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 This new manual incorporates our old "Manual of Modern Small Plywood Boat Construction Techniques" but now also includes several new sections. These include new chapters on fitting buoyancy (flotation), shaping and constructing masts and spars and an extensive chapter on fitting out the hull with decks, centreboards, seating etc.

 Many new photographs and illustrations have been added along with up to date details and description of the modern stitch and tape process. This manual is useful for all builders contemplating and building stitch and tape plywood boats up to 18 or 20' - for plywood boats above this size, see our Manual of Plywood Boat Construction for Larger Craft.

For further details of the Stitch and Tape Boat Construction Manual and what it covers click here.

NOTE - the Stitch & Tape Boat Construction Manual may now be purchased in PDF format and sent to your email address rather than posted. The cost is £15 - make sure that we receive your email address when ordering.

 Strip planking is an increasingly popular method of boat construction (over half of all our new design work is for strip planked craft). It enables the amateur boat builder to produce a beautiful round bilged hull without having traditional boat building skills. It is certainly an easy method of round bilged hull construction and one which produces a very tough 'one piece' monocoque hull shell which will require little maintenance and which will last far longer than a conventionally built wood hull.

 This new version of the Manual starts by discussing the merits of strip planking and the types of hulls that are best suited to this method of construction. It goes through the possible difficulties of strip planking certain hull shapes and how these difficulties may be over come. Suitable materials for constructing the hull are discussed including the use of square edged versus profile edged planks and epoxy versus polyurethane glues. Guidance and examples are also given for calculating material requirements.

 Different types of building jig are discussed along with the marking, shaping and the setting up of moulds. The setting up of the internal backbone structure is then covered and after a description of the planking process, the Manual covers the best methods for preparing the hull for finishing. Veneering and glass sheathing are then described. Finally, tool requirements and the care and repair of strip planked hulls is described.

 Note - Deck and coach house construction are now included. The Manual of Fit-Out for Yachts and Launches will be an excellent companion to this manual and will help you complete your boat.

For further details of the Strip Plank Boat Construction Manual and what it covers click here.

NOTE - the Strip Planked Boat Construction Manual may now be purchased in PDF format and sent to your email address rather than posted. The cost is £15 - make sure that we receive your email address when ordering.

 This new manual incorporates our old "Manual of Sail Making for the Home Boatbuilder" but now also includes several new sections. These include a discussion of the most popular rigs used for dinghies, dayboats and yachts (traditional and modern), how to balance the rig with the hull of a boat (for those wanting to change rig), how to design and make a simple Junk Rig, a lengthened section on re-cutting (altering) existing sails (for those using 2nd hand sails from another design), positioning deck gear and fault finding, how to purchase new sails from a sail maker (including a list of UK sail makers) and a list of companies who sell sail making materials and tools.

 A large part of the manual is still dedicated to making your own suit of sails - rather than being a mystery, the construction of a sail is broken down into it's different structural parts in much the same way as the hull structure of a boat with 76 clear diagrams showing the construction techniques used to make up the components of the sail. The chapters include a detailed look at the different stitches and seam constructions used, finishing techniques, step by step guides to the making of both Bermudan and Gaff/Gunter/Lug sails and Headsails. Also included is a section on the re-cutting of old sails and on fault finding. The whole manual will give the owner who already has a suit of sails, a better understanding of how his sails work and what may be wrong if he has a problem with them.

For further details of the Sails for the Home Boat Builder Manual and what it covers click here.

NOTE - the Sails for the Home Boat Builder Manual may now be purchased in PDF format and sent to your email address rather than posted. The cost is £15 - make sure that we receive your email address when ordering.

This new version of the manual now includes details of canoe 'bits and pieces' - canoe trolleys, outboard brackets and wells, making a canoe in 2 halves, a sculling rig, floats and sponsons and various different rudders.

For further details of the Plywood Canoe Construction Manual and what it covers click here.

NOTE - the Plywood Canoe Construction Manual may now be purchased in PDF format and sent to your email address rather than posted. The cost is £15 - make sure that we receive your email address when ordering.

Many Selway Fisher designs can be built using the clinker ply method and some have been specifically designed for this method—this manual has 129 diagrams helping to explain the process from the set-up of the building jig, through making the internal framework, spiling the plank shapes and fitting them and finally fitting out the hull, fitting the deck structure etc and finishing the boat and shaping and making masts and spars.

To start the book, modern clinker construction is compared with more traditional methods making this book applicable to those wanting to use modern epoxies and plywood to build a clinker boat as well as those who want to stick strictly to traditional techniques. Rather than just concentrating on one particular modern method, this book looks at several variants of the modern methods first, including the ribband-less, stringered and what some call the Herreshoff method plus methods for flat bottomed craft and those using purely rounded moulds (from older designs), giving the reader a wide choice of methods to use and combine.  

