Carbon Fiber boarding ladder....

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by paxfish, Dec 17, 2014.

  1. paxfish
    Joined: Dec 2014
    Posts: 85
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: Southern Maryland

    paxfish Junior Member

    Hi Gang,

    I'd like to build a lightweight boarding ladder that will be permanently mounted between the forward tramps on my 28' cat. The intended use is general boarding near the shoreline, but I expect it to be quickly deployable to use in a M.O.B situation.

    Meaning, I uncleat a line and the forward end of the ladder drops to 45 degrees supported by a dyneema line on the forward crossbeam.

    I have modest fiberglass experience, and would like to make this my first foray into carbon fiber, for the simple reason that I want very little weight on the bow of the boat. Where can I find info suggesting a specific layup schedule over foam core for this project?
     
  2. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    Location: Ft. Worth, Tx, USA

    upchurchmr Senior Member

    From a Naval Architect - if he deals in carbon.
     
  3. TeddyDiver
    Joined: Dec 2007
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    Location: Finland/Norway

    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler

    Hmmm.. Floating boarding ladder, maybe you need a handy billy to get it down.
     
  4. paxfish
    Joined: Dec 2014
    Posts: 85
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: Southern Maryland

    paxfish Junior Member

    Nah - I think the weight of the crew will push it down when needed, and since it floats, it won't dig into the bottom near shore.

    Remarkably, after googling, I find there are companies making carbon "tactical ladders" for law enforcement. An 8 footer weighs about 6 pounds! Prolly costs $1000 though, so I will make it myself.
     
  5. lenm
    Joined: Dec 2014
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    Location: australia

    lenm Junior Member

    What about getting some light weight carbon fibre windsurfer masts to use as the tube stock.
    A racing mast can weigh under 2kg. The cheaper ones should be had new for $200. They are 4m long.They are prepreg carbon construction on a mandrel and you simply won't be able to build tubing as light,strong, and have the finish of these.
    I have used broken ones for everything from fish tag poles to support struts, outrigger bases.
    Someone may be able to suggest a good method of fusing the tube together into ladder (maybe carbon rail tape?). I'm considering using some to build the support structure for the hardtop on a boat I am building soon.
     

  6. paxfish
    Joined: Dec 2014
    Posts: 85
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 17
    Location: Southern Maryland

    paxfish Junior Member

    good thinkin!
     
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