6m + aluminium fishing boat

[shakey78]

Hi all Im looking at buying a plate kit around 7.2m total length by 2.5m beam
now the main reason I want to build my own boat is Im 6ft 4 tall and I want to be able to sleep in my cabin but still be able to trailer it home, anyhow what i want to no is if anyone has built one and has any photos and what they did to make theres very much there own boat, also any do's and don't they learnt along the way..

as you will see in the photos this is what Im aiming for but with twin outboards

[shakey78]

also I have a quick question for all the aluminium welders out there, will a CIG 190amp mig welder weld okay up to 6mm?? or will I have to get a bigger amp welder??
& what solvent is used to clean the aluminium before welding I do use the sswire brush now but have been told solvent works too.

[CTMD]

Disclaimer: I Have a lot to do with Plate Alloy Australia.

Have you spoken to John at PAA about your project? He will be more than happy to give you advice re welders and should be able to put you in touch with people who have built the kit you are interested in.

The kit you are looking at doesn't have any 6mm plate it is all 4mm and 5mm.

if you can get a copy of the last Plate Alloy Boats of Australia book it has a step by step article on building PAA kits, if you can't find that "Powered Cats of Australia Directory" book 2, which is in news agents now has a similar story building a PAA cat.

[shakey78]

thanks for the reply I have sent PAA for some info and a quote for a kit, as I don't get much time to phone people at the moment, so thats why I was hoping some people on this web site could answer some of my questions.

I hope to get down to there shop and have a look at how they do things, as I have no worries Mig or Tig welding any other types of metals i don't have much to do with Aluminium. As for the PAA book I wish I could find one maybe someone on the forum has one they could lend me (I will take good care of it and return it ) just need to scan it.

[CTMD]

Where are you located? If you visit PAA they will be more than happy to give you some tips on changing over to ali welding and Pete who works there part time built the blue boat in your photos, so with enough warning he could proably show you the boat or take you for a spin.

Emailing John is a good idea, if you had called for a quote he would have asked you to email anyway as he is not necessarily at his desk when he takes your call.

The PAB is published by Sea Media email them on info@seamedia.com.au and I'm sure they will hook you up with a mag.

[shakey78]

I live in Canberra so its only a short drive down, thanks again for all the help will have to call him and arrange to go down.

[CTMD]

Let me know when you're coming. If you are changing cabin heights etc it is me that will be changing the cutfiles so its best if I'm there for the original conversations to avoid playing chinese whispers.

[shakey78]

I will indeed let you no, I only realy need to change the bunk length by 300mm and change the transom to a twin outboard and add a livebait tank, I wish I could design boats like that, I can only make things from my head to the finished job and some times i have to do it twice cause I found a fault (costly) I can see it in my head but just cant transfer it to computer or paper.

[NTGeorge]

Shakey

Sounds like you will be well looked after with your design.
I'd suggest that you move up to a inverter style mig with a pulse setting. That way you can keep the amps down to around 100amps. I think that the 190amp model you currently have will be pushing it's limits trying to achive spray arc with ally. However this is all my opinion as I weld for a living, and it's all good and well telling you what you need. but what you can afford are not always two and the same.
But quality dose come at a price, have a hunt around some of the welding suppliers and you might find that they hire the welder out that you need. If you can hire a pulse welder at a fair rate then you could get away with a 180amp unit. Do your critical welds in a weekend and finish the rest with your unit. Just one idea though.
If you need a hand setting up your welder for ally drop a line I'll steer you in the right direction.

Good luck

[Katoh]

Hi Shakey78
Hows your project going? I live in Canberra As well and I'm just about to start on a boat the same size, maybe we pick each others brains from time to time.

[shakey78]

My project is a stand still funds have gone else where but these things happen!! hopefullyone day I will get going on it. So what boat are you building ? are you doing it from a plan or a pre-cut kit? If you need anyhelp I would be more than willing to help out, its good to see we have some locals building boats as there is no close help, without costing you a heap of money, but if you need some help feel free to PM me.

