All Flotsam » Boat Building Tools & Tips

Having the right wooden boat building tool in the right condition makes jobs go smoothly and safely. Because we don’t sell advertisements we are free to name specific makes and models of the best tools for your boat project; our expert boat builders give you honest boat building tool recommendations to help you set up your own shop like a pro.

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The Off Center Crew

What Hand Tools Do I Need for Boatbuilding?: This Flotsam video was discovered by Off Center Harbor member Mike Plumer, and features boatbuilder Mark Reuten who̵...

Maynard Bray

Louie Sauzedde and “Tips From a Shipwright”: We thought you might enjoy the videos below from Louis Sauzedde. Louis is one of the most experienced and ingenious boat...

Bill Mayher

Old School Tools, Made by Hand: Gila, NM is a long way from a deep water anchorage, but I’m sure many of us can identify with the values imbued in...

Eric Blake

The Foot Powered (Treadle) Lathe: How’s this for off center craftsmanship? Here’s Chris’ “about” info on his YouTube Channel...

Steve Stone

There’s No Place Like Here: Liberty Tool: Every woodworker has a favorite used tool barn, if they’re lucky. Over the winter, I took my son Jack (age 11) on...

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Model Making as a Boatbuilder’s Sketch – SJOGIN III: There are as many ways to mentally prepare for building a boat as there are boatbuilders. Steve Brookman’s approac...

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Harry Bryan’s Multi-Tool, A Power Source Finds Its Tool: Another example of Harry Bryan alchemy as he transforms an ancient jeweler’s engine into a versatile shop tool....

A Shop Visit with Joshua Klein, Pre-Industrial Tools in a Post-Industrial World: Josh sorted through career possibilities as a traditional woodworker and ended an authority on pre-industrial process. W...

Cool Shop Tips #5, Shaving Horses: These two shaving benches were common to many pre-industrial chairmakers’ workshops and they seem like they might...

Boat Shop Talk – Building Boats by Hand and by Eye, with Jim Tolpin: Listening to an expert talk about their craft is always a treat, but to be a fly on the wall when four of them get toget...

Scribing & Maintaining a Waterline, With a Batten and a Pull-Saw: Havilah Hawkins shows us how to make and maintain a classic looking waterline on your wooden boat....

Metalworking Techniques, Part 1 – Heat-Bending Metal Rod for a Traveler: In this series, Erica Moody will demystify metalworking — showing the basics of how to work metal with portable tools...

Making a Caulking Mallet with Antique Tool Guy Jeff Pearson: Antique tool guy Jeff Pearson takes us through the process of how to make a caulking mallet....

Shortcuts for Shaping Complex Wooden Boat Pieces – Part 4, Using Hand Tools For Final Shaping: This week Eric Blake demonstrates using hand tools for the final shaping of complex curves and tapers of wooden boat pie...

Shortcuts Shaping Complex Wooden Boat Pieces – Part 2, Cutting the Tapers: We return to the Brooklin Boat Yard with Eric Blake as he walks us through cutting the tapers in shaping complex wooden...

Bit Brace Essentials, Part 2 – Techniques & Uses: We return to Harry Bryan’s shop to learn the essential techniques and uses of the bit brace....

Ingenuity at Work & Play, with Harry Bryan: Harry Bryan takes us off-the-grid again with his ingenuity in both work and play....

Shortcuts for Shaping Complex Wooden Boat Pieces, Part 1 – Making the Blank: We join Eric Blake at the Brooklin Boat Yard where he breaks down how to recreate compound tapered shapes for wooden boa...

Bit Brace Essentials, Part 1 – Knowing What To Look For: Join Harry Bryan as he walks us through bit braces and knowing what to look for. ...

Cool Shop Tips #4, Harry Bryan’s Sawhorse Clamp: Forget the power miter saw – this original sawhorse clamp design by Harry takes a sawhorse and clamp to create a h...

The Boltinator: An Ingenious Tool for Extracting Keel Bolts & Bearings: Got keel bolts to pull? Or perhaps you’d like to pull a hole in the time-space continuum? This shop-built tool doe...

Fasteners & Fastening, Part 5 – Drilling and Tapping Stainless Steel: We finish our trip into the shop with a look at tricks on drilling and tapping stainless steel....

Handsaws for Boatbuilding, with Harry Bryan: When it comes to handsaws, whether you’re working with plywood or natural stock, Harry Bryan knows which saw is...

