Kategori: Help pages

Boat Building Course When You Order Boat Plans

Downloadable, step-by-step course teaches you how to build a boat

Yours absolutely free with your purchase of any boat plans

First-time boat builder? Never fear!  You are exactly the reason I created the Boat Building Master Course. In all my years as a Naval Architect, I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked how to build a boat. It’s not complicated, but still, many doubt they’d be able to complete the task. That’s perfectly understandable. Boat building does seem like a major undertaking. While the boat plans I sell offer far more instruction and clarity than most others, I wanted you to be absolutely sure you could do it. That’s when I developed the Boat Building Master Course.

“I printed out the lofting manual. It made perfect sense. I always wondered how to transfer the measurements onto the wood, and now I know!”

John K Albee, USA

The Boat Building Course Teaches Anyone How To Build A Boat

Everything you need to know is included in this impressive five-volume set. Written in everyday language (not techy jargon). It gives you complete knowledge of boat building from bow to stern including:

• A specific section written just for beginners to get you started on the right foot.
• More than 100 detailed pages of easy-to-follow instructions.
• Over 70 sketches and photos that cover every step of the process so you can actually see how it’s done.
• 5 manageable, logically organized sections.
• Thorough information about every phase of boat building: lofting, assembly, laminating and epoxy.
• Insider tips and tricks I’ve discovered over my lifetime as a master builder and Naval Architect that will help you solve complicated problems the easy way!
• And more!

The Complete Boat Building Package

With the boat plans (complete with thorough instructions and materials list), the free 3D model and the boat building course for beginners, there’s really no reason you can’t learn how to build a boat.

“I was a bit worried about the epoxy and glass tape factors of the build, but having just flicked through the boat building course, I have to say it pretty much instilled confidence and the belief that building your own boat isn’t that difficult after all.

It goes about answering most questions about how to do certain tasks. It is a great help and a must for someone like myself (first-time builder or novice).”

Clint Gray, England

Order Boat Plans Today

and get your FREE Boat Building Master Course with your download.

FREE 3D Boat Design Model With Every Order of Boat Building Plans

Amazing computer technology lets you see your boat fully completed – inside and out – before you begin to build the boat

View video showing the 3D model in action:

It is always easier to build something when you have an exact replica to follow. Since I’m unable to ship you a full-scale boat with your boat building plans, I decided to do the next best thing. You’ll get a FREE computer-generated, 3D boat design model to guide you step-by-step as you build a boat.

Virtually Tour Every Inch of Your Boat Design

With just the click of a button and the drag of your mouse, you can view every corner, seam, fillet and joint of your boat design conveniently from your desktop. But that’s not all. You can also…

Zoom – Zoom in to see precisely how the different parts of your boat building plans are assembled. Getting an up-close look at the details before you build a boat reduces your chances of making fatal mistakes.

Pan – View the entire length of any section for greater understanding and accuracy when building.

Rotate – Top, bottom, sides… roll, turn and flip the boat design 360 degrees in every direction for an all-encompassing look.

Cross Section – Cut right through your virtual boat at any point to see a detailed horizontal or vertical cross section. Enormously valuable during the assembly phase!

Measure – Choose from U.S. standard or metric. Measure any part of your boat building plans to check and double check as you go through the steps.

Highly user-friendly and intuitive, this incredible computer software gives you the ability to view every angle of your boat design. And it’s so simple to master. If you can use Microsoft Word, you’ll quickly become a pro at maneuvering through your digital boat design.

Use With the FREE Boat Building Master Course

I want your boat design to come to life with the least amount of stress and the most enjoyment possible. That’s why every order of boat building plans comes with the amazing 3D Virtual Model and also a FREE Boat Building Master Course. Add to that the detailed instructions included with the plans themselves plus assistance directly from me via email, and you have an entire package that practically makes failure a non-issue.

Order Boat Plans Today

and Get Your FREE Virtual 3D Model

Downloadable boat plans

“I know nothing about boat design, boat building or boat architecture but I feel as if I have hit a gold mine in the designs you provided. Getting anything on the internet is always a crap shoot, so thank you for making it a pleasant experience.
Your plans are beyond my expectations. I really can’t wait to get started.”

