Carl Dau trolls:
Anyone experienced with tungsten-boats?



Stephen Baker wrote:
I actually started pricing up a tungsten bulb for a boat. About 9,000 lbs.
NOBODY had that much lying around, and by the time I finished calling round all
the suppliers, the price had nearly doubled. My theory was that they were all
calling each other looking for more, nad the old "supply and demand" thing
kicked in.
Believe me, we eventually built the whole boat, with conventional ballast, for
half of what the bulb would have cost.

And the tools to shape it would have added considerably to the cost.


The only way to go with shaping would have been to make sintered disks and bolt
them together. This may not be so easy for a hull, and the weight (50% MORE
than lead by volume) makes it unacceptable for most uses.

Kind of makes me wonder... why haven't we seen any tungsten keel bulbs
in really hi-dollar boats, like say for example the America's Cup? There
was one boat with a fancy keel including a mercury column, so that the
center of gravity could be raised for light air. That must have been pricey.

DSK