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Hand-made Wooden Boat Builder

One of the oldest crafts known is working directly with wood to build traditional wooden boats. These may be sailboats, rowboats, canoes, powerboats or even larger vessels such as yachts. Most hand-made boat builders specialize in one type of boat with smaller types of boats being most common due to the space needed to construct the larger vessels. A boat builder must be very familiar with aspects of sailing or using a boat and should have an understanding of the science behind the shaping and planning of a boat.

Hand-made boat builders rely on a variety of tools including power saws, planers, sanders and other mechanical devices. Hand-made boat builders pride themselves in their ability to work with traditional tools in the actual building of the boat, but they often use completely modern computer aided drafting programs to design or modify the design of the boat. A hand-made boat builder strives to create a unique and personalized boat that is very different than the mass-produced commercially available styles on the market.

Building a boat requires attention to detail and patience with working with wood. Often the wood must be treated and formed to match the shape of the boat, and this requires time and effort to form the wood to the correct shape. An eye for detail as well as an ability to read and understand plans is important. Since most hand-made boat builders are small companies the builder may also have to run the office, handle customers, design the boats and even complete sales and invoicing in addition to physically making the craft.

Common work activities include:

• Working with computer assisted drafting programs or other design software to plan the boat. Some builders may also use pre-fabricated plans.
• Reading and interpreting the blueprints for the vessel.
• Choosing the correct wood, supplies and equipment to make the boat. This may be largely determined in consultation with the customer or client.
• Working with various tools and types of wood to create the boat.
• Testing the boat to ensure it performs as expected.
• Invoicing and managing accounts receivable and payable to ensure that all ledgers are balanced and bills paid on time.
• Marketing and advertising the business to prospective clients.

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