Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

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TitusP

Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by TitusP »

Are there any aluminum skiff plans?
I love the xf plans and am wishfully hoping someone can modify it to be made for aluminum where I could share the car files with a local shop to cnc.

Where I live the waterways all have rocks. Any skiffs the gel oat and fiberglass would get cut up.

If not I’m considering the xf22 plan but there a cnc plywood kit would be wonderful! With 4 kids time is a premium!

Appreciate this website!

pee wee
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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by pee wee »

The plans here are all for building in plywood/epoxy/glass, but any of them could be built in aluminum and a number of them have been.
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TomW1
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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by TomW1 »

peewee is correct several have been built in aluminum and one is being done right now below in the Builders Power Boat section. As he says you will need to do the conversion yourself. If you can't do that or don't have a friend who can help you then stick to the plans and use several layers of graphite/epoxy on the bottom. And try to avoid the rocks. :lol:

Good luck which ever way you go. Also finish out your info section so we know where your from.

Tom
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Matt Gent
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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by Matt Gent »

I do not believe that ordering CNC cut parts is a substantial time savings in the scope of constructing, finishing, and rigging a boat of this size as-designed.

CNC in aluminum and welding together, however, should be much faster. Assuming it is left as bare aluminum.

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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by Fuzz »

Not being a welder I have never thought of building out of metal. But if sheets of plywood can make the shape then so can metal. To me the biggest problem is knowing what is needed for framing. That and proper welding so you do not get cracking of welds.

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Netpackrat
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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by Netpackrat »

Never built a boat out of aluminum yet (I would like to) but I have done a fair amount of welding, and I've read the Pollard book on aluminum construction and one or two others... As I see it, the main issues with converting a plywood and/or stitch and glue design to aluminum construction are, (1) controlling weld distortion in a boat that wasn't necessarily designed for this construction method, and (2) ensuring an equivalent strength without adding excessive weight. It's not just a matter of determining what aluminum thickness to substitute for a given thickness of ply or composite; aluminum boats tend to be configured differently structurally, with more longitudinal framing so that the skin can be thinner and still have enough stiffness. It can be done but it's not as simple as just substituting one material for another.

Also, it should probably be pointed out that there are a LOT of plans and kits available for skiffs that are designed specifically to be constructed out of aluminum, you're just not going to find them here. I hate the idea of steering somebody away from a boat designed by my favorite designer, but if you can find a boat that does what you want, with all of the design work already done for you, that would seem to be the way to go. My case is a little different in that I have been interested in converting some of the designs here simply because there are almost no plans available for the sorts of boats I am interested in for aluminum construction.
Matt Gent wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 10:13 pm I do not believe that ordering CNC cut parts is a substantial time savings in the scope of constructing, finishing, and rigging a boat of this size as-designed.

CNC in aluminum and welding together, however, should be much faster. Assuming it is left as bare aluminum.
To my way of thinking, a primary advantage of getting a CNC cut plywood kit would be a greatly reduced chance of measuring and cutting errors as much as the time savings. Also, I think some of the CNC cut kits that BBC offers may include forms.

Matt Gent
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Re: Any Aluminum Skiff Plans

Post by Matt Gent »

^^agreed on errors and accuracy. But that part is a lot more fun than sanding and fairing!

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