Have you been wondering what all the excitement is about with epoxy art these days? This is the perfect time to join Total Boat, and for five days of Have you been wondering what all the excitement is about with epoxy art these days? This is the perfect time to join WoodWorkers Guild of America … Read More
These strange days, you never know where opportunity or amusement may find you. For the Acorn to Arabella duo of Steve and Alix, it was just outside their back door at their Massachusetts home where they found inspiration for the mother of all projects: building a 35-foot wooden sailboat, Arabella. The project would not be … Read More
If you’ve attempted to bend wood then you know it’s an art and skill that takes some practice, or at least some knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. Steam bending is a common boatbuilding technique and one which takes some practice and some tools you might not have on hand. Bending wood around a … Read More
It must be planking season because many of the backyard boatbuilders are doing the planking thing these days. Scott, who is building a trawler in his upstate NY boatshed, is finally to the point where he is attaching the first layers of white oak planking. It’s not the last of his planking layers – he’ll … Read More
It took a little help from some experienced friends and a few calls into the TotalBoat Support Team, but Chris from Third Coast Craftsman has been both frustrated and exhilarated by his drift boat build. He landed himself with the chance for a pretty topside paint job after he was unhappy with the fiberglassing job … Read More
As the Acorn to Arabella team works through their stash of boards for planking their Atkins ketch, they are finding more pieces with defects that require attention in order to be useful. It just means more work bunging and flattening the boards which will be bent around Arabella’s frames and forced into her curvy lines. … Read More
Talented woodworker, Chris Schoenberg of Third Coast Craftsman (now Boatbuilding!), has had good luck so far with his wooden drift boat boatbuilding project. This week’s video, however, shows that not all skills can be assumed – like the fine art of fiberglassing that we know can be trickier than expected. As can easily happen, Chris … Read More
Louis Sauzedde’s famous stature as a boatbuilding video star extends far beyond New England and the United States. Chileans in the town of Lota flocked to meet Louis when he visited their local shipyard on the shore during his visit there last year. The press and locals were there to interview the superstar and get some … Read More
Louis Ss
Winter won’t stop Alix and Steve from Acorn to Arabella from making headway on their Atkins Ketch build. Even though they are beginning to make good progress planking Arabella, they can’t help but look forward into the future of the project. They know they will need some nicely curved pieces for knees inside the boat, … Read More
You watched Andy Miller of Boatworks Today, construct his deck hatches in the last few episodes of Boatworks Today. In this latest installment, Andy fiberglasses the panels he constructed using a laminate core material, called Coosa – or Airex Board. Using Laminating Resin and Gelcoat with wax, Andy applied multiple layers of 1708 fiberglass to … Read More
Andy Miller has been busy reconstructing parts of his Bertram Moppie, adding strength and removing weight from some vital areas. Today he conquers the best way to template and cut hatches which will fit into the lockers he has built for the deck. Using Coosa Board for the core, Andy constructs the new hatches after … Read More
When the TotalBoss’s birthday came around and his family wanted to find him a special gift that acknowledged his recent affinity for playing the ukulele, we knew just who to turn to for help. TotalBoat Ambassador and YouTuber, Tim Sway, was the obvious choice for building this special project, and he was more than happy … Read More
When Steve and Alix couldn’t find rivets that met their high standards for constructing their Atkins ketch, Arabella, they did what any sensible backyard boatbuilder does – they made them! It’s probably not surprising that the young pair, who have harvested their family grown trees for planking and smelted their own lead keel from scrap, … Read More
When we got the call from the Acorn to Arabella boatbuilders about their Resorcinol problems, we wanted to help out. We’ve been supporting the boatbuilding duo since they started by offering supplies and support, so we were, of course, happy to oblige them by shipping them a variety of epoxies to test out. We know … Read More