Another Interesting Home Built Steel Boat

[lasal]

The problem is he's working from no plans whatsoever. There's no weight calculations, no stability calculations, no structural calculations. The frames are cut from the same thin steel as the hull plating. Only 1" in depth. As soon as the boat heels, the keel (woefully under-engineered itself) is going to twist the bottom of the hull, if it even manages to stay on. Haven't yet seen the chain plates or structure supporting rig yet, but a safe assumption they'll also be woefully  under-engineered. The hull isn't a developed surface that the steel plating will easily bend around. Thus the big hammer and all the lumps and dents. Pretty likely the boat is grossly as symmetrical, too. He doesn't know how to build a non-developed surface in steel. In short, he's not building a functional boat, he's building a big ugly piece of lawn art. If he somehow manages to launch it, hope he's carrying no innocent passengers....it's a death trap.

That's what I said. Jaw dropping terrible. Scantlings based on a 4chan thread about building a septic tank for recycling urine. And it's not a 15' boat sculpture you shake your head at. You need to step back and contemplate the bad-all-over of this massive thing. And if he does manage to weld enough angle on so it doesn't sink immediately, he will have issues just getting permission to enter a harbor. The guys at the fuel dock might say, "Yeah, nope. Get your parade float out of here."

I didn't see a cockpit of any sort, just some below the knee life lines. I'm betting this boat sculpture will have total inside-the-pilot-house steering and sail handling, no kidding. He's building a Starship as much as he's building a boat. You could make other bets on the rest of it. Free standing mast? An A-frame mast? Crow's nest? How about shaft angle? An outdrive and engine scavenged from an old runabout he found on the side of the road? It'll be interesting long before the oil canning sea trials.

 

[d'ranger]

I predict at the end of the day it will be outstanding in it's field.  Until someone hauls it to the scrap yard.

 

[RKoch]

That's what I said. Jaw dropping terrible. Scantlings based on a 4chan thread about building a septic tank for recycling urine. And it's not a 15' boat sculpture you shake your head at. You need to step back and contemplate the bad-all-over of this massive thing. And if he does manage to weld enough angle on so it doesn't sink immediately, he will have issues just getting permission to enter a harbor. The guys at the fuel dock might say, "Yeah, nope. Get your parade float out of here."

I didn't see a cockpit of any sort, just some below the knee life lines. I'm betting this boat sculpture will have total inside-the-pilot-house steering and sail handling, no kidding. He's building a Starship as much as he's building a boat. You could make other bets on the rest of it. Free standing mast? An A-frame mast? Crow's nest? How about shaft angle? An outdrive and engine scavenged from an old runabout he found on the side of the road? It'll be interesting long before the oil canning sea trials.

It's completely uninsurable. Most marinas won't take him. He's going to have difficulty even finding a yard willing to launch that contraption. 

In  comments on one of the videos, he says he's going to put a junk rig on it. I think that means steering and all sail control will be inside pilot house. 

 

[Ed Lada]

I believe he said he would start with 1,500 pounds of ballast.  He said if he needs more he will bolt more on to the bottom of the keel.  I believe the keel is only welded to the hull.  The keel is filled with scrap metal and concrete, I don't think much, if any of it was lead.

 

[SloopJonB]

C'mon all you Nattering Nabobs of Negativism - he's chasing his dream like Hot Rod and Rimas. He's doing it.

Everyone should cheer him on like Windward said.

 

[lasal]

C'mon all you Nattering Nabobs of Negativism - he's chasing his dream like Hot Rod and Rimas. He's doing it.

Everyone should cheer him on like Windward said.

He's doing his duty out on the driveway. It's disgusting but it's his driveway. I'm certainly not saying he shouldn't have fun if he's minding his own business. And, while it's hard to imagine it won't be a failed project, it doesn't sound like he's recommending people follow his technique. Weld away, sir.

 

[Bob Perry]

I applaud the guy for giving it his best shot.

But he's a lousy shot.

Still, the shapes are interesting. He may not have plans but I can see he has a vision.

 

[Fah Kiew Tu]

I applaud the guy for giving it his best shot.

But he's a lousy shot.

Still, the shapes are interesting. He may not have plans but I can see he has a vision.

Yeah. I feel really sorry for him actually. All that time & effort into something fundamentally unfit for its intended purpose. I can't wait to see how he kludges through fitting the internal systems.

Oh well I'm up to sewing the cushion covers for mine. I'm a shit seamster but at least I'm bright enough to not post my efforts on youtube and I'm having fun playing with my new Sailrite machine. Not to mention that cushion covers can be re-done whereas it's a bit more tricky to change out a hull.

FKT

 

[Panope]

From his video dated Dec 31, 2017:

"So far I've spent about 800 hours.  If I spent twice that amount of time, I could make a really beautiful boat"

"I hope to cruise for about 5 years.  See the world".

 

[lasal]

Nov 11 video "Part 4"

"It's the middle of day 20 and I'm starting on the roof because tomorrow, late in the day, it's going to start to rain."

later, "And this is the reason I'm building my own boat, so that I can fit inside of it."

 

[Fah Kiew Tu]

From his video dated Dec 31, 2017:

"So far I've spent about 800 hours.  If I spent twice that amount of time, I could make a really beautiful boat"

"I hope to cruise for about 5 years.  See the world".

