the hull of a simple boat

First of all, we will make frames (although you can make them after assembling the plywood frame). Having drawn and sawn the necessary bars, we fasten them with self-tapping screws and epoxy glue.

Frames

Note! At the stage of sawing out the elements, deviations from the drawing parameters should not be more than 1 mm, otherwise the sides may not be sewn together.

The assembly of a homemade plywood boat is shown in detail in the video, which is added to the article.

First of all, we install a transom on our goats, to which we attach the bottom and sides, leading them a little to the middle, connecting them with brackets on the nose. With a small thickness of the plywood sheet, the sheathing can be connected with suture material or an adhesive mixture. When assembling, make sure that all elements match in size.

Gluing the frames and the side is necessary to provide greater thickness, and, accordingly, increase the strength of the structure. Also, in order to increase the reliability of the connections, it is recommended to additionally fasten the transoms and frames with tin-plated or galvanized self-tapping screws 18 or 25 mm long and 3 mm in diameter. Self-tapping screws for the stern and sides are taken a little more: 60 by 4-5 mm.

Adviсe! If a gap is obtained when connecting the elements, it is necessary to disassemble everything and cut it to right size frames. And for a home-made boat made of plywood for a motor, you need to remember to glue the transom with fiberglass, as well as fasten wooden planks made from solid wood.

Special overlays can also be cut on the transom to strengthen the structure as a whole. When all the elements are assembled and converged with each other, then you can start gluing the structure. To make the seams come out especially neat, you can use masking tape, which is glued on both sides of each seam.

We perform sizing with a mixture of aerosil and epoxy resin (1: 1), we carefully work with fiberglass so that bubbles do not result. The gluing seams should come out even, and the wood structure should still be visible through the fiberglass layers.

Then we turn the almost finished boat upside down and remove the staples if they fasten the elements, and also round the seam joints. Having obtained the desired streamlining, you can also glue the seams from the outside.

In addition to gluing, the structure can be reinforced with 3 layers of glass tape or completely sheathed with fiberglass. You can also add benches to the design, for which we make planks, as well as cut out the stem and install the bow eyebolt. Materials needed for outer stringers and keel High Quality so that there are no knots. The polished elements will strengthen the structure, and also serve as protection for the skin during mooring.

The basics of making a folding structure

You can also make a homemade collapsible plywood boat according to the above drawing. Such a boat will consist of several independent sections, which in turn represent a part of the structure, the length of which is equal to the distance between the frames, which are located nearby. In other words, the boat is "cut" into pieces.

The sections are assembled by means of bolts, and for a snug fit of the parts to each other, a rubber seal is laid between the sections. When assembled, all the rest are placed in the largest middle section with a nesting doll. And then all the elements can be packed in a cloth case and easily transported by car or other means of transport.

For the manufacture of a collapsible structure, you will need the following materials:

  • Plywood: 2.5 sheets for sheathing - construction 4x1500x1500 mm, part 1 sheet for the stem and frames - 10x900x1300;
  • Boards for removable seats.

Plywood must be purchased in grade 1 so that there are no knots, but there is a hitch! Boards 6 m long - we take one coniferous tree 2 cm thick, and the other from any tree 4 cm thick. We also need meter-long beech boards to finish the side of our boat.

First of all, we also create a design drawing, after which we make paper templates for the transom, frames and stem. In the frames cut with a hacksaw according to the templates, it is necessary to drill the corresponding holes for the bolts, after which we connect the sheets. Frames need to be filed and glued on the outside rubber seal 1 mm thick.

Also, in the frames, you need to make holes for rivets, which will be located in pairs for every 1-5 cm, screwing in 1 cm from the edge. They can be built independently from wire with a diameter of 1.5 to 3 mm from aluminum wire. With the help of a conductor, sections are assembled.

When all the elements are made and assembled, the entire structure must be impregnated with drying oil, it is recommended even in two layers. But always on top of dry plywood. When the drying oil dries inner part you need to open with varnish, and the outer - with oil paint.

Classic fishing on the river bank is, without a doubt, very convenient and in some way even romantic. However, what to do if all the treasured fish is found far from the coast or in a place where you can’t get there except by water?

A boat is the best solution for this task. But their cost in stores makes fishermen and tourists sometimes show initiative and ingenuity, creating boats literally from nothing. From what materials can you make a boat with your own hands?

Boat made of plastic bottles

An unusual but effective material for creating a boat can be banal plastic bottles. Since the most the common volume of such containers is 2 liters, the most difficult stage in the design will be the collection of material.

