Boat building

This includes at minimum the construction of a hull, with any necessary propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other service systems as the craft requires.

With "shell first", the form of the hull is determined by joining shaped planks that are fastened together, followed by reinforcing the structure with the frames (or ribs) that are fitted to the inside.

[3]: 8 Some types of wood construction include: Either used in sheet or alternatively, plate[14] for all-metal hulls or for isolated structural members.

Also, amateur builders which are not yet well established in building steel ships may opt for DIY construction kits.

Aluminium is most commonly found in yachts, pontoon and power boats that are not kept permanently in the water.

The resulting structure is strong in tension but often needs to be either laid up with many heavy layers of resin-saturated fiberglass or reinforced with wood or foam in order to provide stiffness.

[15] Some are now constructed by vacuum infusion where the fibres are laid out and resin is pulled into the mould by atmospheric pressure.

This can produce stronger parts with more glass and less resin, but takes special materials and more technical knowledge.

Sometimes the problem was caused by atmospheric moisture being trapped in the layup during construction in humid weather.

Sheet copper anti-fouling ("copper=bottomed") could be attached to a wooden hull provided the risk of galvanic corrosion was minimised.

When a hull is being created in a female mould, the composite materials are applied to the mould in the form of a thermosetting plastic (usually epoxy, polyester, or vinylester) and some kind of fiber cloth (fiberglass, kevlar, dynel, carbon fiber, etc.).

These methods can give strength-to-weight ratios approaching that of aluminum, while requiring less specialized tools and construction skills.

A steel and iron "armature" is built to the exact shape of the hull, ultimately being covered in galvanised chicken netting.