Yeah good luck with that idea. I wouldn't want to cross Storm Bay in that let alone the Indian Ocean.

Going to be interesting to see how he attaches the keel to the hull given the plate thickness and the frames. I admire his 'get er done' spirit, just wish he'd got a clue or 2 before he started. Or bought a set of plans. Here is one I remember from years ago - I think I've a PDF of the building details somewhere. IIRC the builder finished the shell and stopped updating his site so no idea what happened after that.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/designs/muller/yago/index.htm

Yes it's another origami design but simple for people without a clue to produce a modest hull relatively quickly & simply.

FKT

 

[SloopJonB]

I hate to see the waste of human ambition and effort on crap like this.

It takes just as much time, effort and money to make a useless POS as does a proper boat so why not do it right?

I'm certain that a ferro hull took as much or more work as a strip planked hull BITD and as someone described the building of a ferro armature "hundreds of hours of soul destroying work".

This steel junk and others like it, like BS boats, are the contemporary equivalent of ferro.

 

[RKoch]

I believe he said he would start with 1,500 pounds of ballast.  He said if he needs more he will bolt more on to the bottom of the keel.  I believe the keel is only welded to the hull.  The keel is filled with scrap metal and concrete, I don't think much, if any of it was lead.

As I understood the video , the top plate of the keel hung over the sides to create a small flange. He drilled a few dozen holes in it to bolt to hull with many small bolts. IDK if he intends to just bolt through the thin hull plating. Looks pretty sketchy even before bolting additional weight to bottom of keel.... The flimsy frames aren't going to carry the load of a keel trying to twist itself off.  And with the narrow beam, high freeboard, and high CG, he's going to need all the weight down low he can muster.

 

[Ishmael]

As I understood the video , the top plate of the keel hung over the sides to create a small flange. He drilled a few dozen holes in it to bolt to hull with many small bolts. IDK if he intends to just bolt through the thin hull plating. Looks pretty sketchy even before bolting additional weight to bottom of keel.... The flimsy frames aren't going to carry the load of a keel trying to twist itself off.  And with the narrow beam, high freeboard, and high CG, he's going to need all the weight down low he can muster.

It's not going to matter after the first hundred few feet in the water.

 

[Windward]

So on the completely other side of the spectrum of a home build I tender to you:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY96LsebsXYoicxJjfVOLLA

Sooo much work.  Impressive.  

 

[monsoon]

So on the completely other side of the spectrum of a home build I tender to you:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY96LsebsXYoicxJjfVOLLA

Sooo much work.  Impressive.  

Holy crap that IS impressive.  Engine aside I think they built every single thing on the boat. 

 

[lasal]

The name is cool, "Rusty Junk." The guy looking for a double entendre boat name on another thread should use that, or something close like Rusty's Junk.

 

[Foiling Optimist]

So on the completely other side of the spectrum of a home build I tender to you:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY96LsebsXYoicxJjfVOLLA

Sooo much work.  Impressive.  

Thank you Windward, I watched the series. This is the most pro hobby project in the history of YouTube. What a tour de force of retired master craftsman talent.  I don't know why more people don't get that starting from a proper CAD model and getting everything cut out first is just way way easier and faster to build, gives better results and the CAD phase allows you to think about details for a long time before committing to spending money so you have better odds that you have figured out exactly what you really want from the project before you spend real money. I work this way with my small furniture projects, sending drawer boxes out for laser cutting etc, but this is the first time I've seen a home boat building project at scale done this way.  Brilliant, and pretty cool he's basically built a European waterway boat which will be able to travel inland from Bremen to the Black Sea.

More deeply the fact this guy can borrow/hire his super skilled local friends to help and they bring that much skill is pretty moving. Not to mention the neighbor coming along and saying how great the project is and not complaining to the authorities. It suggests a somewhat healthier society and community than these solo dreamers displaying varying degrees of Dunning Kruger syndrome who's marriages half the time go south partway through their quixotic quest.   

 

[monsoon]

More deeply the fact this guy can borrow/hire his super skilled local friends to help and they bring that much skill is pretty moving. Not to mention the neighbor coming along and saying how great the project is and not complaining to the authorities. It suggests a somewhat healthier society and community than these solo dreamers displaying varying degrees of Dunning Kruger syndrome who's marriages half the time go south partway through their quixotic quest.   

The whole thing is very German.  From the highly skilled, read highly trained, machinists, wood workers and electricians, to the ultra-clean workshop to the community around them.  The trade workers there are always craftsman and are often artists.

 

[IStream]

The problem is he's working from no plans whatsoever. There's no weight calculations, no stability calculations, no structural calculations. The frames are cut from the same thin steel as the hull plating. Only 1" in depth. As soon as the boat heels, the keel (woefully under-engineered itself) is going to twist the bottom of the hull, if it even manages to stay on. Haven't yet seen the chain plates or structure supporting rig yet, but a safe assumption they'll also be woefully  under-engineered. The hull isn't a developed surface that the steel plating will easily bend around. Thus the big hammer and all the lumps and dents. Pretty likely the boat is grossly as symmetrical, too. He doesn't know how to build a non-developed surface in steel. In short, he's not building a functional boat, he's building a big ugly piece of lawn art. If he somehow manages to launch it, hope he's carrying no innocent passengers....it's a death trap.

Relax, everyone. It'll be fine. All he's gotta do is make it from the ramp to the mud flat, its final resting place.