DIY Pontoon Build Update 2

Well it's been about 3 weeks (or 40 hours worth of work) since I started building my pontoon, below are some pictures from a few days ago on my progress.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Here is the first pontoon with some wields on it (small patches of fiberglass coated with resin) to hold the shape and form for when the stitches (the white zip ties poking out all over) are removed. This being my first "real" garage project I found to be lacking some of the basic tools, like saw horses, but as you can see, I make do with what I have.



Here is the first pontoon, right side up, with the bulkheads in
place. They will be set permanently in place by fillet (fill-it) and fiberglass tape after the two coats of resin dry.







Interior view of second pontoon with out the bulkheads in
place. As you can see, the bulkheads play a vital role increasing the volume of displacement for when the whole build hits the water, in addition they also provide extra strength to the pontoon itself, enabling a few sheets of 1/4" plywood to support almost half a ton of weight!




That's all for now. Current plans are to get this in the water by this Sunday, but I'll have more build pictures posted soon and please feel free to post any questions you may have.

DIY: Man Powered Pontoon

Ok, so I found some instructions on how to build your own pontoon on JEM watercraft's website and after getting most of the plywood I started contruction of it today. It is a work in progress but being a guy without the means (read: wife and kids) of buying an actual boat of any type, this seems to be the next best thing. The instructions are simple enough, almost to the point of omitting information that would be very helpful.

Link to instructions: Free Pontoon Instructions

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have on this project.

A couple pointers.

1. Get Luane Plywood for the 6 sheets of 4x8 1/4" plywood, it should work as well as the B/C stuff and you'll pay half the price ($8.00 vs $16.00 at Menards in Mankato).
2. Get all 6 sheets at the same time, I was short on cash and got 3 sheets, after cutting out the bottom and sides, I realised that the chance of them being identical to the other pontoon were slim to none unless I used them as patterns, so I'm waiting for next pay day to get 3 more sheets and finish the pontoons.
3. Not really a tip, but a question. The most expensive part of this project is going to be the Epoxy Resin, if anyone knows a place that sells it cheaper ($35.00/gal at Advanced Auto), please let me know. As it stands the resin is going to be the most expensive part of this project.

I'll update this post with pictures as I make progress on the project so stay tuned for images!

9/11/07 Update - Finished the bulkheads lastnight, will post pictures tonight after some more work.