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A boat made of just a single standard sheet of plywood (The "standard" standard, 48" by 96", or 122 cm by 244 cm.
There are other standards too...)
If the transoms, sides or any other parts of the hull are made of something else, the boat is not a one sheet
boat, but something else.
Chine logs, rubrails, internal frames, butt blocks, seats etc. may be made of whatever You like, but not the actual hull
enclosure.
The load carrying capacity is connected to the maximum displacement of the boat (displacement just before swamping),
or the maximum enclosed volume, if You like. So make the thing as big as possible.
Hint:
Get Gregg Carlson's excellent freeware Hullform hull design software now, if You don't have it already (You'll find it on
the Links page). Hullform will enable You to view the .hul files provided on this page.
A round coracle
A square box
The next obvious shape comes from squaring the round coracle into a 4'x4'x1' box. The plywood cut pattern is easy this
time and we get a maximum displacement of 997 lbs (453 kg).
But no boat looks whatsoever.
A square barge
A little more boat looks (but still very little) by stretching the box to 7'x2'x1'. Cut pattern is easy, maximum displacement
872 lbs (396 kg).
A punt
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Again a bit more boat looks by tilting the transoms outward. Cut pattern starts getting complicated, maximum
displacement remains quite the same.
Now that we have an idea what can be achieved by just building the obvious square sided boxes, let's go a bit further.
The maximum displacement is proportional to boat length and the boat cross sectional area.
Let's decide we shall use the whole width of the plywood, 48", for boat sides and bottom, in a simplest flat bottom
configuration. We are left with two measurements that determine the cross sectional area (A):
The easiest way to find out the optimum angle and width is to feed the area formula into a spreadsheet. And mind You,
when I talk about "optimum" here I only mean optimum as far as the maximum cross section is concerned.
The example here is an Excel sheet. From the spreadsheet You can see that for each side width there is an optimum
inclination angle and for each angle there is an optimum width.
Unfortunately there is only one width-inclination pair which gives the overall optimum. If You want maximum volume
Your choices of cross section are limited.
For example, for square sides the optimum side panel width is 12", just like the barge and punt above, giving a cross
section of 288 sq. in, or 2.0 sq. ft. But on the other hand, for 12" sides the optimum angle would be 69 degrees, not 90.
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The overall optimum is given by an inclination of 60 degrees and a side width of 16" (and thus also a bottom width of
16"). With this combination the cross sectional area is 332.6 sq. in, or 2.3 sq. ft, giving a 15% improvement over the
optimum square box.
Yes, it's clearly a dory cross section. Raises some questions, doesn't it?
A 16" bottom width is enough to sit on, the 32" overall width is too wide to paddle with a double paddle but just wide
enough to scull. We'll use this cross section to make a sculling boat.
Note:
The absolute maximum cross sectional area would be reached by bending the whole 48" into a semicircle. This
semicircle would have a 15.3" radius and a 367 sq. in, or 2.55 sq. ft area. That's a furher 10.5% improvement over the
dory shape.
Ok, the one sheet boat will have the optimum cross section, a 16"+16"+16" dory form with 60 degree sides.
How about the bow and stern?
Consider four different bow variations for the one sheet boat (Actually try to draw them in the Hullform software and try
the pattern nesting Yourself! That's just what I did.).
Sterns could be similar, or cut with a flat transom (Try those, also!)
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Hint:
If, after all, You are not after the absolute maximum displacement, and would like to see some rocker on the sheerline,
You can achieve this by giving the sides slightly more flare.
Replacing every 60 degree measure in the following text by 55 degrees (but doing everything else just the way
described) will produce the desired effect.
Divide the plywood sheet in two, left part being 65" wide, right part 31" wide.
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Divide the left part into three equal strips, each 16" wide.
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Assemble the parts over temporary frames using any construction method You prefer. Tape and glue, hard chine...
Hard chine might be the most suitable, as all the chines are straight.
You'll get two prism (hence the name of the boat!) shaped parts like this, the bow and the stern.
