Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction: Wood and West System Materials [Hardcover]

Meade Gougeon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2005 | ISBN-10: 1878207504 | ISBN-13: 978-1878207500 | Edition: Fifth

Decades of experience building with wood and epoxy are compiled in this books 5th edition, completed in 2005. New and updated material is combined with proven technology in a user friendly, revised layout. Extensive chapters on hardware bonding, construction methods, safety and tools are supported with the aid of hundreds of detailed illustrations and photographs.
It is obvious that a great deal of thought and care went into the content and organization of this book. Every topic of woodepoxy boatbuilding is covered from estimating materials and labor to detailed construction techniques; it includes numerous appendices and reference tables. Care has been taken to provide overviews and fundamentals to keep the reader grounded; each chapter is prefaced with alerts to recent changes and new techniques in construction practices.
Written from the perspective of looking over the shoulder of a boatbuilder at work, rather than some theoretical discussion of how a project should go under ideal circumstances, the intricacies of how to deal with What do I do now? situations are covered in detail. The text is written in a conversational manner with an emphasis on clarity and ease of understanding. Used as a textbook in boatbuilding schools. Over 100,000 copies in print.
Meade Gougeon, 2005, HC, 406pp.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: Gougeon Brothers; Fifth edition (October 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878207504
• ISBN-13: 978-1878207500
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have if you use epoxy in building boats, January 19, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Yarmouth, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction: Wood and West System Materials (Hardcover)

(Reference is to 1994 update of 1985 revision) Everything you want to know by the inventors of WEST SYSTEM materials as they apply to wood.

Includes test results (eg: how thick, how many layers, how strong, how far will it bend, etc).

Excellect illustrations and pictures. Covers all phases of construction: estimating materials, tools, wood as structural material, safety, lamination techniques, scarfing, coating & finishing, lofting, molds, keels/stems/sheer clamps, laminated hulls, strip planking/composit, interiors, decks, hardware bonding.

Does not include plans for any specific boat.

Privately printed (almost as good as Tufte)

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gougeon Brothers on boat construction, August 28, 2000

By 

Joel Moore (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction: Wood and West System Materials (Hardcover)

This book is a very comprehensive overview of wood boat construction. I checked the book out of the library before making the decision to buy it! Two vital pieces of information, in addition to boat construction, was the attention to detail regarding the power and hand tools you might need, and the layout of your shop in the construction of your boat.

I would recommend the Fourth (Revised) Edition, which was published in 1985. At that, I was still concerned about the dated materials on epoxy being fifteen years out. I contacted G.B.s Inc. and they emailed me back that there was no plans to update the book. They let me know that they have a free newsletter they send out on the latest construction techniques and the evolving science of epoxy construction materials. They apparently have archived past newletters for those looking for particular information. I would, however, recommend the Fourth (1985) and last edition if you are going to purchase this book. The 1979 edition is too dated. An excellent companion book is "Boat Strength" by David Gerr, N.A. The two books cover most of my questions!

The G.B.s website has a very responsive tech team that answered my questions promptly.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still good after all these years, July 29, 2002

By 

Doh (Pickering, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction: Wood and West System Materials (Hardcover)

I have both copies of the book, and the 85 version was considerably updated. About 8 years ago there was talk of a new version, but I guess that has been shelved,

The biggest changes in recent years, haven't been so much in epoxies, as they have in methods. Cold molded boats are still made, but with computers (as sophisticated shape generators) and better fabrics, the majority of great new boats are being built strip style. There is little coverage of that here. Neither is there coverage of Constant Camber, Duracore (though there is balsa core relative stuff), Cylinder Molds, glued lap, and the list goes on.

Few amateur builders have ever lofted a boat these days, it just isn't the same scene.

But on the other hand these guys understand wood. They go into a lot of non-hull details, from decks to gas tanks (though they no longer recommend the latter. If you read and understand this book, you will be a far better wooden boat builder. There really isn't anything else as serious out there. Mead Gougeon's tri made Sail magazine's (I think) list of the 30 most important boats, I don't think anyone else who made that list has written a similar book.

Other than 207 hardener, their epoxies remain much as described here.

Oh by the way, they have a free booklet on strip building.