Wanted: CAD files for laser cut 16 meter aluminum cat hulls

[JonathanCole]

two hulls including crossbeams made from standard i beams, including design / cad fees for preparing laser cut files, including plan approval by classification society

How much should this cost?

[nero]

US$ 1,000 to 2,500 For hulls with the interior design work shown.

(actually I have no idea of market value) It would seem much would depend on the complexity of the hulls. Got a sketch to post? Perhaps if you had the hull lines and part of the work done a professional could see exactly what needed to be engineered and spected.

[D'ARTOIS]

Nero, Jonathan requires the full design plus expansions included the cutting files.
Here in Holland such thin will set you back min. 10.000 euro's....
Maybe a jobber will do it or much less, but I only know the prices of the A1 companies.

Jonathan if you want this for your ouseboat it is waisted money: you don't need the exclusive cat hulls for just moving around in the european canals/rivers.

Or you end up with the design of a cat motoryacht....

[Pascal Lagrou]

Dear Jonathan,should it be an alu cat? can it be also composite ,than i can help you,i have molds for a 16.5m sailcat,(2 hulls will cost you depending on construction,between 25 and 30.000 EUR in GRP and about 36.000 in Epoxy).
I have made also the tooling and 1ste hull for the powercat 52' for Ted Hood,and many other boats incl design and engineering.
Also alu is possible if you realy want,we build here different alu boats 12-14-15m and a cat 18m,27m alu sloop "Opium" you see there are possibilitys.
your design, cutting files,and approval,we can do for you,but as Mr.D'Artois told,i also think that it is wast money only for 1 boat.
Greatings
Pascal

[aqua_ambulat]

Dear Jonathan
am Iunderstanding you right ? you need the cut profiles for laser cutting
the hull in aluminium. The thing you could do is if you have the table of
offsets you can draw the hull in autocad or formZ and extract closed polylines from the dreawing by intersecting the profile. Laser cutters and most of
professional industrial cutting devices read DXF or DWG from closed
polylines. If this is any help to you Jonathan
daniel

www.bhs.is/aqua_ambulat

[JonathanCole]

Daniel, I understand how the laser cutting process works.

D'Artois, The reason I am looking for this information is to compare an estimate I received from Germany.

My project starts with one boat but I want to go into the business of manufacturing these boats because I believe there are a lot of people who would like to have a reasonbly priced, fuel-less, live-aboard vessel, that can be piloted by an individual if necessary and has much more living space than boats normally do. I am doing the research to find out what design and materials make the most sense as a balance of cost, durability and efficiency.

I am looking for people and companies that are interested in this business and are interested in working together to help make this vision a reality by the contribution of expertise, manufacturing experience, and above all enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. For those who would prefer to inhabit the Water Planet instead of Terra Firma, this project will provide the optimal solutions that are technologically viable.

I am aware that many people utilizing boatdesign.net are rugged individualists, yet the urge to share and communicate is alive and well. The combined knowledge of the members of boatdesign is a resource that I would like to see have a meaningful impact on the possibilities of Mobile Aquatic Living Platforms, which is what I am trying to bring into being.

Jonathan

[nero]

Since your hull is already drawn, You are looking to unfold it into pieces that can be cut from flat pannels? This seems like a straight forward task.

Why all the big price tags for this service?

(excuse my interest in being educated)

JonathanCole Hope your project(s) succeed. The motivation is noble.

[JonathanCole]

Nero,

The hull is not drawn, since I have not yet decided on final specs. Systems in the running are aluminum pontoon hulls which are probably the least cost alternative, but I'm waiting to hear what they will cost with 5mm thickness, which several European boat designers believe to be the minimum for durability in debris strewn inland water ways.

Pontoons are not optimal for speed, but my solar-electric cat will have a top speed of 12 knts and cruising speed of 5-8 knts. So far I have not been able to quantify the difference in efficient use of power between optimal cat hulls and pontoons in such a low speed range. I am sure that optimally designed hulls will yield some small benefit, but I am not yet sure if that benefit is worth the potential price differential.

GRP or epoxy hulls are worth considering, but so far the costs seem prohibitive unless I use existing molds. I am probably unlikely to find an existing mold optimized for this kind of boat.

I have investigated polyethylene, rotomolded hulls but so far, hull length seems limited to a bit over 6 meters. Because rotomolded hulls are so durable and inexpensive to manufacture (after the cost of the mold), I have considered a 4 hull layout with the hulls in a diamond configuration. I am also looking into the knowledge from the Hawaiian open ocean twin hulled canoe makers. So you can see I am considering a wide range of possible hull configurations.

[nero]

Okay, I'm getting a clearer view of the picture. Your not simply looking for CAD/CAM files. More of a design/engineering/production prep service.

That explains the price stickers.

Do you design work yourself? I have seen a few of your posts with pencil and other illustrations. The reason I ask is that many times drawing something answeres the questions and provides clues to how to advance the design.

This is not a direct plug for TouchCAD, but. If looking to do constructin starting from flat stock, this program is it. Me personally, I use this feature very little. It is good as a modeler for hulls and shapes.

Kinda thought your boat was going to be for openwaters. What a shame it is only for lakes.

[JonathanCole]

Originally Posted by nero

Kinda thought your boat was going to be for openwaters. What a shame it is only for lakes.

Not only for lakes. Rivers, canals, and protected harbors and seaways. The reason for this limitation is comfort and the limitations of solar-electric power. You want to avoid heavy seas unless you have way more power than necessary for calmer waters. The solar option does not provide this and I want to avoid having duplicate drive systems (electric and internal combustion).

[nero]

I here that. I do not want any diesel on my cat either.

Perhaps with the new batteries, solar pannels that are coming on the market in a few years your ship will be able to venture out to sea. Getting good hulls into the design from the start may put you ahead later on.

Just a thought.

[JonathanCole]

Originally Posted by nero

Perhaps with the new batteries, solar pannels that are coming on the market in a few years your ship will be able to venture out to sea.

In a few years this kind of boat will be powered by electricity stored in supercapacitors (http://www.skeleton-technologies.com/supcap3.htm) generated by 50% efficient photovoltaic cells (http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/...olar-cell.html) . Then power won't be a problem. Then big ships will be powered this way.