Hi everyone,

I am thinking about building a sailing boat in GRP, actually I want to build
two identical boats. I want to build it like the pros, i.e.
plug - mold - hulls

Does anyone know of good webpages where i can find information on building a
plug i.e. work process, materials etc. ?

Best regards

jlindberg

For two boats, surely you jest

Ed

"Jens" wrote in message
k...
Hi everyone,

I am thinking about building a sailing boat in GRP, actually I want to
build
two identical boats. I want to build it like the pros, i.e.
plug - mold - hulls

Does anyone know of good webpages where i can find information on building
a
plug i.e. work process, materials etc. ?

Best regards

jlindberg

Building a plug and mold is not worth the effort and cost unless you are
planning to go into production. The plug itself can be built with
relatively cheap material but it must be faired and polished with expensive
tooling resins and a lot of labor. The materials for the mold will cost a
lot more than a final hull. It has to be built with tooling resins and
heavily braced to keep it from warping. Then it will require a lot of prep
work before you can use it. In the end you will have the equivalent of 3
hulls invested in material and labor before you can start producing the
first real hull.

The best way to build two identical boats would be to make the station molds
out of a durable material (plywood rather than particle board) and reuse
them for the second boat.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Jens" wrote in message
k...
Hi everyone,

I am thinking about building a sailing boat in GRP, actually I want to
build two identical boats. I want to build it like the pros, i.e.
plug - mold - hulls

Does anyone know of good webpages where i can find information on building
a plug i.e. work process, materials etc. ?

Best regards

jlindberg

"Glenn Ashmore" writes:

The best way to build two identical boats would be to make the station molds
out of a durable material (plywood rather than particle board) and reuse
them for the second boat.

I was involved in building four 'identical' hulls this way 20 years
ago:
http://hem.bredband.net/b262106/Boat/build.html
We did look into the mold alternative but came to the conclusion that
it wasn't worth it.

--
================================================== ======================
Martin Schöön

"Problems worthy of attack
prove their worth by hitting back"
Piet Hein
================================================== ======================

"Glenn Ashmore" skrev i en meddelelse
news:Fp51g.41943$gE.11771@dukeread06...
The best way to build two identical boats would be to make the station
molds out of a durable material (plywood rather than particle board) and
reuse them for the second boat.

Thanks Glenn,

Saw your website, exiting project you are doing there.

As you say on the site, boatbuilding isn't about money, it's about creating
something. I will not be satisfied unless my final result is looking fair
and shiny, like a pro build boat. Thus my thoughts about building a female
mold for the hull. But if an equal quality can be obtained by building a
male mold/plug and then fairing the outside of the hull to a pro result,
this could be a way of doing it. So this method also has to be considered by
me.

Can you tell me if i can expect as nice a result with your suggested method
as with a female mold and, in short, describe the methods/materials used to
achieve this. I fear, that fairing a hull build on a male mold is quite
demanding (sanding, filling and so on). Please tell me i'm wrong.

I still would like to read more about how to make a plug for building a
female mold, i.e. workprocess, materials etc. So if anyone has a link to
pages where this method is descibed, i still would like to study this before
desiding which way to go.

Thanks for your answers.

jlindberg

--Here's a link to a plug for what turned out to be a one-off. Still
got the plug (sort of, long story). http://www.nmpproducts.com/bildboat.htm

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : I'll have the roast duck
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : with the mango salsa...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

Fairing is a lot of work whether you do it to a plug or do it to a hull.
The quality of the final product will only be as good as the original
pattern but the pattern has to be a lot better to make up for things that
can happen building the mold and laying up the hull. As long as your lines
are fair on the station molds getting a professional surface on a pair of
one off hulls is not a lot more work than fairing the plug and preping the
mold. Unless you have a lot of experience a lot can go wrong with a
plug/mold process. The mold can warp during handling, the release agent can
fail and anything wrong with the plug will be duplicated is anything build
from the mold.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Jens" wrote
As you say on the site, boatbuilding isn't about money, it's about
creating something. I will not be satisfied unless my final result is
looking fair and shiny, like a pro build boat. Thus my thoughts about
building a female mold for the hull. But if an equal quality can be
obtained by building a male mold/plug and then fairing the outside of the
hull to a pro result, this could be a way of doing it. So this method also
has to be considered by me.

Can you tell me if i can expect as nice a result with your suggested
method as with a female mold and, in short, describe the methods/materials
used to achieve this. I fear, that fairing a hull build on a male mold is
quite demanding (sanding, filling and so on). Please tell me i'm wrong.

I still would like to read more about how to make a plug for building a
female mold, i.e. workprocess, materials etc. So if anyone has a link to
pages where this method is descibed, i still would like to study this
before desiding which way to go.