Our kits are cut from plate stock. This means that all plate sections such as hull plates, frames, and stringers that can be cut from plate steel or aluminum are included. Generally this means all plating, decks, structures, and internals in steel or aluminum , except for stern and rudder tubes.

Items such as fuel tanks, engine beds, keels, rudders, chain plates, etc. are included in the kits. NOTE: See the details page for each kit for a full description of the kit contents for your kit, by clicking on the thumbnails on the Kit Directory page.

Radius chine boats will have the bilge plating rolled to the correct radius, but trimming is required. Conic bow sections will also be pre-formed.

Items NOT generally included are : Stern tubes, Rudder tubes, Bollards, Compression posts, and other tubular shapes.

The reason for this is that rudder and stern gear configurations vary from one area to the next. Also one customer may want a traditional stuffing box and another may want modern " dripless " arrangement. It's also prudent to have the machine shop that you choose to make the shafts, make the tubes at the same time to ensure a matching fit.

Please Note : That the designers plans will include details for constructing the stern gear. You can simply give the blueprint to your local marine machine shop and they will make the shafts and tubes to order. Also we have a local machine shop that will be glad to quote on shafts etc. We can also supply Engines , and any marine equipment you may need.

Assembly Jigs are supplied on some of the kits, as required, but are NOT to be considered building support. The customer must supply shorings to support the vessel during construction. In some cases a temporary " strongback " may be required. Drawings are supplied with the kit in this case.

Please Contact Us if you require more information.

We like to think we supply the best assembly instructions in the business. All our kits come with detailed drawings and instructions for insuring your building experience is as stress free as possible. Some suppliers simply give you a pile of metal and the original plans for the vessel as a guide. This can be equated to a jigsaw puzzle with no picture.... We supply 3D renderings, parts identification sheets , written step by step instructions, and 3D exploded views of each assembly step. All the metal parts are numbered in a logical manner for easy identification.

WELDING :

We supply a general welding guideline with the kits, however it is the builders responsibility to educate themselves in proper boatbuilding welding procedure. A beautiful boat or a wrinkled pile of junk can both be built from our kits ! The difference is understanding incremental and backstep welding .

Procedure :

Generally the entire boat is first tacked together with tiny tacks every 3 inches or so. No welding of seams can be done until the entire boat is assembled and tacked in this manner. These tacks must be as small as is possible to enable them to break free when the plating is stressed during weldout... It is better that the tack breaks relieving stress, than the alternative of wrinkled plate.

Once the entire boat is assembled start nearest the longitudinal centerline as possible and weld any butt seams in the plating. (Butt seams run athwartships) Start in the center of the plate and weld evenly towards each edge using the "skip backstep" method, ending each 3" pass on a tackweld. Then go to the other side of the boat and weldout the mirror seam on that side. Now do the next butt seams fwd. and then the next butt seams aft. Work to the ends of the boat evenly from the centerline outward. The plating must cool to room temperature before the next welding pass in the backstep welding procedure. Note at this point only weld the inside of the plating.

Once all the butt seams are welded (inside) you can begin welding the longitudinal seams. Start at the center (longitudinal) of the boat and weld the chine for about 1/10th of the length of the boat working equally fwd and aft of center, using the skip backslap method. Go to the other side and do the same. Then move to the next seam inward (fairbody or bearding line) and weld the same distance fwd and aft of LCL. Move to the next seam outwards (knuckle or shear etc.) and do the same . Work all the way to each end of the boat evenly working from one side to the other. Note tackwelds should be popping loose like mad at this point, this is not only expected but necessary to relieve the welding stresses.

Once all the insides of the seams are welded move to the outside of the vessel. Welds below the waterline should all be "back gouged" to solid metal. On steel boats use a suitable grinding wheel. On aluminum boats use a skillsaw or die grinder.

Mark off the seams in 3" to 6" increments and use the same skip backstep welding as inside, starting at the Longitudinal Centerline of the boat and working evenly outwards towards the ends of the boat.

Once the entire skin is welded out you can start to weld the stringers to the plating. Generally the stringers are welded to the plating first starting in the middle of the boat and working evenly towards each end. Stringer welding is typically 3"to 8" on 6" to 12" centers staggered. Once the stringers are welded out you can lightly weld the frames to the plating where there is contact. If the plating does not contact the frame do not force it to. Frame welding should be 2"-3" on 8"-12" centers staggered. Over welding the frames to the plate will result in "the hungry horse look" with sunken plating between frames.

Once all the stringers and frames are welded, you can weld the stringer to frame intersections and notches.

Only after the entire vessel is welded install shaft and rudder tubing and align engine beds etc.

For further study try "Boatbuilding with Steel" by Gil Klingle , or "Boatbuilding with Aluminum" by Stephen Pollard.... These are my picks for best books on the subject.

Please Contact Us if you require more information.