howdy all 
first post. oh no. a newbie!
man all lifeboats! flee!
erk. lets cut to the chase here.
i got an old fibre kayak. pretty ratty, but for the price (free) it suits my purposes.
one. a small 4 stroke engine.
two. a selection of the largest RC props i could find and afford at the time.
three. lots of sanding and glassing to get the engine attached.
all be inboard, glassing a box in just behind the seat with a lid, and a flexible 1/4" shaft out the bottom.
therell be a kitchen rudder for control. gives me steering and reverse. rudder bar up front for the feet, throttle/reversing link up where handy but not obtrusive...
the glassing side of things, that i got down pat. ill be putting another two layers of thin cloth over the bottom, where its all worn out and tired looking. maybe more. couple of bulwarks for floaties, and some reinforcement here and there. as long as i use enough catalyst in each batch
the thing is, mounting the prop-shaft, and engine mounts. what materials?
a bit of research is telling me to mould a prop tube in glass, a fair bit bigger than the stainless tubing ill use. i glass that into the boat, and either silicone or epoxy the stainless shaft in afterwards.
that make sense? due to expansion contraction and vibration...dont try glassing the tubing straight in?
as for engine mounts... itll be rubber isolated, but...i guess i just lay up some heavy sections of glass and use large SS screws/bolts n washers? dont try glassing any steel into it? i guess that goes for all fittings, like pivot tubes etc?
NOW! for the pundits that will gripe and grouch and say an RC prop is useless...
this things a KAYAK. i have a 1.5 hp engine. im not expecting to break records. im expecting to go check out some of the local creeks and waterways without having to paddle and spun up at 5K... these things really do move some water! they load up enough that i seriously doubt the engine will actually pull much faster than that. theyre also running fully submerged and ducted with the kitchen rudder.
i can get up to 82 mm, and if thats not enough...i got a 4 axis milling machine
cheers for reading. hope someone thinks of a few lil points i may have over looked. im sure theres plenty more! for now the main concern is to get the glass part done, and done once!
oh! other than an orbital sander...how to strip gel coat? i tried sandblasting. eat holes in concrete in a flash! strip rust away instantly! think it would even mark this gelcoat? i sat there for two minutes and got a square centimetre off...
first post. oh no. a newbie!man all lifeboats! flee!
erk. lets cut to the chase here.
i got an old fibre kayak. pretty ratty, but for the price (free) it suits my purposes.
one. a small 4 stroke engine.
two. a selection of the largest RC props i could find and afford at the time.
three. lots of sanding and glassing to get the engine attached.
all be inboard, glassing a box in just behind the seat with a lid, and a flexible 1/4" shaft out the bottom.
therell be a kitchen rudder for control. gives me steering and reverse. rudder bar up front for the feet, throttle/reversing link up where handy but not obtrusive...
the glassing side of things, that i got down pat. ill be putting another two layers of thin cloth over the bottom, where its all worn out and tired looking. maybe more. couple of bulwarks for floaties, and some reinforcement here and there. as long as i use enough catalyst in each batch
the thing is, mounting the prop-shaft, and engine mounts. what materials?
a bit of research is telling me to mould a prop tube in glass, a fair bit bigger than the stainless tubing ill use. i glass that into the boat, and either silicone or epoxy the stainless shaft in afterwards.
that make sense? due to expansion contraction and vibration...dont try glassing the tubing straight in?
as for engine mounts... itll be rubber isolated, but...i guess i just lay up some heavy sections of glass and use large SS screws/bolts n washers? dont try glassing any steel into it? i guess that goes for all fittings, like pivot tubes etc?
NOW! for the pundits that will gripe and grouch and say an RC prop is useless...
this things a KAYAK. i have a 1.5 hp engine. im not expecting to break records. im expecting to go check out some of the local creeks and waterways without having to paddle and spun up at 5K... these things really do move some water! they load up enough that i seriously doubt the engine will actually pull much faster than that. theyre also running fully submerged and ducted with the kitchen rudder.i can get up to 82 mm, and if thats not enough...i got a 4 axis milling machine
cheers for reading. hope someone thinks of a few lil points i may have over looked. im sure theres plenty more! for now the main concern is to get the glass part done, and done once!
oh! other than an orbital sander...how to strip gel coat? i tried sandblasting. eat holes in concrete in a flash! strip rust away instantly! think it would even mark this gelcoat? i sat there for two minutes and got a square centimetre off...