Assemble the sections together and voila! You have a 10' x 2'8", or 305 cm x 81 cm, one sheet boat with a maximum
displacement of 1000 lbs (455 kg).
With a 6" (15 cm) freeboard the displacement is 445 lbs (200 kg), 8" (20 cm) freeboard 300 lbs (136 kg) and with 10"
(25 cm) 180 lbs (81 kg).
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You can clearly see the nicest feature of a flared boat here. The deeper You sink her the more she resists further sinking.
That's why dories are so safe.
Some might argue, that the angle between the mid section and the ends of the Prism does not look like a boat should.
Instead, the lines should be rounded.
This is easy to accomplish, sacrificing a tiny amount of displacement, though.
Assemble the three logitudal strips first, round off the corners where the mid rectangle meets the end triangle, then
assemble the complete hull.
To get rid of the joints between the mid and end sections rearrange the cut pattern: Move the zig-zag part to the middle
of the sheet.
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Yes, I'm working in the shower room. Why? It is the easiest room
to clean of all the saw dust. I built two small boats (a D4 and a
canoe) in the living room, that was enough...
Stack the plywood pieces together. This way You can round all
the corners in one go.
I'll remove about 1" of plywood from the corner, smoothing over
a distance of 8" in both directions.
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Yes, of course You can use tape and glue chines. Would look
much better. But not really with the 4 mm plywood. It is too
flimsy, very hard to keep the chines straight.
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Btw, from here on the pictures have been taken with a Nokia
7650 multimedia phone. Although a nice toy, it is not a substitute
for a real camera, as You can see :-(
I'm using West Systems 105/206 as glue, despite the fact that
epoxy resins always seem to manage to create a real mess (on
hands, clothes, tools, floors...).
Hint:
Instead of commercial epoxy fillers (=expensive) or saw dust (=coarse) I use wheat flour. You know, the stuff for bread
dough.
It is:
Further hint:
If You need to match filler colour to wood colour, try using other types of flour also: rye, barley, corn...
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Install chine logs to the ends of the bottom starting from the sharp
end. The length of these pieces is 24" (61 cm). Some fitting is
needed at the end where the strips meet.
The rounded corner of the plywood is left open at this moment.
Cover the plywood gaps with butt blocks cut out of waste
plywood.
The Prism design uses up all plywood from a single sheet, so You
have to use waste strips from an earlier project.
Don't block the bending portion of the split end yet, it is easier to
bend the bottom first.
Assemble the side panels with the gunwales. The gunwales each
have a total length of 131" (333 cm). Suitable material is about
1"x1". (I'm using a wider strip here, it happened to be at hand.) In
both ends they have a straight section of 25", then a kerfing bend
(with sawn slots) of 16", and a straight mid section of 49".
Align the centre of the gunwale with the side panel centre seam.
Glue and nail only up to the bend.
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Bend the plywood ends together, glue and nail to the bottom
chine logs.
Yes, You could say I'm cutting corners. Chine logs for the straight
portions of the chine and tape and glue for the bends. But I call it
light weight and ease of construction. I'm not preparing this
prototype for a boat show, just a proof of concept.
This is a good point to stop and let the glue harden. Come back the following day.
Fit the seat onto the frame, but don't glue it on yet. It is so much
easier to paint underneath the seat when there is no seat.
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The first careful sit down in the boat (do this before You smear
any fresh glue on the boat ;-).
Since the bottom is flat, this boat tolerates dry rowing. All don't,
so be more careful with other boats.
Find suitable places for a foot stretcher and oarlocks.
Bend, glue and nail the gunwales. The ends may need some
trimming.
Turn the boat over and fill the seams from the outside.
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Now just wait, wait, wait until the glue and fillers are hard enough to sand.
The next day, sand the seams and corners and apply a coat of
primer.
Boatbuilding is a little woodwork, a lot of painting and endless waiting for glue and paint to cure.
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But her sides are high and flare a lot. That puts the center of gravity (= center of gravity of me, because my weight is
much more than her weight) low and far from the gunwale.
