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Good summary by SB and excellent thread!
With Andy’s plans you can build an excellent boat using stitch & glue technique which will have a beautiful sheer and flare, and last a lifetime. I think his lines were drawn from his original Briggs boat, but not completely sure. My first dory was built this way and I already regret selling it. (just need a bigger storage shed!). You’ll need to have some basic resin and glass cloth chops, but these are easily learned online or in some epoxy basics books available online, starting with the West Gougheon one. Andy is a joy to work with and this is a great way to build a dory. I highly also recommend Resin Research epoxy.
Frame technique is fun if you have some basic woodworking skills and tools. I went this route for my second boat b/c I wanted to try something new and prefer woodworking over glassing, and enjoyed most of the process except the hatches. You could build one with a handsaw, brace and bit, and hand planes and chisels (a la Roger in his book pictures) but a chop saw, cordless SkillSaw, and cordless impact drivers sure are nice for those of us less traditionally motivated. With Roger’s latest version of his book I did receive a paper copy of some new lofting offsets (which I haven’t lofted or tested yet) but they seem to look good to me. I’m guessing if you already have his book you could contact him and ask for the paper copies. Even if you don’t go the wood frame route I highly recommend reading his book to learn more about many techniques.
You can also mix and match. For some of Brad’s latest builds he replaces the inside wood chine for a fiberglass / resin fillet. For large, inflexible bodies like me working alone this looks physically tough to do, but it eliminates the tough-to-repair wood chine. I’ve also seen at least one boat, can’t recall where, where the side panels and hull were built w/ S&G and then frames were measured and added afterwards.
For either style, if you put in the time and study, you can modify the plan any way you like. This is probably easier with the S&G plans unless you really understand how one lofting change affects everything up and downstream with frame and gutter builds. You can choose different versions on the rear seat, facing fore or aft, (see Kelly Neu for two side seats). Or you can eliminate the rear seat and deck it over as I did on boat 2. Sizes of all of the hatches and hatch lids can be adjusted. Then there are several gravity vs pump drainage options.
With Andy’s plans you can build an excellent boat using stitch & glue technique which will have a beautiful sheer and flare, and last a lifetime. I think his lines were drawn from his original Briggs boat, but not completely sure. My first dory was built this way and I already regret selling it. (just need a bigger storage shed!). You’ll need to have some basic resin and glass cloth chops, but these are easily learned online or in some epoxy basics books available online, starting with the West Gougheon one. Andy is a joy to work with and this is a great way to build a dory. I highly also recommend Resin Research epoxy.
Frame technique is fun if you have some basic woodworking skills and tools. I went this route for my second boat b/c I wanted to try something new and prefer woodworking over glassing, and enjoyed most of the process except the hatches. You could build one with a handsaw, brace and bit, and hand planes and chisels (a la Roger in his book pictures) but a chop saw, cordless SkillSaw, and cordless impact drivers sure are nice for those of us less traditionally motivated. With Roger’s latest version of his book I did receive a paper copy of some new lofting offsets (which I haven’t lofted or tested yet) but they seem to look good to me. I’m guessing if you already have his book you could contact him and ask for the paper copies. Even if you don’t go the wood frame route I highly recommend reading his book to learn more about many techniques.
You can also mix and match. For some of Brad’s latest builds he replaces the inside wood chine for a fiberglass / resin fillet. For large, inflexible bodies like me working alone this looks physically tough to do, but it eliminates the tough-to-repair wood chine. I’ve also seen at least one boat, can’t recall where, where the side panels and hull were built w/ S&G and then frames were measured and added afterwards.
For either style, if you put in the time and study, you can modify the plan any way you like. This is probably easier with the S&G plans unless you really understand how one lofting change affects everything up and downstream with frame and gutter builds. You can choose different versions on the rear seat, facing fore or aft, (see Kelly Neu for two side seats). Or you can eliminate the rear seat and deck it over as I did on boat 2. Sizes of all of the hatches and hatch lids can be adjusted. Then there are several gravity vs pump drainage options.