Wayne Lancaster, USA

The Downloadable boat plans contain detailed dimensions for every panel needed to build the boat. Beside that the boat plans comes with assembly drawings, bill of materials and building instruction. 

When you have submitted your order and made the purchase with credit card you will receive an email with the download instruction. You will then be able to download a file containing all the plans needed for building the boat. 

To view and print the Downloadable boat plans you will need the Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader is absolutely free to use. 

“I love the plans and I can’t wait to try this boat on our backwaters here in Florida.”

Jon Baldia, USA.

Plywood

You can get plywood in many different qualities and versions. The price differs a lot depending on what you choose. The different qualities are normally designate in accordance with the surfaces and the core. 

The most superior plywood for boat building is of course marine plywood. For a large variety of applications it is excellent but for some applications it might be overkill to use marine plywood. 

For most of the boats here on Boatplans.dk it is fully acceptable to use exterior grade plywood. It is always recommended to prime the plywood with epoxy resin in order to make the plywood moister resistant. 

I have for many of my boats used cheap Brazilian plywood in grade B/C and it has worked fine without any problems. The different grades can be read in the table below, and the B/C means that one side B-grade and the other is C-grade.

Grade N veneers

Grade N veneer shall be smoothly cut 100% heartwood or 100% sapwood, free from knots, knotholes, pitch pockets, open splits, other open defects, and stain. The veneer shall consist of not more than two pieces in 1220 mm (48-inch) widths and not more three pieces in wider panels, and shall be well matched for color and grain.

Grade A veneers

Grade A veneer shall be firm; smoothly cut; and free of knots, pitch pockets, open splits, and other open defects and well jointed when of more than one piece.

Grade B veneers

Grade B veneer shall be solid and free from open defects and broken grain, except repaired smaller splits, openings, knots and cracks or checks. Slightly rough grain shall be permitted. Minor sanding and patching defects shall not exceed 5% of panel area.

Grade C veneers

Sanding defects shall not impair the strength or serviceability of the panel.

Grade C Plugged veneers

Knotholes, worm and borer holes, and other open defects; sound and tight knots; split; broken grains; pitch pockets; plugs; patches and shims shall be permitted. Where grades having C Plugged face veneer are fully sanded, sanding defects shall be the same as admitted under B grade.

Grade D veneers

Any number of plugs, patches, shims, worm or borer holes, sanding defects, and other characteristics shall be permitted, provided they do not seriously impair the strength or serviceability of the panel.

The requirements above are not a fully description of the grades but an abstract of the requirements.

One thing you must always remember is to buy plywood that are glued with water and boiling proof glue. That is normally stated with a WBP mark.

Glass fabric

Most of the designs from Boatplans.dk do not require glass fabric on the entire hull. Basically it is a choice omitted because the fabric often makes the finish work more difficult. For most designs the strength of the plywood is more than enough for the boat. 

It is however possible to cover the hull with a glass fabric in order to obtain better durability and easier maintenance over the years. If you choose so my advice will be to choose a crowfoot woven light fabric. Furthermore the crowfoot weave has the advantage that it is totally invisible when wetted out with resin. 

For the designs that require glass fabric a biaxial ±45° glass fabric is chosen. The fabric consists of two layers of glass laid perpendicular to each other and in an angel of ±45° to to the warp direction. The two layers are stitched together.

The fabric gives an outstanding and strong laminate. Furthermore it is easy to work with and very flexible. It requires some finish work after it is wetted out and the laminate is dry, but when wetted out and rolled carefully the finish work can be kept at a minimum. 

Glass tape

The glass tape specified can be of any regular available type. One thing that is important is that the tape you choose has a minimum weight as specified under the different designs. If your normal supplier does not have the weight specified choose the nearest weight above the one specified. 

Resin

Epoxy resin for your new boat can be bought from many suppliers and manufactures. Choose the supplier where you get the best service and guidance, also if something turns out not exactly as you suspected. 

