Greetings from Texas my first post

Its kinda hard to believe I never visited here til now. Scanning the collaboration forum -seems its going around (or always has). Dreaming of big awesome Ocean Cats....
Im a Toolmaker, engineer, artist, designer, all rolled into one without a piece of paper from some institution saying im OK.
My first real job was at a local boat compant in N Texas called Laser that made 16" to 21" ft. ski and fishing boats.

Laser was started in my hometown on the NW edge of DFW international airport by Rork Summerford and later moved to the one horse town of Roanoke 10 miles west in the early 80s

I started working for Laser at what turned out to be optimal timing. They were coming out with several new models the summer of 84 like the beautiful 2500 double console fish n ski and I instantly got HardCore training on wet layups and wetsanding/ tooling prep right from the get go.
If any of you ever attended the Waco boatdrags--you saw more than a few of the Laser tunnel v's kicking ***.
We sometimes built special kevelar race boats like summerford did with no wood in them, solid pvc core fabbed stringer "lumber" that we made right on the shop floor-literally. I started out on the deck crew--Where it had to be done with absolutely No air for around 9 mos and then on the hull crew-- where me and one other guy would mold a 19 ft v bottom or tunnel V each day. I ended up working up to the best job in the shop somehow-- doing the finish rigging , before going on to work for --custom auto/ truck parts outfits, a few industrial shops -like bathroom products (thermoforming tooling for acrilic) and several aviation tool shops doing stuff contracts for Lockheed F16 for example--, and eurocopter - where I was- The -toolmaker in the composite shop, these outfits I learned to do huge projects as everyday commonplace activity.

Anyway --there is no introduction forum. Hi, glad to get some new ideas here

 

Well, you seem to be enthusiastic about boats, and it sounds like you have knowledge to share. Sounds like a winning combination to me... welcome to the forum.

I'm strictly an amateur and a beginner, myself. But this place has an amazing mix of everyone from hardcore professional builders and designers down to rank newbies, and there's plenty of room for you.

Do you have a project of your own going? Do you have a boat in the water (or a boat in the driveway that gets wet occasionally)? Neither is necessary, but if you have either or both we'd enjoy seeing some posts about them, along with pic's - especially the pic's. There's no such thing as too much boat pron....

 

So now im back to one of the things on my life list, an ocean going cat.
The newest detals are SES technology, and keeping the whole plan actually attainable, meaning sourcing info, materials, facility- those first two are easy.

The main rule I go by is not to allow anyone around me telling me-I cant do it.
If I had made this a hard rule half my live ago instead of unfortunately wasting 15 yrs with an older sibling doing this - ide probably be the aqua version of James T Kirk at this time.
A 60 " hull model is a big ole endevor-- but its really just another piece of plastic. If I pull one of my wheeld treasures out of the garage I got 63 ft of covered -screened workspace now, no one would know what im working on back there. The mold would be 3 main 20" sections, modular to get both hulls. The cross bridge would be same--composite "lumber" made right off a concrete slab.
My home town had the manufacturing plant of the original PVC foam core product -"kelegecell" -owned by an italian co. They produced it here but a few duys died at the plant-exposure- and they switched to only processing it there, cutting it up and one contract was for hull blocks for Navy gunboats. I worked there once for a few weeks. The company was bought by divinycell and moved out of town, during the 70's most every kid in town would jump the fence and snag a thick green slab to use as a toy out at the lake.

 

Hi Troy-- im a texa -- fornian, The only other place I lived was the beautiful town of Y valley next to Joshua Tree. At the moment I dont have pics of models. The projects going are automotive, to sell for funding the next venture ( wana buy a kick *** 38 chevy pickup)? Im also building an RV on an old penske box truck chassis. one cool thing im working on is a 99-2002 Silverado transformo kit to convert to the 2007 up tahoe/burb frontend. Thruout August I pretty much havta scuttle from life support to life support here in N texas, I could get stuff done if it had 4% humidity like the mojave has.

 

Found a pic of a 19" laser LTV bass--- a tunnel V bass boat!
I might have built this hull if it was built from jan 85 thru dec 85.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii294/frozenokie/Laser Bass Boat/PHTO0005-1.jpg

and a nice pic of a 2550 v bottom 19"
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...0919D56C1CC80871E5B64540B7E&selectedIndex=107

And here's the BadBoy my friends, the laser tunnel V, this is a special competition model.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...EB838D33C2B0D4716AA0297DFC2&selectedIndex=168

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthread.php?45955-who-has-the-fastest-Laser-LTV/page9&