Boat Building

Portions

• bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull. It is designed to reduce the resistance of the hull cutting through water and should be tall enough to prevent water from easily washing over the top of the hull.
• chines - are long, longitudinal strips on hydroplaning hulls that deflect downwards the spray that is produced by the hull when it travels at speed in the water. The term also refers to distinct changes in angle of the hull sections, where the bottom blends into the sides of a flat bottomed skiff, for instance. A hull may have 2 or more chines to allow an approximation of a round bottomed shape with flat panels. It also refers to the longitudinal members inside the hull which support the edges of these panels.
• deck - the top surface of the hull keeps water and weather out of the hull and allows the crew to stand safely and operate the boat more easily. It stiffens an enclosed hull.
• gunwale - The upper longitudinal structural member of the hull. Cannons were bolted to them in the earliest gun armed warships.
• keel - the main central member along the length of the bottom of the boat. It is an important part of the boat's structure which also has a strong influence on its turning performance and, in sailing boats, resists the sideways pressure of the wind
• keelson - an internal beam fixed to the top of the keel to strengthen the joint of the upper members of the boat to the keel
• rudder - a steering device at the rear of the hull created by a turn-able blade on a vertical axis
• sheer - the generally curved shape of the top of the hull. The sheer is traditionally lowest amidships to maximize freeboard at the ends of the hull. Sheers can be reverse, higher in the middle, to maximize space inside or straight or a combination of shapes.
• stem - a continuation of the keel upwards at the front of the hull
• transom - a wide, flat, sometimes vertical board at the rear of the hull, which, on small power boats, is often designed to carry an outboard motor. Transoms increase width and so buoyancy at the stern.

Construction materials

• wood - the traditional boat building material that was and is still used for hull and spar construction. It is buoyant, cheap, widely available and easily worked. It is not particularly abrasion resistant and it can deteriorate if fresh water or marine arganisims are allowed to penetrate the wood. Rot resistant woods such as cedar and oak are generally selected for wooden boat construction.Glue, screws and nails are used to join the wooden components.
• steel and before that iron - either used in sheet for all-metal hulls or for isolated structural members. It is strong. The material rusts unless protected from water. Modern steel components are welded or bolted together. Until the mid 1900s, steel sheets were riveted together.
• aluminium - either used in sheet for all-metal hulls or for isolated structural members. Many sailing spars are made of aluminium. The material requires special manufacturing techniques, construction tools and construction skills. Corrosion is a concern with aluminium below the waterline.
• glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) composite - used to create a smooth and hydrodynamically efficient hull shape.
• steel-reinforced concrete - strong but heavy and prone to internal corrosion. It is not often used for boat building.

Construction methods

• Dory construction a specialized technique in which the bottom is the structural backbone of the hull with the thinner sides attached to it. A dory's bottom planks run from bow to stern.
• dugout - a primitive method of building a boat hull that involves carving and/or burning a log from a tree until the desired hull shape is attained.
• clinker - overlapping wooden planks are attached to a frame. See also lapstrake.
• carvel - a smooth hull is formed by wooden planks attached to a frame. The planks may be curved in cross section like barrel staves. Carvel planks are generally caulked with oakum or cotton that is driven into the seams between the planks and covered with some water proof substance. It takes its name from an archiac ship type and is believed to have originated in the Mediterarian.
• flat bottomed In flat bottomed boats such as banks dories, sharpies and skiffs, the sides and bottoms are 2 distinct pieces meeting at a sharp angle at the chine. Flat bottomed boats are simple to build and shallow in draft. Most are intended for use in protected waters, though the banks dory evolved as a fishing boat in the open Atlantic.
• GRP mould - glass reinforced plastic is moulded into a hull shape. Sheets of strong fabric such as fiberglass saturated with a resin, generally a polyester though sometimes epoxy, are laminated in a mold to the desired thickness and strength. The resulting structure is strong in tension but often needs to be reinforced with wood or foam to provide stiffness. GRP hulls are largely free of corrosion though not fireproof.
• inflatable boat - the hull is created from rubber air-tight tubes that are inflated with high pressure air. For simple inflatable boats, the flooring often consists of plywood or aluminium sheet. For rigid-hulled inflatable boats, the flooring is part of the GRP hull.
• lapstrake - A technique originally identified with the Vikings in which wooden planks are fixed to each other with a slight overlap that is beveled for a tight fit. The planks may be mechanically connected to each other with copper rivets, bent over iron nails, screws or with adhesives. Often, steam bent wooden frames are fitted inside the hull. This technique is known as clinker in Britain and also as clench built.
• metal boats - Metal boats are constructed of steel or aluminuim sheets welded or riveted together. Though metal plates can be curved, they are generally of chine construction. Robust and fireproof, they can be heavy and may suffer from corrosion or rust.
• plywood - sheets of plywood are fixed to a frame built forming a smooth hull. Plywood may be laminated into a round hull or used in single sheets. These hullls generally have one or more chines.
• stitch-and-glue - pre-shaped panels of plywood are edge glued and reinforced with fibreglass without the use of a frame. Metal or plastic wires pull curved flat panels into three dimensional curved shapes. These hullls generally have one or more chines.
• strip-built - A diriviation of carvel construction, long, thin, flexible lengths of wood are secured together and often reinforced with fibreglass.

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