In order to create a "bottle" boat, you will need the following materials:

  • bottles;
  • Waterproof tape and glue;
  • Knife or scissors;
  • Wire;
  • Plywood and cross-beams made of wood or metal.

First of all, you need to carefully clean the bottles of stickers and labels. However, the most important thing to do at this stage is to give plastic containers density and rigidity. The laws of physics will help with this. The bottles are placed in the refrigerator, tightly twisted with lids, and then moved to heat. Thus, the air inside the bottles is heated and gives them an elastic shape. For greater reliability, it is advisable to fix the covers with waterproof glue.

Installation of a boat from plastic bottles

Original logs are formed from pre-prepared bottles.

First step― connection of two bottles bottoms. To secure, pull on a plastic ring cut from the middle of an empty bottle. The whole structure is smeared with glue and tightly wrapped with tape in several layers.

The tops of the next two bottles are cut off, after which the headless plastic is placed on the edges of the workpiece, again using glue and tape. Thus, a reliable and sealed fragment of the future boat is obtained.

The further process consists of repeating the above steps and ends with the manufacture of a log of the optimal size.

One float consists of eight logs, which are connected with strong wire, polyethylene and adhesive tape. Depending on preferences, the number of logs can vary up or down. The most important thing is to maintain balance and make a reliable means of transportation out of the boat.

The floats are mounted using crossbars made of wood or metal. The bottom of the boat can again be created from different material. It can be plywood, plastic or metal sheet.

The final touch in the manufacture of the boat can be waterproof fabric upholstery or finishing with strong plywood with subsequent painting. So the boat will add in reliability and aesthetics.

Plywood boat

In addition to plywood as the main material, to create such a boat you will need:

  • Electric jigsaw;
  • Screwdriver;
  • Saw;
  • A hammer;
  • grinding device;
  • Clamps and brushes;
  • Wood;

Glue, resins, varnishes, varnishes, etc.

Mounting a plywood boat

The most acceptable option is large-sized plywood without defects in the form of delamination and cracks.

With the help of drawings, an extremely careful markup of the material is made. If the slightest errors and discrepancies are made, making a boat without gaps will become impossible. For tracing plywood, you can use special patterns.

Next, each fragment is cut with a saw and a jigsaw. Particular attention is paid to the joining angles at the ends. The tailgate and frames will require plywood to be installed in several layers to increase strength. If the design of the boat assumes the presence of a motor, then the tailgate supplemented with hardwood and glued with fiberglass.

Frames and transoms are fixed with tin-plated or galvanized screws. The bottom and sides are attached to the transoms with special glue and other materials for seams. It is advisable to strengthen the bottom of the boat with a slatted flooring.

Seams are glued with a special sealant, which includes epoxy resin and aerosil in a 1: 1 ratio. Fillets are stiffeners and are laid in the corners. All internal joints treated with sealant, after which fiberglass is applied to them.

After drying the entire structure, the frames, flooring on the bottom, seats and other planned elements are installed.

Before painting, all surfaces are degreased and polished, then carefully treated with impregnation for wood. If after all these actions the surface remains uneven and has cracks, a special putty comes to the rescue, and after drying, a primer.

Usually used for painting ship enamel, hard brush or spray gun.

Folding boat made of duralumin

To create a folding boat you will need:

  • Sheets of duralumin;
  • rubberized fabric;
  • Rivets and overlays;
  • Wood;
  • Scissors for metal;
  • Primer and paint.

Installation of a folding boat made of dualuminum

Duralumin is the most profitable material for creating a folding boat. It is light and very durable, while only six elements are needed to create a watercraft: two for the bottom and four for the sides.

There are only three transverse struts in such a boat: one of them is a seat, the other two are struts made of wood with aluminum tubes at the ends. They are inserted into the holes on the inner sides of the sides, which ensures the rigidity and reliability of the structure.

Before starting to assemble the boat according to the drawings, it is recommended to recreate its prototype from cardboard. So it will be easier to eliminate all errors, besides, such cardboard parts will also serve as patterns for duralumin.

All six parts of a folding boat are cut out with metal scissors, then they are fitted and hem. Holes for rivets are drilled in the joints-seams every 2 centimeters. After that, the fragments of the boat are fastened with rivets, which are sealed with paint. Also, the installation of duralumin can be carried out with rubberized elastic fabric.

The gunwale and seats are made from any available wood and mounted with galvanized nails. In the final, the finished boat is primed and painted.