Cold Molding

On the sailboat, I was debating how to construct the hull. After reading this book, I'm going to give cold molding a try.

This is the bible of cold molded construction. It samples using much larger boats than the one I'm building, but the process scales down. Hull construction is the only thing that is significantly different from traditional boat building concepts. The book has a great section on how to build out cabins, build masts, all kinds of interesting stuff around the deck. Great section on lofting. But a lot of that is also available in other books too.

What makes cold molding unique among plywood hull techniques is the layering. My biggest problem is leaks in the plywood joints, and cold molding solves this with layers and epoxy. In my sailboat, first I'm going to scarf the plywood joints going left to right. Second I'm going to use two layers of 3/8" plywood so I can stagger the joints over the layers. This should give me a leak-free hull. Plus I'm going to have to use copious amounts of fairing compound and epoxy.

If this is your first book on boat construction, you picked a good place to start. If, like me, you've read a crap ton of books on boat construction, this is a really informative read on a very specific aspect of boat construction. It feels like I gain something new from each book. In addition to the hull aspects, I also learned a ton about building your own mast & booms and other sailboat-specific aspects. Most books will focus on general concepts and throw in stuff like "if you're building a sailboat try this..." but this book is specific about sailboat construction. I'm sure there are other books about motorboat construction that have details about the electrical systems or steering consoles. But this one is specific to sailboats and covers sailboat-only details better than any other book that I've read.