You can get epoxy resin with different hardeners. Some are meant for slow cure and some for fast. If you can’t find a hardener with a curing time that fits your need it is often possible to mix the hardener. This means that if you would like to have a gel time between the slow and fast hardener you simply mix the two and achieve a gel time in between. 

Some manufactures produce a special tropic hardener. It is very suitable for laminating in warm areas. You will then have time to apply and work with the epoxy even if the temperature reaches 43°C (109F).

The amount of resin is, for the metric units, given in kg. Some suppliers give the amount in litres. As an approximation you can make 1 litre equal 1.1 kg. This means the other way around that 1 kg is equal 0.9 litres.

Filler

The filler is applied to the epoxy resin in order to make it thicker. The thickened epoxy resin is used for making fillets between the panels and the frames.

For most of our designs you can use ordinary wood flour. Basically the wood flour is some fine and very clean sawdust, and in principles you can make it yourself. But it is recommended to buy it from your supplier since you get a very clean product without any impurity. 

For some of our designs the filler specified is Aerosil or Carbosil. It is important to use Aerosil or Cabosil because the fillet needs some structural properties that the filler will apply to the epoxy resin. Adding Aerosil or Cabosil to the epoxy makes it harder to grind, therefore the best thing to do is to smooth the fillets carefully before they harden.

I am often asked by website visitors if anybody can build the boats I have designed. The answer is quite simply; yes. Of course you have to take into consideration what previously experiences you have. So if you choose a design that fits your previous experiences that is a good way to start if you want to be sure to finish your new boat with success.

Then you might ask how I can be so sure anyone can build my boats. That question I will answer by telling you a small story about myself and my background.

I grew up in a provincial town in Denmark. And I can assure you there was no boating activity whatsoever in my family when I was a kid. My father has always been afraid around water and my mother is convinced that water is something you only use to have a shower. 

Therefore I can tell you there was no sign when I grew up that I should ever be interested in boats let alone be building them. However that was what happened. Being a young teenager I read every book I could find together with all the boating magazines I could lay my hands on. In those days nobody had even heard about the internet, but luckily the local library had a good supply of books and magazines.

So I started building model boats. All kinds of model boats some with small electric engines and some with a sail. They could all sail for real, but not all were equally or pretty. I guess it was a good way to learn, since the low expenses for materials didn’t mean much, improving was easy and cheap.

In the long run building models was nog enough. And the real challenge came when trying to move from models to real size boats. Back then the only plans to get were from some old books from the fifties and the instructions that came with them were really poor. So I’ll never forget how hard it was getting started. 

A trip to the local lumber yard selecting lumber for my first boat was a challenge. As I remember I bought too many materials but being on your own didn’t make it easier to plan everything. Back home I got started and luckily I had 3 weeks of vacation to spend on boat building else I might have never finhished. 

The first boat was not pretty. It was heavy and made entirely of of lumber and no fiber glass. But float it did and when there was wind it sailed all right. That summer was just fun, sailing, sailing and sailing. Today I wouldn’t have to dared to go that far out of my depth, but back then I didn’t have a care in the world. 

Later on I became a skilled boat builder and got my degree in naval architecture. But I won’t bore you with that part of the story.

So what is the point here you might ask. The point is that if I can do it, you can do it too. I started building my first boat with nothing, and as I wrote I will never forget how difficult and frustrating that was. That’s why I have made my boat plans as easy to follow as possible, using all my experience from those early days. That is also why I have made the free ‘Boat Building Master Course’ for extra explanation and support for you when building your own boat. And that is also why I will support you all the way till you launch your new boat, because being left alone with a problem can really be frustrating. I know because I have tried it. 

All the best,

Morten Olesen
Boatplans.dk

You can order the plans direct from the website. The payment is made with credit card. I accept the following credit cards:

The orders are processed over a secure server, held in queue until it is verified, and then finally released. The end result is a safe and secure transaction that protects your information at all times. It is absolutely secure and I don’t see any of your credit card details. I NEVER sell, share, or distribute in any way your private/financial information. See further info at each boat design. 

