Building Small Boats

Rating:
Summary: The master of boatbuilding books
Review: I loved the clear way the author explains the process of building wooden boats. His pictures were fantastic. His sailboat is beautiful. The only thing that threw me at first was the chapter on lofting, (drawing out the boat parts full scale on paper from grid measurements). I suggested to the author that he revise that chapter a little for novices like me, he may not need to do so. A reader might read one of the other authors' chapter on lofting to further understand the process, which I did.

Rating:
Summary: dissapointing
Review: I'm sorry to say the book did not live up to its AD. It is clearly for people that have already built boats in the past. It constantly used terms not defined. The part on "Lofting made simple" left me (a decent wood worker) scratching my head. If you know all about building small boats buy this book. Then again if you already know then you don't need it.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Book
Review: If you plan to build a wooden boat for the first time, this book is just what you need. When I embarked on my first boatbuilding project armed with my hobbyist's furniture building skills and a set of boat plans, I nearly gave up in frusteration. After reading this book, everything makes so much more sense. He explains the terminology, the woods, the tools, the glues, and all the little pitfalls you will encounter along the way. My boat is now well underway and it would probably still be couple sheets of paper nailed to the wall of my garage if it weren't for "Building Small Boats."

Rating:
Summary: Cover to cover, an extremely enlightening book
Review: If you plan to build a wooden boat for the first time, this book is just what you need. When I embarked on my first boatbuilding project armed with my hobbyist's furniture building skills and a set of boat plans, I nearly gave up in frusteration. After reading this book, everything makes so much more sense. He explains the terminology, the woods, the tools, the glues, and all the little pitfalls you will encounter along the way. My boat is now well underway and it would probably still be couple sheets of paper nailed to the wall of my garage if it weren't for "Building Small Boats."

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Book
Review: It is well written and illustrated. It is 8 1/2" by 11" about 280 pages, hardback, and published by WoodenBoat Publications. Apparently, the author was a teacher at the Wooden Boat School.

It covers everything from tools, wood selection, joinery and finishing. Best of all it had an in depth section on lofting that even me, a former Marine could understand. It is the only book that I have read that introduces lofting to a boat building novice and lifts the shroud of mystery around it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Primer on Traditional Boatbuilding
Review: The best all around book on the subject. The author sticks to traditional methods and materials and he's very good at explaining these. It's much more accessible than general boatbuilding manuals such as Steward and Chapelle, but more in depth than the usual how-to book. The drawings are very helpful and the text is clear, concise and well organized (though for some reason there's no index). There are some subjects I would liked to have seen discussed in more detail, but overall a great boatbuilding book.

Rating:
Summary: First time boatbuilders need this book.
Review: The book was selected because the search indicated it would provide information about building a curragh (or currach). For that purpose it was useless. Also, one needs to know a good bit about boat building before benefiting from this book.

Rating:
Summary: The master of boatbuilding books
Review: This book has everything a person needs to build a small wooden boat from plans or kit. After building several small boats, and consulting other boatbuilding books, I always come back to this book for answers and techniques. Finally, I think Mr Rossel does the best job at explaining the process of spiling to obtain plank shape. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Building Small Boats
Review: This book has everything a person needs to build a small wooden boat from plans or kit. After building several small boats, and consulting other boatbuilding books, I always come back to this book for answers and techniques. Finally, I think Mr Rossel does the best job at explaining the process of spiling to obtain plank shape. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Great Primer on Traditional Boatbuilding
Review: This book should be called "Building Small Wooden Boats." The author sticks to traditional methods and materials and he's very good at explaining these. It's much more accessible than general boatbuilding manuals such as Steward and Chapelle, but more in depth than the usual how-to book. The drawings are very helpful and the text is clear, concise and well organized (though for some reason there's no index). There are some subjects I would have liked to see discussed in more detail, but overall a great boatbuilding book.