I know I need a lot of clamps. If possible, I'd like to have things on hand before I need them, although I am sure I will need to buy things along the way. Any recommendations for how many and what varieties of clamps a will find most useful for building a NE Dory? I'd really like to install spacered inwhales as well though we'll see if I stay commited when the time comes.
While we're on the subject, I'll take recommendations for any other tools you found useful in your build. I have a pretty complete set of mechanic's tools but not much in the way of wood working, outside of the usual powered and rechargeable hand tools. I don't think I own a block plane or a decent hand saw yet.
Spring clamps. Lots of spring clamps. In the real world example below there's something like 40 in use. Spring clamps are good because overclamping forces the epoxy out of a joint. A small gap with epoxy actually makes it stronger. It's not like joinery with carpenters' glue or resorcinal where a gap ruins the joint. Spring clamps give a good amount of compression and can be worked with one hand vs many of the other types like c-clamps, bar clamps, etc. That's not to say that they aren't useful, too; just that I've found spring clamps the most useful in S&G boatbuilding.
Laszlo
I also reccomend going to estate sales. You can find some awesome clamps at low cost, it takes a while but I get a few clamps everytime I pass by an estate sale. I am waiting for a similar soul to pass to get the jackpot.
I found local boat builders via The Builders Club and received a bunch of C-clamps and spring clamps that will come in handy. In getting the transom wired in on my Chester Yawl, I have used several hand-pumped bar clamps; both 24" and 12".
As to other tools: if you don't have a good handsaw, I recommend a Japanese pull saw. They cut straight and fast. I also recommend a Shinto saw rasp. It looks like a rough tool, and it will remove wood fast, but you can actually finesse it pretty well. Great for shaping rounded corners.
as to power tools, best investment I made was a Festool orbital sander with HEPA vacuum. You'll be spending a lot of quality time sanding.
Spring Clamps and Japanese Pull Saw with VERY fine blade get my vote.
Pull Saws will cut very straight but can also cut curves with a little practice.