And the flaring side is straight (= maximum flare) for almost the total length of her. That again moves a lot of buoyancy to
the side when she heels.
These together give a rather good secondary stability. That is, she stiffens a lot as she leans to the side. On the picture
You see me leaning over as far as possible.
No, I'm not cheating. Although You can't see it, my right hand is not grasping a support, just thin air ;-)
So is she stable?
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In spite of the fact that her design criteria were big volume and boat looks, not stability, she is stable enough for my
center of gravity. So I'm headind for the start line of the first cross Atlantic single sheet boat race. See You there!
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Hey, I was just kidding! A small boat is only for protected waters, always with a life west, and only when the water is
warm.
And now a quiz for all You navy guys: What special can You see in this picture?
This strait was a base for Russian galley fleets at the end of the Great Northern war (1700-1721). In years 1718-1720
up to 20,000 men have been known to have camped on these shores.
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The range 30"-50" gives You boats that look like boats, in my opinion.
This Excel sheet gives the maximum displacement and the boat length as a function of the zig-zag part width. With 19"
zig-zag 1027 lbs is exceeded!
Hint:
If You want a boat with different ends, a sharp bow and a blunt stern, then just build two boats. One with a longer zig-
zag, one with a shorter. Then just "mix the parts" to get two bows out of the longer zig-zags, two sterns from the shorter.
Box Prism
The box punt shape could be given a facelift using either of the Prism construction principles.
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Join the pieces. You get a new kind of a plywood sheet. Same area, but sides (32"x144") differing from the original.
Cut the plywood as in the basic Prism, using a zig-zag zone width of 72".
Assemble, and You'll get a 18' x 21" (5.4 m x 53 cm) one sheet kayak!
But mind You, this kayak is likely to be very tender. Not for a beginning canoeist nor for the clumsy, like myself.
If You prefer wider, stabler, shorter version, here's another cut pattern providing plywood parts for a 13'4" x 27" (4 m x
70 cm) kayak.
Two triangle parts, instead of one, need to be assembled with a central seam. Sides, 64" long, are of a single piece of
ply, the bottom has to be made of two 32" pieces.
I haven't built a kayak prototype yet (but that's changing, see the "Dug"), but if I did, I'd have great difficulty in choosing
between two ways to go:
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Build one in the spirit of a jungle dugout (a pipante, a curiara, a mokoro). Rather heavy construction, 1/2" (12
mm) ply, stitch and glue seams. Flare the sides to 55 degrees, to get a flatter craft and raise the ends a bit. And I'd
try to get by without using any clear wood reinforcement strips on the gunwale either, just round the edge of the
ply. And paint the thing dark brown.
Build a very light version in the spirit of a northern origin. As light as possible, but with decking. I'd use as thin
plywood as possible, probably 5/32" (4 mm), build with thin chine strips, thin gunwale strips glued on the inside,
thin cross beams across the top at every 2' (60 cm) or so and a decking of canvas, waterproofed by oil paint,
white paint.
Assemble the parts first like this to create the boat bottom and side pieces.
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After that, round the corners and bend the sides and bottom together like in the "original" Prism above.
Bending the pieces may prove difficult, especially if You are using plywood anything thicker than a "door skin", 1/8" that
is. In that case, just cut the pieces along the dotted lines (or don't glue them together along those lines to start with). Then
assemble the pieces in a "real prism" fashion as pictured above, in the So this is how we'll build her section.
And the resulting boat will be a 6'9" x 4' (205 cm x 122 cm) Prism.
Ugly, maybe, but the maximum displacement will be about 1300 lbs (590 kg). That's about as far as You can go with this
concept and still claim it looks like a boat!
With a 6" (15 cm) freeboard the displacement is 778 lbs (354 kg), 8" (20 cm) freeboard 630 lbs (286 kg) and with 10"
(25 cm) 495 lbs (225 kg).
This clearly is a one sheet boat capable of carrying three people! Well... sort of, anyway. Would be rather
crowded...
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