Perhaps no question raises more debate among metal boat builders. Which is better, steel or alloy? In truth both are fine building materials with their own specific advantages. Technically, both steel and marine grade aluminum are alloys. For convenience, marine grade aluminum is usually referred to as “alloy”. The world demand for steel has begun […]
Category: Boats
boats
Origami Shapes
Origami Construction of Displacement Hulls Fully round metal hulls, as are typically formed over a frame, have the least shape limitations of any popular metal boat building technique. However, achieving a fair result using this technique is beyond the skill and budget of many builders. Thus builders use chined construction to minimize costs, time, and skill requirements. […]
Designing for strength
The following are a series of stress calculations for a typical attachment (skeg/keel) on a metal boat. The loads represent light loading conditions, and are not meant to represent any specific skeg/keel. Rather, these examples are meant as a generic guide to what happens under various attachment strategies. Each analysis is comprised of two pictures […]