Fast unique assembly method !

It doesn't require any more precision than, say, a dovetail joint, and perhaps less because you're going to cut it off and sand it flush once the epoxy dries. That said, it's great if your parts are being laser cut, but I'm not sure the time required for all the precise cutting by hand is worth it in terms of time saved on assembly.

 

I would think that all the cut off tabs would likely print through the exterior finish after a while, especially if a dark color were used. Other than that, it should work well.
As mentioned before, pre coating, at least difficult to access areas would make sense.
Steve.

 

looks to me like the same system that Barry Bucknell developed for the Miracle dinghy about 40 years ago

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Building kit for the PT skiff, (Russell Brown, Jim Brown’s son), uses same system.

http://ptwatercraft.com/ptwatercraft/Welcome.html

 

Are you sure about that? This old brochure talks about stitch-and-glue construction for Mirror dinghies: http://www.mirrorsailing.org/userfiles/mirror_brochure.pdf

 

Same as above, the only common thing appears to be a puzzle joint for long sheets: http://ptwatercraft.com/PTS_web_album_overview.pdf
Or am I missing something?

 

Its not a new concept by any means, its just a clever way of designing using the accuracy of cnc cutting.

What is the Plexus stuff ?

 

Plexus is a family of structural marine adhesives. I haven't used it. See
http://www.itwplexus.co.uk/index.php?/plexus/marine/

 

The Mirror was stitch and glue but the later Miracle used tabs that poked through slots to hold the panels together

(I have sailed both a Mirror and a Miracle)

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

daiquiri, yes you are missing something, re the pt skiff, "all frames(10 of them) are located with tongues that fit into slots in the hull so theres almost no measuring" you can see them in the pictures of the components, however they appear to be there only for alignment whereas the tongues on the catamaran go all the way thru and use wedges to pull everything together,an improvement i think although using more plywood to do so.
Steve.

 

Yes, you are right about the use of plywood - I wonder if it would have been cheaper to use fasteners ? - but them its a tradeoff against convenience. Might explain the high kit prices.

With cnc I can get two canoes out of 5 sheets, where the plan for manual cutting expects 4 sheets for 1 canoe, so cnc can save money if done right.

 

Looks similar to the Ducanson KitSys approach to building, the loops and wedges simply clamp the thing together and then it is held with an epoxy fillet and the loops take off and filled. The Duncanson kits where all computer cut with high pressure water, the system produced a light strong stiff boat. This looks agricultural in comparison to the Duncansons.... so unique... no I don't think so! Sydney Sailboat Center built a boat at the 89 Sydney boat show using a very, very similar method.

 

Seems like a lot of cuts across the grain of the plywood. If you built from scratch you would have the burden of marking out and cutting all the pieces. With CNC the parts are cut for you. With CNC with tabs the parts are cut and made easy to assemble. The marginal advantage in the tabs is just for assembly. So to my way of thinking, is the time saved accelerating the assembly worth all the holes cut into the hull. I have never seem a piece of ply treated that way otherwise.

Once you have all the parts of a boat cut out, assembling them is rapid and kinda fun. The main advantage to this system is for people who would not attempt a boat building project if they had to think it through themselves. If I won the lottery, I might want to have parts CNC cut, I wouldn't want them made with the wedge assembly. On the other hand if I really won the lottery, I might get the wedged boat just for fun.

 

I saw this method about 30 years ago .

 

I've seen this method, on the Hiswa exhibition in Amsterdam 11 years ago, performed by Waarschip calling it Fast-Fit-System (Google translation). More pics.

- <-- these pics were taken during a boat festival in Norway.

I don't see the issues with this method but that's because I know very little about boatbuilding. But I like to learn! PAR and Teddy please tell me what it is about..?

About Waarschip; the company was founded in 1963 but there are two Waarschip companies now (1 & 2) both claiming the original company name.

Thanks!
Angel