New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching (Paperback)

by Reuel B. Parker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"For the do-it-yourselfer backyard builder who dreams of cruising in his own boat and can't begin to afford a custom-built vessel. This book really does explain how you can do it... Parker's approach is so down-to-earth, one feels one can trust him. When he says something works, you can believe it. This is truly an excellent book about a valuable building technique." -- Ash Breeze

"It is a most informative volume which will be consulted on my next design project for a wooden boat." -- The Planimeter, Society of Small Craft Designers

"Will keep the backyard builder's feet firmly on the ground while inspiring the kind of enthusiasm needed to carry a major project to completion." -- WoodenBoat --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
This cold-molded boatbuilding technique produces a frameless hull with a thick, puncture-resistant skin made of inexpensive plywood encapsulated in epoxy resin. Thirty-three chapters cover in detail everything from choosing design to rigging, canvas work, and launching. Appendies show how to adapt existing designs for cold-molded building and where to find materials and supplies. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: International Marine Publishing (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087742358X
• ISBN-13: 978-0877423584
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,701,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of two you must have, January 29, 2008

By	stephen sittler (oak lawn, il United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching (Paperback)

I'm a 66 y.o. retiree, working solo, in my second year of building a 34' schooner. I've never built a boat. There is only good news: it's a step-by-step process, the steps are small but many, the harder ones will yield to thinking. DO IT! - you won't regret it. Mr. Parker's book is invaluable, and densely packed with good advice on every page. Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding also highly recommended (for attitude adjustment), and the west system/Gougeon brothers' one also. A sailboat may be the most beautiful object that ordinary men have ever achieved. Or extraordinary ones, for that matter. Good luck! The big Festool "Rotex" sander, a makita battery-powered impact driver, epoxy and a bosch power hand planer will be your friends for life - money well spent.
stephen sittler

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Attention boat builders, September 9, 2008

By	David Sumsion "david" (australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching (Paperback)

A very comprehensive book. Will be of interest to any boat builder, not only cold molders.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Boatbuilding 201, April 8, 2008

By	Sam Spangenberg (Whittier, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding: From Lofting to Launching (Paperback)

Excellent technical information.
Well illustrated with photographs and drawings.
Analytical in organization, construction topics with invaluable index.
Directed at a slightly larger construction than average.
Terminology only slightly salty, but a good sailing vocabulary (or dictionary) will help.

The idea of cold-molding a boat (using thinner woods laminated with epoxy or polyester and a glass or synthetic cloth) has intrigued me for more than 30 years now. A lot has changed for the better in that time.

The method allows someone with average woodworking skills and a nominal disdain for the dangers of chemical coatings to create a boat that can provide generations of pleasure without the continuing demands a wooden boat makes on time and wallet. This is not to say that such cold molded boats are maintenance free, nor inexpensive however!

While much of Mr. Parker's book is related to the construction of a large (44 feet) boat, the information is invaluable regardless of boat size. It seems likely he would recommend something a bit smaller for your first attempt, but I got the feeling (I'm fighting the urge still) that even I could build that cruiser and head for the Caribbean.

The technical information alone, replete with careful practical and experiential considerations, makes the volume well worth adding to your bookshelf if you are planning on making, rather than buying, a boat, or if you just enjoy the pleasures of fleshing out your dreams with a significant bit of knowledge and an understanding of craftsmanship.

If you are serious about wooden boats, whether to dream of or build, I would put this on the shelf together with titles by John Gardner, Samuel Devlin, Iain Oughtred and John Brooks & Ruth Ann Hill.