Fasteners & Fastening, Part 4 – Drilling & Tapping Bronze: Head into the metal shop to learn the order of events of how to drill and tap bronze pieces together....

Fasteners & Fastening, Part 3 – Machine, Pan & Hex Head Screws with Wood: See more fasteners in action with tips on using machine, pan and hex head screws in woodworking projects....

How to Use Epoxy, Part 2 – Getting a Smooth Finish for Paint or Varnish: Eric Blake continues his walkthrough on how to use epoxy to get a smooth finish for paint or varnish at the Brooklin Bo...

Fasteners & Fastening, Part 2 – Countersinking Screws & Setting Bungs in Wood: Fasteners in action: Proper techniques for putting stuff together using a variety of fasteners....

Fasteners & Fastening, Part 1 – Naming of the Screw: Get up to date on today’s fasteners and their specific uses....

Making a Pilot House Door, Part 2 – Finish & Fit: Woodworking techniques abound as Tony Grove finishes and fits the frame and panel constructed door for a Northwest Fish...

How To Use A Handsaw, Square & Bevel Crosscuts: In an era of loud, whirring machines, Harry takes us back to the simplicity and precision of the crosscut saw as he show...

Building Boat Furniture Using Plywood and Cleat Construction: We visit the Grove Woodworking School on Gabriola Island in British Columbia where boatbuilder Tony Grove demystifies th...

Cool Shop Trick: Applying a Herreshoff-Style Sheerstrake to a Cold Molded Alerion 26: Cold molded boats don’t really have individual planks, so sheerstrakes, especially ones in the Herreshoff style that a...

Lie-Nielsen Woodworking Tools, A Glimpse at How They’re Made: Tom Lie-Nielsen is the man behind the kind of woodworking tools that we would like to pass down to our kids and grandk...

Plane Talk & Spokeshaves – Boat Building Hand Tools: Boat building hand tools expert, OCH Guide and well known traditional tool expert, Harry Bryan, takes us through his col...

Cool Shop Tips #3, Chipper Guide for Plane Sharpening: Who knew the cap iron on your hand plane could be used as a guide when sharpening the blade? A handy little plane sharpe...

Sanding Station: Tired of the sawdust from sanding? See the sanding station system Bill Thomas put together to more than solve that prob...

How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 3 – Essential Boat Building Tools: What are the minimum essential boat building tools for a boat like the Caledonia Yawl? Geoff Kerr takes us through...

Smooth Planes – The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly with Harry Bryan: Ever wondered what all those moving parts in your hand plane were for? Well Harry takes a couple of smooth planes apart...

Cool Shop Tips #2, ‘Bed of Nails’ for Painting: Simple ways of painting spars and boat parts can come in instant flashes of genius and wisdom after twenty years of expe...

Cool Shop Tips #1, Manning Benches: A saw horse and a rugged, portable, versatile work bench all in one, or as the case may be, two. Geoff Kerr introduces u...

Blade Sharpening Part 3 – Sharpening Planer Blades: Sharpening planer blades on a big machine can be especially daunting. And yet Harry takes it on with aplomb, as he shows...

Essential Boat Building Tools – Clamps: A few helpful hints on getting the right clamps for your boat building shop from a master builder of wooden boats....

Sharpening Plane Blades, Part 2 – with Harry Bryan: A mid-winter follow-up journey over the border to Canada gives us the opportunity to get a lesson from master boatbuilde...

Best Boat Building Tools, Part 3 – Industrial Handheld: In this video on boat building tools, master builder Eric Blake takes us inside the Brooklin Boat Yard again to look at...

Versa Vise Review, with Harry Bryan: When we first saw this video, we called to order two of these clever little versa vises immediately. And they haven̵...

Boat Building Hand Tools, The Basic Tool Kit – with Harry Bryan: Ignoring many of the tools now flooding the marketplace, Harry Bryan shows us the basic boat building tools you will nee...

Sharpening Plane Blades, Part 1 – with Harry Bryan: A mid-winter journey over the border to Canada gives us the opportunity to get a lesson on sharpening plane blades from...

Best Boat Building Tools, Part 2 – Stationary Tools: Inside the Brooklin Boat Yard, master builder Eric Blake goes through what he considers the “standard” boat building...

Best Boat Building Tools, Part 1 – Small Handheld Power Tools: Inside the Brooklin Boat Yard, master builder Eric Blake talks boat building tools and what he considers to be the woode...