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Wooden Boat Plans

floydraser

By floydraser
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floydraser

floydraser

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Posted

I so wanted to call this thread "Wooden Boat Porn" but I'm thinking about people in the future doing searches for information. :default_smiley-char054:

Just like Vaughan, I was recently ferreting about looking for something and came accross this plan sheet for a wooden work boat and thought I would share it with you. I can't remember where I got it from but it's not a family thing. I think I just keep it because it's old and could be used for model making or something if I ever run out of things to do.

Anyone want to speculate as to the age?

Old Workboat Plan.jpg

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marshman

marshman

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I really doubt its that old - looks old but in those days the old boys didn't do a lot by plans -or thats my view!!! Just looks too detailed!! I think it might have been plans that were sent out to amateurs or a plan sent out to people who want to see how boats were built, but not one used to actually build them!!!!!

I remember as a lad in the late 50's spending a lot of time with the two chippies down at Bells Boats in Brundall. Yes they had plans but I don't remember them in that detail!!! Agreed for the spacing of and the form of the frames but a lot more was done as they went along - they would nip out and look at an earlier one they might have built!! 

I am probably wrong again but remember vast numbers could not even read or write and a plan might not mean a lot! I think most just got on and built it because thats what they did.

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floydraser

floydraser

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7 minutes ago, marshman said:

I really doubt its that old - looks old but in those days the old boys didn't do a lot by plans -or thats my view!!! Just looks too detailed!! I think it might have been plans that were sent out to amateurs or a plan sent out to people who want to see how boats were built, but not one used to actually build them!!!!!

I remember as a lad in the late 50's spending a lot of time with the two chippies down at Bells Boats in Brundall. Yes they had plans but I don't remember them in that detail!!! Agreed for the spacing of and the form of the frames but a lot more was done as they went along - they would nip out and look at an earlier one they might have built!! 

I am probably wrong again but remember vast numbers could not even read or write and a plan might not mean a lot! I think most just got on and built it because thats what they did.

Good points. There are no specific dimensions marked so it would be difficult to build one from this anyway I would think. In the bottom left corner (not clear) it refers to drawings  790, 791, 792, 793 & 687, all being 30' boats. 

This was probably then a general illustration for a sales pitch? I imagine there would be more detailed drawings for the actual construction. 

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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Posted
1 hour ago, marshman said:

I really doubt its that old - looks old but in those days the old boys didn't do a lot by plans -or thats my view!!! Just looks too detailed!! I think it might have been plans that were sent out to amateurs or a plan sent out to people who want to see how boats were built, but not one used to actually build them!!!!!

I remember as a lad in the late 50's spending a lot of time with the two chippies down at Bells Boats in Brundall. Yes they had plans but I don't remember them in that detail!!! Agreed for the spacing of and the form of the frames but a lot more was done as they went along - they would nip out and look at an earlier one they might have built!! 

I am probably wrong again but remember vast numbers could not even read or write and a plan might not mean a lot! I think most just got on and built it because thats what they did.

Whilst I agree with Marshman in the way that boats were built "by eye" I would say that these are plans made to meet Admiralty specifications for "pulling boats" and "gigs" which served as ship's lifeboats but were also used for going ashore from a warship moored to a buoy, in harbours such as Scapa Flow.

I learned how to row and sail boats like this when I was at naval college and they look like a small version of the standard Admiralty whaler, which was longer and with two masts.

I would guess they are sometime in the early 1900s just before WW one, although Underhill may have used the design in his later line drawings.

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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1316238446_gigdrawing.thumb.jpeg.dbb89e893e42819493e44df933de7ed7.jpeg

 

1037137967_whalerdrawing.thumb.jpeg.3f15abda08d143b92238896e6ccef5da.jpeg

 

It seems that a "double banked" pulling boat with two oarsmen on each thwart pulling a single oar each, was called a cutter.  A single banked boat with one oarsman on each thwart pulling one oar, was called a whaler.  Your designs are single banked but smaller, and would have been called gigs.

My Admiralty manual is a fairly new one, revised 1979, so it doesn't have all the designs of the old type pulling boats, which were not much changed since General Wolfe's siege of Quebec in 1759!

I wish I had not lost my old copy, from when I was at college!

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MotorBoater

MotorBoater

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Probably originally late 40s into 50s, maybe produced to accompany one of his books (??)

Matches design, and paper, of an unpursued project of my youth, recently disposed of.

Plans, and books, are indeed still available, if rare it seems the pricing is designed to ensure they remain so !

Modellers Central have a number of plans, for books see the likes of Amazon and Waterstones.

See below. The front cover pix are of a Jan 98 reprint (Amazon) note the foreground of vol 2.

 

image.thumb.png.6399048ced4b95fb2e3e19c40d82c386.png

 

image.thumb.png.c1734b8b9ce7ef09ac48e4e879d4d248.png

 

image.thumb.png.5fb0939928166b7b5eeb12a38fb5248f.png

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