Bill Thomas

Boatbuilder, Designer & Maine Wilderness Guide, Bill Thomas Woodworking

Geoff Kerr Bill Thomas grew up paddling the rivers and coasts of North and South Carolina, playing in the mountains, and trying to find meaningful work while avoiding a real job. He has been a self-employed woodworker, cabinetmaker, furniture builder and boatbuilder for nearly 35 years. Being an avid sea kayaker and boater, Bill also designs sea kayaks, canoes, and other small boats. He teaches woodworking and boatbuilding in his own shop, at the WoodenBoat School, and in other venues across the United States.

Bill is a Registered Maine Guide, and holds a Wilderness First Responder certification. In addition to his shop classes, Bill also leads on-water kayaking and sailing classes. The variety of work Bill does--building, designing, and teaching—both in the shop and on the water, when coupled with his passion for the outdoors, helps to keep his skills rooted in real-world experiences. And, it keeps him from getting bored. Bill lives, works, and plays in Maine.

Videos

Title
Kayak Wisdom, Part 3 – Essential Sea Kayak Camping Gear: Bill Thomas and Jane Ahlfeld show us what sea kayak camping gear and supplies they take out on the water for an overnigh...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 26 – Final Rigging For Launch: The Fox finale features final touches before she hits the water for the first paddle.   Great job, Bill, and thanks fr...
Sanding Station: Tired of the sawdust from sanding? See the sanding station system Bill Thomas put together to more than solve that prob...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 25 – Painting The Hull: In this edition of the fox series, we get much more from Bill than a simple video of rolling on some paint. Bill, per us...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 24 – Varnishing the Deck, Coaming, & Fittings: Everyone has their own experience, tips, and tricks when it comes to varnish. In Fox 21 we get Bill's take on the elusiv...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 23 – Finishing The Little Details: Bill Thomas has built enough of these that we can all learn from his workflow. He's got the amount of epoxy and how far...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 22 – Fitting The Coaming Rims: Just when we thought we'd completed the stitch and glue part of the build, Bill throws one more at us. Even at this stag...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 21 – Installing the Seat Risers: Moving along in this series we are finishing up the little details that pull the Fox together. Installing the seat riser...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 20 – Installing the Seatback: The Fox canoe is beautiful. With its simple clean lines and functional attitude toward getting out and paddling, she was...
Building a Stitch & Glue Boat, Part 19 – The Dos & Don’ts of Prep Work: With the stitch and glue Fox nearing completion; we took her out of Bill's hands in order to take a stab at prepping the...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 18 – Installing the Coamings: Few things are as exciting during a stitch and glue build as when the boat really takes shape. With the installation of...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 17 – Trimming the Deck: We really start to see how beautiful the stitch and glue Fox's shape is as Bill trims the deck....
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 16 – Shop Safety: Here we pause from building to remind ourselves of what's really important... step #1 in keeping our beautiful hand-eye...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 15 – Installing the Deck: Bill shows us the gratifying step of installing the deck in this stitch and glue boat building video....
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 14 – End Pours and Epoxying the Interior: In this stitch and glue boat building video, get tips and tricks for finishing the interior, including end pours and bru...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 13 – Planing the Sheer Clamps: Planing the shear clamps just right guarantees the plywood deck will fit tightly.  Bill shows you how to take the clamp...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 12 – Installing the Carlins: In this installment of our stitch and glue boat building series, the hull is prepped, and now we need to install the car...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 11 – Fiberglassing the Hull: Bill shows us how to fiberglass the exterior of the hull in this stitch and glue boat building video....
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 10 – Installing the Knees: Bill takes us through the process of filleting knees into place in a way that produces tight fits and continues to assur...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 9 – Fiberglassing the Interior: In this stitch and glue boat building video Bill shows us how to fillet the ends and then fiberglass the interior of the...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 8 – Truing the Hull & Filleting the Cockpit: Bill trues the hull and goes through the filleting of the Midship Planking in this stitch and glue boat building video....
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 7 – Stitching the Hull: Bill Finishes stitching the hull together. This video includes: stitching the sheer panels in place and adding additiona...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 6 – Stitching the Hull Begins: This is the first steps in stitching the bottom of the hull together. In this stitch and glue boat building video, we co...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 5 – Gluing the Parts to the Bulkhead: This is the last step of preparing the parts before the hull of the boat gets stitched together. In this stitch and glue...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 4 – The Bottom & Sheer Clamps: Bill's gluing-up bottom panels and gluing sheer clamps.  In this stitch and glue boat building video, we cover: Using ...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 3 – Gluing the Side Panels to Length: Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 2 - Gluing the Side Panels to Length: Careful measuring — Stacking planks to ach...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 2 – Getting Supplies: As he builds the Fox Double Paddle Canoe, Bill Thomas unpacks a box of goodies and helps us understand why a dozen might...
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 1 – Introduction: The FOX Double Paddle Canoe, a stitch and glue boat designed and built by Bill Thomas, has a long and distinguished pedi...

 

Guide Posts

Title
Good Reads: Recommendations by Bill Thomas: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… I seem...
In My Shop: A Fox, a Willow, a Phoenix, a Skerrie Skiff & a Pram: How I spent my winter vacation... This past winter I seem to have been a full-time boat shop. That’s not always the ca...
The Influence of Friends Gathering Down at the Lake: A start in small boats. I could, if I thought about it, trace my introduction to small boats back to a single person, or...
The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): When I find myself at leisure to enjoy what I call “recreational thinking” I often contemplate boats. I toy with dif...