Aluminium boat out of one piece - self casted, one big mold...

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by congoriver, Jun 23, 2010.

  1. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    "Navigation on the river began with canoes, pirogues and bateaux, but as settlements along the Mon grew, pioneers needed means to send goods down-river to Pittsburgh and ports in the south, even as far away as New Orleans. At first, they built flatboats, square cigar-box-shaped vessels about 15 feet wide and 50 feet long that could carry up to 50 tons of cargo. Many settlers traveled further west on such vessels, which were also called Kentucky boats because that was often their goal."

    http://www.monriver.org/history.htm

    http://www.janessaddlebag.org/about-us/big-bone-lick-area-history/flatboat-history.html
     

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  2. Brent Swain
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    Brent Swain Member

    The Aussies made a blast formed hull years ago caled the "Gelignite 35" They simply put the plate over a mold, then laid explosives on it with apropriate tamping over it, then blasted the hull into the mold. Propane and oxygen wouod also work.
    Those 45 gallon plastic drums, which can be easily cut and welded, could be another option. I keep dreaming of making an outrigger canoe out of a couple of them.
     
  3. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    Well, I've gone to Congo, I'm working in agriculture (which is my main priority), and if I have time and money, the same question keeps popping up.

    When I wrote that post, only 2 or 3 people contacted me, and the alternative, working with professional designers/architects, was prohibitively expensive.

    So there's your answer.

    My only "accomplishment" in this regard is the fact that I've bought a few pirogues (amongst them a very large one), and two outboard engines. But that's for the use of our project. We've also experimented with woodgas (which was seen as a possible substitute for gasoline in boats). But that's it. So the topic went a bit off the agenda, because my time and money all go to my farming project.

    Still, I sometimes come back here and relaunch the topic, to see if there's other ideas out there. But frankly, I think the list of ideas has been exhausted.

    Sadly so, perhaps there's no solution to the problem. Maybe I should just sit and wait until the Congolese government or some NGO focused on this particular topic starts making the investments.
     
  4. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    I came here to suggest an alternative idea. Because it was not explored before.

    As I wrote in the opening post: if the idea's not good, just shoot it. No problem.

    If you want to end this thread, no biggie. I should have referred to my post from a few years ago, though.
     
  5. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    Well, perhaps hoytedow considers me to be a native. I do!:D
     
  6. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    Congoriver,

    did you explore the benefit of the FAO boats? Especially the larger ones?

    You have the wood there, you have the tools there and these boats are hammered together for a song. The plans are for free, the single cyl. engines are in reach (I think the common pump engines there are Listeroids when I remember right?).
    So why not going for that solution?

    Regards
    Richard
     
  7. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    What I meant was you in the plural sense of the word. Perhaps I should have said it in Southernese(you all). When you try to help people, you are one of them, are you not?
     
  8. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    If we all sat around and waited for the government to help us we would still be living in the dark ages. We must do it ourselves if we expect results.
     
  9. troy2000
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    troy2000 Senior Member

    If the problem is needing hulls, rather than needing engines, I'd say what you need is a portable sawmill. Use it to cut those big logs into planks, and you can make much bigger boats from them.

    It's possible to build quite large flatbottomed craft using wood. Alma, the only surviving San Francisco scow schooner, is 80 feet long and 22 feet wide (24.4 meters x 6.7 meters).
     
  10. capt_jack
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    capt_jack Junior Member

  11. SamSam
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    SamSam Senior Member

    Hmmm. All the posts tell about the huge problem of transporting food from the hinterlands to the cities, and how primitive poor the natives are because they have no way to get their product to the cities and how much the people in the cities have to pay huge sums for food because the food can't get to market. There is apparently plenty of food, the problem is it just can't get to the cities. The problem is there's no boats. So you invest all your time and money in farming. I don't get it.
     
  12. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    We'll that's because you don't know which type of farming the project's engaged in. We're doing a carbon sequestration project. We're farming carbon, so to speak. All the rest, remains equal. We put carbon in the soil, the farmer gets a cheque for doing so.

    But given that this is a unique, one-off project sponsored by European and African governments, it's not something you can replicate instantly. So in the meanwhile, ordinary farmers who want to export their crops, are stuck. They don't get the carbon cash. They need to export to make a living.

    It's because I work in the villages, in the brousse, that I know what's bothering these people. And a lack of boats/transportation infrastructures is one of their biggest problems.


    You know, SamSam, if you work in a project, you focus on your project. But it would be unwise to *only* focus on that. You open your eyes to other problems. Else, all that money invested in getting a team of researchers to the field, would be used inefficiently. Our sheer presence in the field is generating many new projects. Amongst them are projects we want to do in infrastructure and transportation.
     
  13. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    Well, why don't we try to launch a collaboration on this topic? Why don't we design an "open source" cargo boat for use in developing countries? I'm willing to experiment with this, but the problem is that I'm not often online.

    I could provide a sketch of the real situation in Congo, and of the concrete needs and resources. Perhaps others could help in the design, in the development of replication routines, and, if necessary, in fund-raising.

    We might create a small website with a forum, to work on this. Or make a sub-forum/thread, right here on boatdesign.net.

    If there's an interest, we could start talking about the design process and steps to make this a reality.

    Anyone?
     
  14. TeddyDiver
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    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler

    Did you miss Apex1's question about the FAO boats? Anyway that's one way to start..
     

  15. congoriver
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    congoriver Junior Member

    No, I read it, and I know of the existence of the FAO boats. It's a good starting point, sure, but the problem is that these boats don't carry a lot of tonnage.

    They're intended as fishing boats that make relatively short trips. We're more looking into a cargo vessel that would make long trips (several hundred kilometers).
     
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