You can always check yourself if the web page is secure. Web pages are secure if you can see an ‘https’ instead of just ‘http’ in the address field in your browser.

All plans on Boatplans.dk are made for immediately download. That’s what I call downloadable boat plans.

After your credit card has been accepted you will receive an email with the download instruction. You will then be able to download a file containing all the plans needed for building the boat.

Furthermore you get a building instruction and detailed information regarding the materials. You will find a closer description under each boat. 

All plans and information are made available to you in dxf and pdf file formats. So you are sure always to be able to print the plans.

If you have any questions please contact us.

All the best,

Morten Olesen
Boatplans.dk

I am only happy if you’re happy, so here’s my guarantee to you…

The ultimate Money-back guarantee

Downloadable boat plans from Boatplans.dk comes with a 100% unconditional Money-back guarantee. If for any reason, you come to feel that the plans isn’t worth what you paid for it, I’ll give you a complete refund immediately, and there are… 

• no time limits
• no exceptions
• no reason required
• no strings of any kind

This is my garantee to you.

So if you are still unsure, my advice to you – Buy it. Take advantage of my money-back guarantee and decide afterwards…

All the best,

Morten Olesen
Boatplans.dk

Best plans… best prices… best guarantee…

Boatplans.dk knows that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice describes Boatplans.dk privacy policy.

Boatplans.dk does not gather any personal information about you.

Boatplans.dk will not contact your email address, without being asked, for any marketing or promotion purpose. We will of course write back to you if you contact us. If you wish to receive news from our site, please sign up for our newsletter.

Boatplans.dk will not share or sell your email address to anybody, anytime, anywhere.

We use cookies to record session information, such as items that consumers add to their shopping cart and record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit.

Boatplans.dk does not have access to and do not store any of your credit card details. Our secure and certified payment gateway and PayPal handle credit cards payment and details. We use the highest possible level of security, including 256-bit SSL encryption technology.

All the best,

Morten Olesen
Boatplans.dk

Customers outside of the EU

All prices are in US dollar (USD). The amount stated on the check out page is the amount your credit card will be charged. Absolutely NO extra costs will be charged.

When ordering from Boatplans.dk you may be subject to import duties and taxes that are levied once you have made your purchase. Any additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you. Please contact your local customs office for further information. 

Customers inside of the EU

All prices include VAT and are in US dollar (USD). The amount stated on the check out page is the amount your credit card will be charged. Absolutely NO extra costs will be charged.

Your order is processed over our secure server, held in queue until it is verified, and then finally released. The end result is a safe and secure transaction that protects your information at all times. We NEVER sell, share, or distribute in any way your private/financial information.

After your purchase are done you will receive a receipt via email. You will also receive a download instruction for downloading your Downloadable boat plans immediately. 

Downloadable boat plans – Money Back Guarantee

Downloadable boat plans from Boatplans.dk comes with a 100% unconditional Money Back Guarantee. If for any reason, you come to feel that the plans isn’t worth what you paid for it, you will receive a complete refund. Read more.

The materials contained herein are the copyrighted property of Boatplans.dk a limited liability company registered in and subject to the laws of the Kingdom of Denmark. 

Boatplans.dk has made every effort to obtain permission to reprint builder’s photos and press articles obtained from outside sources. However, if you believe that our use of third-party materials infringes your intellectual property rights, please let us know immediately.

Material from this site may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or distributed in any way without the prior written permission of Boatplans.dk. However, you may download copies of our free handbooks and articles for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices. Modification of the materials may be a violation of copyright and other proprietary rights of Boatplans.dk. 

Boatplans.dk does not warrant, endorse, or guarantee any product or service mentioned herein or in any other site to which you may be directed or forwarded. Registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Boatplans.dk provides the information on this website as a public service and cannot be held responsible for any direct, special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages of any kind resulting from the use of this information. Remember, power tools and chemicals such as epoxy are inherently dangerous, so please take appropriate safety measures. And please boat responsibly.

If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to:
[email protected]