Posted by Graham Knight on October 21, 2003 at 01:31:17:
In Reply to: How to get started? posted by Tom Wheeler on October 20, 2003 at 19:20:11:
Hi Tom, pretty much all your questions are answered around the Glen-L website.
If you look at the Project Registry for TNT, you can see how long several people have taken to build theirs, some take longer than others, it depends on experience, facilities, how much time you can spend on it, full-time, a couple of hours an evening, weekends only? That's really down to the individual.
Your questions 3,4, and 5 can be answered by looking at the Boatbuilding Guide. Look at the instructions for Boatbuilding With Sheet Plywood, you'll find a pictorial guide with captions that takes you through the whole process. When you buy your plan from Glen-L you'll receive a hard copy of this guide, plus an additional instruction sheet, bill of materials, and full size drawings of all the frames for you to trace onto the wood. If you are buying a frame kit that doesn't really apply to you of course, and you can crack straight on with the assembly.
As for price, that will depend to an extent on where you live and what materials are available locally, and also how you choose to finish the boat. Again try the Project Registry, try emailing some of the people who have built TNTs recently, I find most builders are only too happy to discuss their boats with someone who has taken an interest. There's one guy there who finished his TNT as recently as June this year, he should be able to give you a pretty good idea of what it costs at todays prices.
If you are going to build from a frame kit your construction time will be reduced considerably, and so will the tools you need. Hand saw, power drill/screwdriver, rasp, sanding blocks, chisels, plenty of clamps, that's about it really although access to a bandsaw and a table saw might be useful, it depends if you buy your timber sawn and planed to size or just rough sawn.
Finally, read the series Plywood Boatbuilding for Virgin Builders that starts in webletter #7 (click News Letters on the left of the screen).
<: Initial questions I have:
: 1. How much does a typical TNT boat cost from start to finish?
: 2. How much time does it typically take to finish this boat?
: 3. What tools are required?
: 4. How detailed are the boat plans?
: 5. Can I get a sample chapter of a boat plan?
: -Tom Wheeler