Every boat needs a bilge pump, but a bilge pump does not make any use if you do not have Electronic Bilge Pump Switch installed in your boat. This is uually the case with small and older boats. If you buy a new Electronic Bilge Pump Switch today it will cost you quite a bit compared to how much you will spend to make a Electronic Bilge Pump Switch yourself at home.
A while ago I was contacted by the owner of manialabs.wordpress.com. He published a simple tutorial to make your own Electronic Bilge Pump Switch and asked me to publish it on my blog. I liked the idea, becouse it is a very innovative product and most of DIY enthusiasts will know how to build it. In fact it is very simple so I am sure anyone can build it.
Making a Electronic Bilge Pump Switch
Over the years, I have installed several submerged float switches in the bilge of my boat. They’re supposed to run the bilge pump when the level of water in the bilge exceeds a certain level and then stop the pump after the water level is lower. They usually work well for the first year or two but inevitably fail. Sometimes they fail simply because they’re submerged in water constantly and they had a very small leak. Other times they failed probably because I left them underwater over the winter and they were frozen.
To improve upon this I wanted to switch, pun intended, from a submerged mechanical switch to a solid state, adjustable switch. I wanted to be able to remove as much of the switch from the water, hoping to extend its useful life. Of course there are a few commercial switches available but they’re not always customizable. Also, buying a packaged switch wouldn’t teach me anything about the circuitry required or give me the intimate knowledge on how they work.
Today I would like to share with you all how you can pick the right wooden boat plans to begin building a boat of your dreams. Did you know that building wooden boats is a becoming very popular and common? Most people think that one has to be very skilled to build a wooden boat, but in most cases this is not true. Personal wooden boats are easy to build and are also low on resources you have to spend.
You can start immediatley if you have just the basic woodworking tools and a place to work. By this I mean some kind of workshop or a improvised tent outside in your backyard. Everything else you may need you can get during your wooden boat build project is on its way. You may already have lots of the needed materials at home and you don’t know it yet.
If you are concerned that space could be an issue for you, let me tell you that any medium to significant sized garage should be sufficient room to build a boat as usualy personal wooden boats don’t have that much length
Once you’ve decided you would like to start building you may require some good ideas to look for the best wooden boat plans. Read more…
English: Canoe being built with the stitch and glue technique (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Boat building is very fun if you take it one step at a time. Beginning with small steps is crucial for your enthusiasm to last forever. I personaly think that a Stitch and Glue Kayak Plans is a great way to start building boats and start learning all there is to learn about boat building.
All information and materials in the Stitch and Glue Kayak Plans are (Copyright) 1997 by Doug Garmon. Non-commercial use is o.k., however, you may not reproduce this material in this or any other media
Doug spent a couple of days writing a comp prog to convert boat offsets into flat, ‘unfolded’ representations of the original data. That program generated the data from which I produced the representations you see here(.dxf, .geo) , the ‘unfolded’ dimentions(text, postscript), also. The actual lines of the boat took far longer to design than the program. The actual lines of the boat took far longer to design than the program. Clearly, the figures are created by transforming the 3d offsets of the boat into triangles that ‘grow’ outward from the first. Then perpendiculars are drawn from a (derived) baseline at intervals and where they cross the ‘unfolded’ figure, are measured. These ‘.gif’ images are much too lowres for anything but examples (I also cannot guarantee they are correctly proportioned).
Simple wooden grommets mounted on the side of a wooden boat.
Recently I was searchin for some good boat plans and found this great plan for these wooden grommets. A dinghy I was building needed a simple means to attach a line to the bow for towing and mooring. I really didn’t want a metal ring bolt sticking out of the transom, but simply drilling a hole through it wasn’t the answer either. These wooden grommets fit the task perfectly.
Wooden Grommets Step-by-step Guide
1. step - Cut three wood discs with a hole in the center. Hole saws are an excellent choice for this operation. The center disc should be thicker than material it will be placed through by slightly more than the thickness of the saw blade you’ll be using the split ti later.
2. step - Glue together with a dowel for alignment.
5. step - Shape the edges and sand the center bore to your satisfaction. On large grommets, a roundover bit and a router will do this job. More delicate grommets will require less aggressive methods.
6. step - Split into two rings.
7. step - Bore opening for grommet. Dry fit, trimming and sanding center of grommet to fit.
8. step - Finished assembly.
You can download a full DIY Wooden Grommets Plan in PDF format here.
Recently I found a great free accent stripes plan online that shows how to make accent stripes on your wooden boat, wooden paddle or any special custom made boat part that needs to look great Making accent stripes is a little more complicated than making a single strip that contrasts with the basic hull color. It takes some thought and a little extra time to spend to make it look good. The free plan details making a three part stripe – that is, making three individual strips, that when mounted on the hull, form the perfect finished stripe. The technique can be used to make just about any sort of accent, from simple two or three lines to complex repeating patterns.
See how to patch a small hole in your boat’s hull using West System epoxy kit and this fiberglass boat repair guide.. (Video Rating: 3 / 5)
Step-by-Step Fiberglass Boat Repair Guide
Step 1.
Examine the pattern and location of cracks in your boat’s hull to determine their cause. If the pattern or location indicates flexing, examine the interior side of the panel to determine the best location for additional reinforcing. If the cracks are a result of impact, examine the interior side of the panel to determine whether damage extends through the entire laminate.
Step 2.
Remove any surface contaminants such as wax, oil or mold release from the surfaces you examined in step 1 of the Fiberglass Boat Repair Guide. Wipe an area at least twice as large as the damaged area with a wax and silicone remover (Dupont Prep-Sol® #3919S), acetone or other appropriate solvent. Dry the area with clean paper towels before the solvent evaporate.
Step 3.
Open the cracks for repair. Use a sharpened “V” shaped tool to scrape down to the bottom of the cracks. A puncture-type can opener with the tip sharpened to about 90° works well. Beveling the sides of the crack provides more bonding area for the repair. It may be more effective to grind out an entire area of many, closely spaced or deep cracks. Scrape or grind as deep as necessary to reach solid, undamaged material. The depth of the crack will determine which course of repair to follow in this Fiberglass Boat Repair Guide:
Shallow cracks or scrapes that affect only the gelcoat layer may be repaired with the gelcoat repair techniqe. If necessary, reinforce the laminate to reduce flexing as described in Section 2.3. Some small cracks or chips can be filled with a gelcoat touch-up kit.
Minor cracks or scrapes that run through the gelcoat into the first chopped strand mat layers of the laminate should be repaired with epoxy using the procedures described below. Finish with the gelcoat repair technique. If necessary, reinforce the laminate to reduce flexing.
Deep cracks extending into woven fabric of the laminate require a structural repair before beginning the cosmetic gelcoat repair. If the crack extends into or through the woven fabric of the skin, follow the procedures. If a core has delaminated or is damaged from moisture penetration or impact, follow the appropriate procedure.
Step 1.