If you are thinking of using the Clinker Plywood method, read this manual first.

For further details of the Clinker Plywood Manual and what it covers click here.

NOTE - the Manual of Clinker Plywood Boat Construction may now be purchased in PDF format and sent to your email address rather than posted. The cost is £15 - make sure that we receive your email address when ordering.

This manual covers the construction of boats using modern ply on frame techniques - the stitch and tape method of construction is fine for boats below 18' or so although I have used it for larger craft, but in larger boats it gets expensive and is not necessarily the easiest method to use. So, for boats over 16 or 18' I tend to use a combination of methods, often based upon a basic framework of slotted ply components - ply frames/bulkheads and fore and aft girders (egg-box construction) and use epoxy only where it is appropriate and cost effective.

This book describes the construction of larger yachts and motor craft (above 18') using various different types of framework and planking processes from the pure stitch and tape, through clinker to hard/multi-chined and of course, ply on frame construction.

Several of the methods described can be used for all sizes of craft where the builder does not want to use epoxy.

The construction of decks and cabin tops/superstructures is also described using various methods - plywood, strip plank, vertical staving etc and the manual concludes with the various ways in which you can finish your boat - these chapters are also relevant to other forms of hull construction - strip planking, cold moulded etc.

Note - The Manual of Fit-Out for Yachts and Launches will be an excellent companion to this manual and will help you complete your boat.

For further details of this Manual and what it covers click here.

Having built the hull, deck and superstructure, you are now ready to think about fitting your boat out. This manual helps you plan for this next and final stage by first, taking a look at the ergonomics (correct seat and table heights etc) of the interior accommodation -  to make your boat comfortable. this is followed by details on how to install inboard engines or outboard wells, make inboard and outboard rudders and fit water systems - water ballast, fresh water, bilge plumbing, sewage etc. Gas, cabin ventilation, electric systems are looked at next, along with electrolysis and lightning protection.

Finally, the manual finishes with chapters on making wood masts and spars, fitting deck gear and rigging and the sort of ground tackle you may want to carry.

For further details of this Manual and what it covers click here.

• The photos within the manual are in colour (in the printed version they were in b/w).
• There is no P&P cost and the manual price is lower than the printed version.
• The manual is in A4 format and you can print out whatever paper portion you may wish on a domestic A4 home printer.
• You can read the pdf manual file on your phone, tablet etc.

After many requests for plans for model boats based on Selway Fisher designs, particularly motor and steam launches, I written this manual which starts by taking an over-view of wood model boat building. The various different methods and materials used are discussed followed by a look at the potential  problems associated with simply scaling down directly from a full-size boat.

This is followed by five chapters giving drawings and details for the construction of model boats, some based on full-size Selway Fisher designs. Included are a series of four carpet models aimed at young children to use with their toy cars, a stitch and tape model of the Christine open canoe, a half model of the Swallow Tancook Whaler yacht and two Balsa wood models one of the Power225 motor cruiser and the other of the 4m Mini Yacht.

Also visit www.makeamodelboat.com where you will find further plans for models based on Selway Fisher designs.

For further details of this Manual and what it covers click here.

• The photos within the manual are in colour (in the printed version they were in b/w).
• There is no P&P cost and the manual price is lower than the printed version.
• The manual is in A4 format and you can print out whatever paper portion you may wish on a domestic A4 home printer.
• You can read the pdf manual file on your phone, tablet etc.

HOME BOAT BUILDING

Filmed in Jordan Boats workshops, the DVD takes you through the stages of building your own boat from the choice of the design through reading plans, lofting the plywood parts, using epoxy, and stitching and then taping the hull.

NOTE - The design used to demonstrate the Stitch and tape method is the SFDesign 10'6" Northumbrian Coble.

Copious graphics are used to illustrate and clarify many of the processes you will encounter when building a S&T vessel. The DVD has been beautifully put together by Graham Young who is the originator, writer, cameraman, graphic designer, editor and producer.

The DVD includes interviews with real life home builders who pass on their tips and suggestions for success in building your boat.

The second volume (due for release later in 2009) will cover fitting out the hull, making spars, laminating, and then finishing the boat.

This DVD has been produced in PAL widescreen format. It will play back on standard DVD players and TV sets in countries using the PAL television system. In other areas of the world it may not play back on standard TV sets but will playback in PCs with a DVD drive and DVD playback software.

Price now reduced to £12 + £5 p&p. (UK), £12 + £9 Airmail (Europe), £12 + £12 Airmail (Elsewhere), £12 + £16 Airmail (USA)$37.