Contemplating a dory build?
Costs
If you shop carefully and are buying good but not premium materials, you'll spend $3,500. Premium materials will take you up to the $5k-6k range. You can spend a lot more on premium plywood, more glass/epoxy, premium paint, and boat jewelry.
For a 16'-9" stitch and glue GC dory from Andy Hutchinson's plans:
$400 Plans
$700 plywood
$600 Epoxy & Fillers
$600 glass
$600 latches
$200 gunnels
$100 bronze bolts
$100 paint
$300 misc
A ply on frame ("traditional") boat would be similar. $2,000-5,000
You won't buy near as much epoxy or glass, but will buy Port Orford Cedar or other premium straight-grained rib wood.
I built that little Black Eagle boat for a little over $1,000 in materials. She was a prototype, so I used $30/sheet AC plywood from the box store*, surplus fiberglass, epoxy in bulk, and good ol' Rustoleum paint. Being smaller, she also had half the materials and fewer latches and hinges. I don't think you could build a big boat for less than $2k even going cheap-cheap.
*I sort of wish I had built her from doug fir marine plywood. Would have cost $100 more on the boat at 2019 prices...BUT it was the peak of the 'Rona and I didn't have quality fir marine ply available to me at the time. She was a sanity build, so my sanity and building her through the winter of 2020-2021 was worth more than using the right plywood.
Costs
If you shop carefully and are buying good but not premium materials, you'll spend $3,500. Premium materials will take you up to the $5k-6k range. You can spend a lot more on premium plywood, more glass/epoxy, premium paint, and boat jewelry.
For a 16'-9" stitch and glue GC dory from Andy Hutchinson's plans:
$400 Plans
$700 plywood
$600 Epoxy & Fillers
$600 glass
$600 latches
$200 gunnels
$100 bronze bolts
$100 paint
$300 misc
A ply on frame ("traditional") boat would be similar. $2,000-5,000
You won't buy near as much epoxy or glass, but will buy Port Orford Cedar or other premium straight-grained rib wood.
I built that little Black Eagle boat for a little over $1,000 in materials. She was a prototype, so I used $30/sheet AC plywood from the box store*, surplus fiberglass, epoxy in bulk, and good ol' Rustoleum paint. Being smaller, she also had half the materials and fewer latches and hinges. I don't think you could build a big boat for less than $2k even going cheap-cheap.
*I sort of wish I had built her from doug fir marine plywood. Would have cost $100 more on the boat at 2019 prices...BUT it was the peak of the 'Rona and I didn't have quality fir marine ply available to me at the time. She was a sanity build, so my sanity and building her through the winter of 2020-2021 was worth more than using the right plywood.