KitsPlans

Kits & Plans

Boat Kits

Small dimensional variations are unavoidable. in many pieces of strip built boats. At best, a boat kit would be a bundle of milled strips, some ordinary lumber and a handful of mostly unassembled metal parts. Shipping charges, for full-length pieces, are high, and I don’t have the time and resources, to mill strips for boat kits; Therefore, I do not offer pre-cut boat kits. I can, however, provide small parts (both wood and metal) , on special request.

Some sources for milled strips are:

The Newfound Woodworks, in Bristol, New Hampshire, www.newfound.com

Noah’s, in Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, (Noah's is currently considering selling kits, consisting of strips, lumber, fiberglass and epoxy.) www.noahsmarine.com

Flounder Bay Boat Lumber, in Anacortes, Washington, www.flounderbay.com .

Oar Kits

Oar kits are highly practical because there are fewer parts, so dimensional variations are easily controlled.

Oar kits contain all the precision-cut wood parts for a pair of cedar sculls, with walnut grips and tips reinforcements. Fiberglass, to wrap the shafts and blades, is also included, along with clear, easy-to-follow illustrated instructions. You have to get glue, hose-clamps and epoxy from other sources, but otherwise, the only things you need are a spoke-shave (and/or small hand-plane) and a pair of hoof-knives (available directly from Aeneas Originals or livestock supply stores).

Unfortunately, Federal Express doesn't ship oar kits for reasonable rates anymore, so kits have to be shipped by motor freight (unless they can be picked up in Montana) and, therefore, may not be affordable.

Oar Plans

If you have a table-saw you can make your own parts, following the simple step-by-step instructions. The fully illustrated, 29 page booklet can be ordered for $20, plus postage which is $1 in the USA $__ in Canada and $__ to overseas addresses.

*Building a set of oars is an excellent way to gain skills and experience, before building a wood-strip boat.

Boat Plans

The building manual contains all the information you need to build a shell and all of its various parts and accoutrements. By varying the mold-station spacing, the "standard", 22" beam patterns may be used to build various lengths and cockpit configurations. The small 18' single, and the 22' x 28", high volume double/single, also use the same basic instruction book, but require a different set of mold patterns, so please specify which model you want when ordering plans.

Other than basic wood-strip & fiberglass construction techniques, Aeneas originals designs represent a fresh approach to high-performance shell construction. My boats were designed to be built by ordinary people, using ordinary tools & materials. I built my first prototypes with little previous boat-building experience, and virtually no outside help. Anyone with moderate woodworking skill, a plan and determination, should be able to do as well.

The instruction manual, with over 150 pages of instructions and more than 120 illustrations, explains how to build the boats and all of their parts and fittings. Everything you need to know is explained in detail: material choices, special tools and materials sources, important measurements (in English and Metric units); and techniques for forming, fitting and finishing every piece of the boat, seat (s), oars and rigging are covered.

Full sized mold-patterns determine the shape of the hull - there is no lofting required - just paste the patterns onto plywood or fiberboard, cut them out, set them up, then start laying up strips. Patterns are also provided for forward stems, bulkheads and rear-deck hatches. The construction of all other parts is explained in detail, with measurements, line drawings and necessary jigs & forming techniques, so the first time builder can produce the best possible results.

Dimensional variations are unavoidable (and almost always cumulative) so most parts of strip-built boats must be individually fitted, as construction proceeds. This mostly precludes production of guaranteed-to-fit, pre-cut boat kits, but it also allows a perfect boat to be built by a determined novice - whenever a piece doesn't fit, you can always try again - after all, they're only pieces of lumber. (In the case of hull and deck strips, failed pieces can be used farther up the hull or deck.)

Very few of the parts are difficult to make or fit, and skill will be gained as work progresses.

I've made every effort to keep my design simple, and the instructions as clear as possible, while making the boats as beautiful and strong as possible, and I've tried to keep novice builders in mind. After all, I was a novice builder just a few years ago. Even the metal parts are actually quite easy to make. Some welding and a small amount of machining is required for the outriggers (turning a few pieces to specified diameters, and some basic thread cutting) but the procedures are simple, fully explained and illustrated, so you can either do them yourself, or give the instruction to professional welders and machinists. All of the welding and machining shouldn't take more than 2 - 4 hours total shop time.