To CNC or Not to CNC...that is the question

[UncleRalph]

It took me about 1 to 1-1/2 hours per sheet of plywood to measure, mark and cutout the pieces. The time per sheet varied depending on the number and complexity of the parts on the sheet. I spent almost 2,000 hours building my HM19, so the 40 or so hours I spent cutting the pieces was trivial.

Ralph

[cali123]

[quoteI am trying to decide if I should order the CNC kit or purchase full sheets][/quote] I guess it depends. If you are unsure of your abilities or want quick (and accurate) results, then go for the cnc. If you are like me ( and many others on this forum) and enjoy being creative while building something useful and fun, then go for the stack of plywood. There is a certain pride in being able to say that I built this boat from a stack of plywood instead of saying that I bought a kit. Stitch and glue is a very forgiving method for building a boat. I got a lot of satisfaction in crafting the various components and I saved a bit of money in the process. Good luck.

[Cracker Larry]

There is a certain pride in being able to say that I built this boat from a stack of plywood instead of saying that I bought a kit.

There is a lot to be said for that. Everywhere you take that boat people will be asking you about it. What kind is it, who is the manufacturer, where can I buy one. Then you tell them that you built it. Then they ask if you built it from a kit. I like telling them no, I built it from scratch. That's worth 40 hours of labor itself, to me

[SFC_Oak]

I'm obviously no expert. I've gotten exactly one afternoon into the boat building process which is cutting about half of the 7 sheets for my little boat... so please understand that my free advice might not be worth even that much.

If you read the boards you'll see that most everyone tells you to build a small boat to learn on before you bite off a >$20k project that you dream of someday sailing to the Bahamas. It's probably good advice simply because many people get into a hobby like this and then find that it was far more of a challenge than they imagined. It also gives you the opportunity to learn and make a few mistakes before embarking on a ginormous project.

I'd suggest that you might want to try cutting your own first boat whatever it is. A cheap canoe or something like it doesn't require much cutting and you'll probably learn quite a bit. After a small project you should be able to make an informed decision about whether the extra costs are worth all the saved effort when/if you build the boat you're really dreaming of.

[gstanfield]

I think that's some pretty good advice myself

[PrometheusNL]

And if you even doubt yourself even more you can build a scale model first

Cardboard 1/10
Wood 1/5



And if your like me and stuck without good plywood for a while you build 2 scale models

Still without good plywood taking ages so im thinking about 1/2 scale

[gstanfield]

it's a big jump from 1/5 scale to 1/2 maybe you should try a 1/3 first

[steve292]

There is a certain pride in being able to say that I built this boat from a stack of plywood instead of saying that I bought a kit.

There is a lot to be said for that. Everywhere you take that boat people will be asking you about it. What kind is it, who is the manufacturer, where can I buy one. Then you tell them that you built it. Then they ask if you built it from a kit. I like telling them no, I built it from scratch. That's worth 40 hours of labor itself, to me

I second that, completly , call me shallow, but there's bragging rights there

Seriously, though I really enjoyed the laying out & cutting side of things. I personally try to be as accurate as I can, but don't sweat it to much, its a very forgiving system for building things.
Steve

[WobblyLegs]

There is a certain pride in being able to say that I built this boat from a stack of plywood instead of saying that I bought a kit.

There is a lot to be said for that. Everywhere you take that boat people will be asking you about it. What kind is it, who is the manufacturer, where can I buy one. Then you tell them that you built it. Then they ask if you built it from a kit. I like telling them no, I built it from scratch. That's worth 40 hours of labor itself, to me

I second that, completly , call me shallow, but there's bragging rights there

Seriously, though I really enjoyed the laying out & cutting side of things. I personally try to be as accurate as I can, but don't sweat it to much, its a very forgiving system for building things.
Steve

Times three!

Tim.

[Marshall Moser]

Thanks everyone for the input. When I originally found the site, I leaned toward buying the CNC kit. After reading your reasons for not, I am now leaning toward the plain ply.

I really like the "bragging rights" aspect, so I guess I could be considered shallow too.

Now, to complete my analysis, I need to get on the stick emailing shine about some shipping figures (and then acquire some funding).

CL, I have more time than money too (most days).

I think for my first build, I have decided on the FS14 and my metric for success will be to build as close to the specified weight and get my glass ratio as close as I can to the design values.