An in depth look at why you might lay down the power tools and pick up the hand tools in your next boat building adventure.
Power
tools in boat building are usually required and there is no way around
that as the plans compel you to use them, deviations from these plans
will usually create problems down the line. Boat building with hand tools
can be used without any significant deviations only if you are a
skilled boat builder and know exactly what you are doing, which is
usually not the case for most of you amateur enthusiasts. However if you
are interested in a hand tools only boat building project, then what
you need to do is buy plans which are specifically designed to be used
in conjunction with hand tools only. Be warned that this type of
woodworking project will require you to learn and master a very
different type of skill set than you might be used to, however it will
also be very rewarding if you really are a boat building enthusiast.
Firstly the disadvantages of power tools
When
building any type of boat such as a sailing boat, fishing boat, a canoe
or even a little dinghy you are always going to spend more money on a
project when power tools are used over hand tools. You might think that
the bulk of the extra cost comes in purchasing the electrical power
tools. Usually this is only half the cost, the other comes in the
maintenance and repairing. This usually unforeseen cost can be greatly
decreased if you are an experienced tradesmen or otherwise have some
experience in repairing electrical goods.
Another disadvantage is the health and safety aspect which goes unnoticed by the majority of woodworking amateurs.
Most of you might not have had a serious accident involving power tools
so you might be inclined to just simply ignore this but not all people
are or will ever be suited to use high performance power tools such as
is required to cut wood for the hull of a boat. They might go months or
even years without accident or injury but all it takes is one moment of
lack of concentration and they will wish they would have never taken up
woodworking or boat building in the first place.
Why use hand tools exclusively in a boat building project?
Hand
tools have been used for centuries before electricity was discovered to
make anything from boats to mansions. The skills and techniques
required to successfully wield hand tools such as a chisel or hand saw
are slowly being forgotten as our circular saws and mechanical sanders
are able to do the jobs much faster and at a fraction of the effort.
However hand tools increase our communication to the wood we are working
on, as every bit of change in the grain is felt and heard more
effectively.
Another reason is simple economics, if you are
building a boat out of your wooden tool box filled with hand tools it
will be a whole lot cheaper than if you used power tools for the reason
discussed previously. However you have to consider the fact that the
project will go a whole lot slower, especially if you are still in the
process of learning how to use your newly acquired quality hand tools.
In
my opinion it is best to learn the craft that comes with hand tools on a
boat building project that is relatively easy such as a little dinghy
made completely out of wood. You can get such boat plans from your local
hardware store or even at specialized online retail store.
More character and personality
Working
with the machines requires you to be very accurate with any cutting or
sanding that you do. All joints must fit exactly as planned with
virtually no room for error as it will be seen as poor craftsmanship.
Building a boat with hand tools on the other hand is perceived
different, when irregularities show up they are put down to the
uniqueness of the tool and the method used. This is looked upon my the
community as adding character to the boat and uniqueness as each one
will be built slightly differently. This is one of the main reasons why
some people will pay substantially much more money for a mahogany hand
built boat than an equivalent one made using generic specifications and
power tools. From this you might be able to see that building a boat
using hand tools might be slower but can also provide a better return in
the end for the overall time spent, as in all business decisions it is a
balancing act as time is money.
Wooden boat kits
There
are some wooden boat kits packed with basic hand woodworking tools that
are specifically designed to help you build a boat using hand tools
only. This is done by giving you very detailed and thought out plans and
drawings which takes into account that the craftsmanship level is very
low. Also the wood is pretreated and worked on which means that all the
traditionally tricky parts of the project are either done for you or
made much easier. Such wooden boat kits however do not come very cheaply
and if you are looking to sell boats on as a regular hobby then it
should only be used as a learning stepping stone, since it is still
reasonably cheaper than getting a mentor to guide you through a project.
Where to buy quality hand tools?
The
best place to buy them would be at your local hardware store and not
some major retail store. The reason for this is that you can bargain and
often get good discounts, whereas at chain stores the staff typically
do not have the authority to reduce any prices. Generally it is a bad
idea to buy online because you cannot get a feel for the tool that you
are buying, when it arrives you might find that the size and grip is not
at all what you require.
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