Boatbuilding With Plywood [Hardcover]

Glen L. Witt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0939070073 | ISBN-13: 978-0939070077 | Publication Date: June 15, 1989 | Edition: 3

The classic text for building in plywood. Dense with information on every process from lofting to launch. Very well illustrated with photos, drawings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Glen-L Marine Designs; 3 edition (June 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939070073
• ISBN-13: 978-0939070077
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Plywood Boatbuilder's Bible, December 2, 1999

By 

Bruce Boatner (Eagle, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boatbuilding With Plywood (Hardcover)

There are many ways to build a boat and boatbuilding books frequently overreach in an attempt to cover them all. Simply providing a survey of materials and techniques, these books are generally not useful as hands-on building references.

"Boatbuilding With Plywood" is a shop manual for those building boats using the plywood-over-frame approach. Everything is covered clearly and precisely: lofting, setting up and aligning the jig, bending wood around frames, bevelling and fairing, approaches to planking, ways of rolling the hull over, joinery, fiberglassing and painting, etc. The B&W photographs are amusingly dated, but very effective in illustrating the pertinent ideas in the text.

It becomes obvious that the authors (recent revision additions by Ken Hankinson) really KNOW about building this type of boat. Any situation that one encounters in the building process will be found well covered in the book.

And don't think plywood boats are all funky, boxy, "home-made" looking jobs. With modern epoxy technology and techniques, many no-holds-barred projects are choosing to build cold-molded plywood racing or cruising boats because of their advantages in strength, weight, safety and maintenance.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Compares! (once you have decided upon plywood), February 4, 2001

By 

"_j_p_w_" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boatbuilding With Plywood (Hardcover)

Truly a remarkable book if (and ONLY if) you have decided that you wish to use plywood as a construction material. It is often an overlooked, and certainly misunderstood material. To be brief on that note, I am not a plywood boatbuilder. I have used and am impressed with its versatility, but prefer the more tedious and traditonal methods. However, it must be understood that plywood hulls can be made round and smooth and strong. It is not a material to be dismissed lightly.

Many other 'survey books' are available to discuss the merits and pitfalls of any given material. Once the builder has been convinced that plywood (hull or deck) construction is a possibility, this book is indispensable. I would never attempt to build a plywood craft without the wealth of knowledge and wisdom Witt offers about a material he has utilized himself, in so many of his plans.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you wanted to know about plywood boatbuilding, January 26, 2004

By 

Eerik Lehto (Nahkela, Uusimaa Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boatbuilding With Plywood (Hardcover)

If you are going to build a plywood boat or dreaming of it, you really should read this book first. It helps you to understand the technique, choose right materials and ways to work. There are also very good health and safety instructions, which are often forgotten or not cared during the work.

Even you'd be an experienced boatbuilder or just a beginner, you can always learn new things from this book. If you buy boat plans or design them by yourself, there are always very important desicions made in construction and then there are also those very important "little things", which may be missing on instructions or you just don't notice them. This book presents all the phases, big and little things very clearly and the all the decisions are based on long time real-life experience. It also explains the terminology of boatbuilding and function of different parts of the boat's hull with photos and drawings.

The text is very easy to read, instructions are clear and everything is explained well. The book will give answer to all your questions concerning the basic builind process during the project. It also helps you to do things right in first time. More than worth of money. If you are not searching information about building a plywood boat, then maybe you should try to find something else.