[Katoh]

Shakey78
Sorry to hear you have come to stop, this paying for things is real problem might even slow me up a bit, I have to sell the boat I have now to fund the materials to build this one but I'm in no rush.
I'm building from Plans, I bought a set of Boden Boats in Sydney, and am looking at the Bollard 129 7m inboard deep V with a delta keel, going to build the hull first and then Ill talk to the architect, he will then design 1/2 cab/hard top whatever suits. This is something after completing the hull we can look at in real life perspective.
I am slowly going through the plans now and converting them to CAD, from here I can generate a tool pass and cut out my frames and bits and pieces out on my CNC router. As I said I am in no rush, my time frame sort of thing is If I can get The frames cut by say November I will start putting together the hull over summer and say by Feb- March hope to have the hull complete and start on the top after that. In the mean time just keep my eyes open for bits and pieces I will need, I already have a motor, I need a leg and a trailer, you never know what comes up when your not looking for it.
Have you got any Boat building experience, or was this your first build as well?
You never know you might get your funds and pick up were you left off, I hope it works out for you. I have seen hulls on Ebay sell cheaper than the material cost, but if your like me its the project that's probably more appealing and the fact that its yours from top to bottom.
Thanks for the Help offer I might take you up on that, your right there are not many of us here and help, advise is hard to come by, I know of another two people, one builds paddle steam boats (35'-60') and the other has built a couple of cruiser's but I don't now them personally there friends of a friend sort of thing. Its a daunting task and I'm flying by the seat of my pants, but what the hell If others can do it so can I, and I don't think there hands are much different from mine.
Cheers
Katoh

[shakey78]

Yes Im like you I have never built one, but I have no problem welding as I have Very good Mig welding skills and basic tig welding with Aluminium, but like I always say if you put your mind into it you can do almost anythink. Hey what sort of CNC you got?, i have a flat bed CNC (Tekcel) 2500 x 1300 which is good for my job (but wish it was 6500 long) I have never tried to cut aluminium above 3mm can never get the right cutters, they just keep chewing up even with fluid and speeds down.

I think I will end up doing a 5mtr console as trailering the boat down the clyde hill is a big killer, but also Im in the middle of Doing a Race car Design, trying to get prototypes done, as then I can get its past by the racing body (CAMS) and hope to get a race ready car soon, so this project has taken alot of my time and money but its been a dream of mine.

[Katoh]

Shakey78
Your Teckcel machine sounds nice, good size anyway. mine is a no name brand I built the machine from scratch, it cuts 1250Y 2700X 250Z and has a 400 x 400 x 1200 rotary B axis down one side. I know what you mean about size I would have loved to have gone 1800 x 3600 cutting even in steps but just don't have the room.
Yes the Clyde is a bloody killer, especially with a big boat, I'm lucky My parents are down there and I built a boat port on the side of the house, Now this is what restricts me in size is to what fits in the boat port, even though the boat I have now is 1.8ton towing all up and its not that bad to tow, you just take it easy, I have dragged that one up and down a few times.
Going Back to your Alloy cutting read through this thread, its one of mine on the Mach forum and I'm basically asking the same question.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...,14722.20.html
There is some good advice in there.
Sorry I'm not into race cars, I got involved in a lot of other things but cars never really did it for me, horse,s for course,s I suppose.
Cheers
Katoh

Just one thing i would stick to your 7m boat in Alloy I cant see that much difference in weight from a 5.5 to 6.5 or a 7. Its not like a glass boat were every meter puts on some much extra.

[alidesigner]

Just a word of caution, the Australian Standard 1799.1 has just changed. Engine weights have changed, the amount of foam required has increased and protected waters stability requirements have changed (cutoff reduced from 7.5m to 6m). This all affects the info you have to put on the builders plate so you should make sure your kit complies to the new standard.