Should I get in the Boat Business?

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by georgiahemi, Sep 13, 2007.

  1. Landlubber
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    Landlubber Senior Member

    Resin Transfer Moulding
     
  2. Landlubber
    Joined: Jun 2007
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    Landlubber Senior Member

    RTM Resin Transfer Moulding is done similar to infusion principles, but there are two moulds instead of one. We have a male and a female, the job is done in between them both, so you get a finished surface on bothe sides of the job, looks great and is not any harder to do , just cost money for the moulds.
     
  3. Ike
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    Ike Senior Member

    Georgi, Take a look at my web site on starting a boat building business, Http://newboatbuilders.com, especially the page on the Business of Boat Building Http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/business.html.

    Actually there are one or two (last time I counted) builders building production wooden boats. One is in Alabama, The other, I can't remember. There are a lot, hundreds of builder building wooden boats in onesy and twosys, custom boats, etc. Most have day jobs. But as someone said, you should do what you love, while keeping in mind the need to support your family.
     
  4. SidewinderBoats
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    SidewinderBoats New Member

    Ike,

    What a great page, thank you for posting those links.
     
  5. georgiahemi
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    georgiahemi Junior Member

    Ike, that is some great info!! Thanks
     
  6. SidewinderBoats
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    SidewinderBoats New Member

    Not making money in the boat business? Lots of people are.

    I would say keep your regular job for now. Buy a house with enough land and a nice outbuilding. Start the boat company as a side business to try it out. Build a boat for yourself, use it, then sell it. Take the money and buy another.

    OK, so that's maybe too simple but, its kind of my plan. But the plan is when things pick up with it then start by doing less or no overtime with the real job. Then when things get real good, walk away from the real job.
     
  7. Ike
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    Ike Senior Member

    Actually Sidewinder, that is how most people get started. The trick is the walking away from the day job.
     
  8. georgiahemi
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    georgiahemi Junior Member

    Thanks sidewinder. I am thinking that might be the only thing I can do for now. I think I am going to try and buy a canoe or kayak mold and try it out in the garage. Hard part is finding the mold. I posted a thread on here looking for one and looked all over the web and still no luck. I really don't have the money to buy an expensive one or have somebody make one for me. Oh well, I guess all in due time.
     
  9. rturbett
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    rturbett Senior Member

    Building a mold has beean as rewarding for me as building a boat! It's also a great place to practice your skills on.

    Rob
     
  10. ancient kayaker
    Joined: Aug 2006
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    Location: Alliston, Ontario, Canada

    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    Sidewinder is right; you don't have to risk it all to reach for your star, but you'll regret it if you don't at least try. Just give yourself a fair shot by starting right.

    After a recent fire my insurance company is in the process of restoring my garage, and I am taking the opportunity to put in insulation, weather-sealed door and good lighting for winter working. Now I plan to build boats during the cold weather instead of wasting good summer days. Maybe sell a few too; a guy can dream.

    I now realise that the only thing that stopped me doing all this before the fire stage was the clutter. I could easily have ordered a clean-up skip, chucked away the junk, stored the good stuff under a tarp and done the work myself. Apart from the new door that is, but I could have sealed up the old one with tape and added a few insulation batts behind it. If you are good enough with your hands to undertake boat construction and can afford the materials you are definitely able to fix up your garage as a place to work part time until you establish yourself or come to your senses. It would take a few $hundred and a few weeks; if it goes sour you will have added value to your home.

    Good luck with your dream and wish me luck with mine!
     
  11. SidewinderBoats
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    SidewinderBoats New Member

    Walking away from the day job can be scary. But thats also how many businesses start, some people just have no other option. Because the day job walked away from them.
     
  12. SidewinderBoats
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    SidewinderBoats New Member

    A fire, I feel your pain, a recent flood just cleared away most of my clutter. 20+ years of boating magazines turned to pulp.
     
  13. Bill Dunn
    Joined: Aug 2004
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    Bill Dunn Junior Member

    Whats RTM

    RTM is short for Resin Transform Molding which is using a closed mold system to form parts. You gelcoat the molds, insert pattern cut continuos strand matt, close the mold and inject catylized resin into the mold, wait about 20min. and open the mold and pull the formed part. This system makes great production parts fast, but it is lots of work to make the tooling and get a good resin content in the finished parts.
     
  14. ancient kayaker
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    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    I didn't mind losing the rubbish so much, but during the fire the plastic rope holding one boat up in the roof melted and it came down on the boat I was just finishing! That really hurt!

    Interestingly, apart from the damage from the drop the wood boats were apparently not much affected by the heat. Plastic power tools turned to lumps with motors inside, hand tools rusted from the firemens' hoses but the wood boats might have been fine if they had not landed so hard. I have heard that heavy wood timbers in fire-damaged houses survive with a little charring when steel melts. However, since a lot of the plywood in the roof delaminated I would not have trusted the ply boats even if they looked whole.

    I can rebuild the boats and will enjoy doing so, but losing hand tools gathered over many years, inherited, found while rummaging in antique shops or just plain home-made was the cruelest cut of all. There are nice new tools out there (at a price!) but they mostly have plastic handles ... and no souls.

    Er, I think I got off the topic!
     

  15. Landlubber
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    Landlubber Senior Member

    Oh dear, poor ancient kayaker, I would hate to loose my old tools, they have been my mates for soooo long, I am truely sorry for you.
     
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