How it's made

The Process

Before the build

Evaluation & skip welding

Before any team started its own build, the whole class worked on existing aluminum boats, a low-stakes way to learn how the metal behaves under the torch.

  1. Evaluate and repair existing boats

    This came early in the term, before teams were assigned, so the whole class worked on these boats together. Each boat was inspected first, with welds and seams checked and defects such as cracks, porosity, and undercut flagged. Smaller flaws were repaired with skip welds; where the metal was too far gone, the bad sections were cut out, patches fabricated, and welded back in the same way, keeping heat down to avoid warping. Every repair was re-checked before moving on.

    Team inspecting an existing aluminum boat hull
    Boat inspection
    TIG welding patch
    TIG welding patch
    Why it mattered

    This was one of the most valuable parts of the class. Troubleshooting genuine defects revealed what had gone wrong and why, and surfaced several different ways to fix each one. It was hands-on experience with real failures and how to prevent them.

The build

Construction of the boat

With the evaluation work complete, the team built the half-scale aluminum skiff on a jig, controlling distortion at every step.

  1. Build the jig

    Assemble and tack-weld a square building jig to hold the hull true while it goes together.

    Tack-welded aluminum jig frame on the welding table

  2. Bottom plates

    Set the cut bottom plates into the jig and tack along the centerline so everything lines up.

    Tack-welded V-hull bottom plates on the welding table
    Bottom plates clamped and tacked on the welding table
    Team fitting the bottom plates on the welding table

  3. Bulkheads

    Install and weld in the bulkheads that divide and stiffen the hull.

    Construction Timelapse
    Construction Timelapse

  4. Gunnels & strakes

    Fit the aluminum rub-rail tubing and strakes before final welding to help control distortion.

    Construction Timelapse
    Construction Timelapse

  5. Transom

    Fit the transom and corner brackets at the stern.

    Construction Timelapse
    Construction Timelapse
Finishing touches

Additional work

Beyond the hull, three custom aluminum details finish the boat. Each was modeled in Fusion 360, exported as a DXF, and waterjet cut from aluminum before being fitted in place.

  1. Maker's mark

    A builder's plaque marking the project: EVCC WELD 231, Spring 2026. It was drawn as a 10-inch plate with radiused corners, and the text was cut straight through so the lettering reads as open voids against the hull. Stencil-style letters require their enclosed centers to be held in place, so the middle of each O and D is tied back to the plate with thin bridges, keeping the plaque a single connected piece. The plate is thin and decorative, welded to the stern.

    Welded builder's plaque reading EVCC WELD 231 Spring 2026, built by Bee, Ben, Jayden, Joe
    Makers Mark

  2. Boat name

    The boat's name in a custom runic alphabet that echoes the Njord theme, roughly eight inches wide and cut as five separate letters. Cutting each letter individually allowed the spacing to be set by hand to follow the curve of the hull, with a full-scale printout used as a positioning template. The diamond and triangle voids inside the letters are left open so the hull shows through. The letters were primed with an aluminum self-etching primer and painted with metallic bronze to provide contrast against the clean aluminum hull. Because thin letters are prone to warping under welding heat, they were riveted to the side rather than welded.

    Five waterjet-cut aluminum runic letters laid out on the welding table
    Waterjet letters
    Drilling a mounting hole in a diamond-shaped runic letter clamped to the table
    Drilling rivet mounts
    Deburring a runic letter held in a vise with a rotary tool
    Cleaning letters
    Primed runic letters hanging on a wire to dry
    Primed letters
    Runic letters painted metallic bronze hanging to dry
    Painted letters
    Rivet Timelapse
    Rivet Timelapse

  3. Swan figurehead

    Rather than a solid carved shape, the swan was modeled in Fusion 360 and sliced into fifteen cross-sections, each contour exported as its own DXF. The plates are 3/8-inch aluminum, stacked across the width and TIG welded along their stepped edges, turning flat, waterjet-friendly parts into a true three-dimensional form; assembled, it stands about 11 inches tall. Two alignment holes run through the stack to take an indexing rod. The neck is a single uniform blade across the center plates, the outlines are smooth splines, and the finished swan is welded to a curved base plate that mounts at the bow. Marine-grade alloy and 5356 filler were used throughout.

    Waterjet-cut aluminum swan figurehead pieces laid out
    Stacked aluminum swan figurehead layers
    Finished swan figurehead welded to the bow of the aluminum skiff with the Njord runic name on the hull
    Swan mounted
    Swan Figurehead
    Swan Figurehead
On the water

Sea Trials

With the hull finished and the details mounted, the boat went into the water to prove the build under real conditions.

  1. Live testing

    The finished skiff was launched and run on the water to check the hull for leaks, confirm it sat true and stable, and verify that every weld held under load.

    Stability Testing
    Stability Testing
    Team member paddling the finished aluminum skiff on the water
    Initial test
    The skiff under way on the pond alongside another small boat
    Paddler in the skiff with the swan figurehead visible at the bow
    Close view of the skiff on the water showing the runic boat name on the hull