boat moulds, good idea bad idea???

whacker1982

was thinking of purchasing a second hand boat mould something in the lines of a rowing boat, ive scoured the internet and youtube and there is plenty of useful information on how it works an all but there is still some questons need answering, like what kind of fibreglass to use weigh wise, and how may layers of fibreglass to be applied to the mould and standard thickness.

i was thinking of buying one of those rc boat moulds for practice on ebay first and see how i fair out with using the gel coat, also is it a tricky job on getting the gel coat layer right, how should it be applied and on what thickness,

also is there money to be made on selling the finished product which would come with cleats and oar locks, and would i need to be certified before selling the finishing product. i said id ask these questions before i start building a boat shed, and obviously before purchasing a boat mould.

thanks people in advance

fergal.b

Hi whacker, The thing with boatbuilding is how many man hours you put into building one and how much you want to get paid for those hours. You are not going to be a production line so every thing will be down to you. Here is a mold that you could start off with and see how you get on http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/boats/2672934 also price everything you need from timber, screws,fittings,varnish,fiberglass even gloves, brushes and sandpaper can make the difference in making or breaking you, then go to someone like O'sullivans marine and see how much you can buy the same boat from them, chances are they will be hard to beat so you will have to add something extra to yours or your own personal touch that will make it stand out.
If you still want to go ahead with it I can put in touch with a fiberglass boat builder as to the right way to go about building the boat and the process involved but I have to add he is also finding it hard to sell boats in these times:(

whacker1982

thanks for getting in touch about the matter, ive been watching the boat mould on done deal for quiet awhile now, im wondering is there a massive demand for this type of boat, you have a good point on having something extra to take it away from the rest, maybe an electric engine they come cheap enough maybe 200euro. if i built one in a week and made 300 profit out of it id be happy with that.

done deal is slow enough with boats this time of the year not many coming up for sale and only a few selected ones are selling, the ones that do sell are attractive boats thats what im looking for somthing that will look nice and work well in the water.

there was a beautiful boat mould on ebay uk for sale a couple of weeks ago it was a three piece mould, with a motor well. but sadly it sold for 1000euro.

ive regersted myself for a wooden boat building course in limerick starting feb which goes on for ten weeks, so im going to get that side of experience, all the while saving for either a boat that needs doing up, or if the right mould comes along ill buy it.

fergal.b

I don't think there is much of a demand for anything at the moment let alone boats another thing against you is a lot of boats on Done Deal and the like is that most of them come with an engine and trailer, there are quite a few companies making this type of boat so you are going to have a hard time beating them on price.
Good to see your doing the wooden boat building course, it could be another option for you to just make wooden boats "too much plastic in the world":D and I think they look a lot better. Once you have one set of frames made just make up a jig that will copy them out or have them made in to metal templates.

Here is a nice video from Hands you can see part 2-3 along the sides, there was a program on this guy last year and he is still at it with a bit of help from an a apprentice.

whacker1982

its without a doubt beautiful work to be into, i seen that program that was on last year, there was a girl apprentice cant think now who she was but she was known for something or other, i made it my business to watch it.
never saw this one that you posted before very interesting and alot of questions on how did you do that.
starting to get excited now about doing the course next month.
its going to be another couple of months before ive the money saved for my next project.
last year i bought a 14ft dejon in a pretty bad state and did her up ive it up on you tube. http://youtu.be/j-vwADjMq9E[/IMG]

dunno now if i did that right but if it didnt work you can type this in and it should show my video { refurbishing my 14ft dejon boat}

fergal.b

Looks like you are handy enough with a bit of woodwork. I had only basic DIY skills when I started my first build and no money so anything is possible, I still build boats and have even less money

whacker1982

what kind of boats do you build, are you building boats long? would it be possible to get a few pictures of what you have built?

fergal.b

whacker1982 wrote: »

what kind of boats do you build, are you building boats long? would it be possible to get a few pictures of what you have built?

Have a look at the two links below one is a youtube clip and the other is photos of the build I am working on now.

I also have a post here if you want to ask any questions
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963665

whacker1982

savage job, blown away by that now! is the frames made out of magohony? when you covered the frames with sheeting, whats the blue stuff you put over it, and white stuff, and whats on last. whats are the layers, and what is the reason behind this. ive a long way to go to be building boats like that but im gonna love the journey hopefully there. are you building boats long?

fergal.b

I have always messed around with boats but the boat in the video was my first build from about 3 years ago I have no woodworking skills to speak of I'm just a bit of a handy man:D
The frames are mahogany or iroko then they are covered in 6mm plywood on the second boat I wanted a mahogany finish on the sides so I used 6mm by 100mm planks and stuck them on with epoxy mixed with black graphite that gave me the black lines the blue is just masking tape to keep the epoxy off the mahogany face and to keep it clean. The white is fiberglass cloth and it goes clear when you add the epoxy this waterproofs the boat and add a lot of strength.
If you are ever out near Dublin you are more than welcome to come out and have a look till then ask all the questions you like, your not as far away as you think from building boats like this. " not the one in the background that's a bit down the road"

whacker1982

cheers fergal, there will be alot of questions in the near future for ya. thanks for the info. chat soon

Slig

fergal.b wrote: »

I don't think there is much of a demand for anything at the moment let alone boats another thing against you is a lot of boats on Done Deal and the like is that most of them come with an engine and trailer, there are quite a few companies making this type of boat so you are going to have a hard time beating them on price.
Good to see your doing the wooden boat building course, it could be another option for you to just make wooden boats "too much plastic in the world":D and I think they look a lot better. Once you have one set of frames made just make up a jig that will copy them out or have them made in to metal templates.

Here is a nice video from Hands you can see part 2-3 along the sides, there was a program on this guy last year and he is still at it with a bit of help from an a apprentice.

I watched that and had to look up the other 2. Looking at the landscape shots and the house and workshop, even the way that they live, its clear to see how different Ireland is now.

Also, I think I have one of those orange life jackets with the flappy collar, that you see at the regata in the third part, hanging around the boat shed somewhere. If there is a few friends coming out in the boat its generally given to the best dressed and groomed person (just to take them down a peg or two:D)

whacker1982

just waiting for the video to load so i can look at the life jacket wit collars, had to laugh when i read this. no never to be got again old ireland is dead and gone, a shame really there were the times when what you had was enough, and if you didnt have it you didnt need it.
except a pint of the black stuff now and again.

oceanman

fergal.b wrote: »

I have always messed around with boats but the boat in the video was my first build from about 3 years ago I have no woodworking skills to speak of I'm just a bit of a handy man:D
The frames are mahogany or iroko then they are covered in 6mm plywood on the second boat I wanted a mahogany finish on the sides so I used 6mm by 100mm planks and stuck them on with epoxy mixed with black graphite that gave me the black lines the blue is just masking tape to keep the epoxy off the mahogany face and to keep it clean. The white is fiberglass cloth and it goes clear when you add the epoxy this waterproofs the boat and add a lot of strength.
If you are ever out near Dublin you are more than welcome to come out and have a look till then ask all the questions you like, your not as far away as you think from building boats like this. " not the one in the background that's a bit down the road"

hi, sorry for jumping in but i just wanted to ask if you built the boat from a set of plans? its really beautiful.

fergal.b

Hi oceanman, they are Glen-l plans that one is a Malahini and the one I'm building now is a crackerbox

As for the collars on life jackets I could never afford them, better to spend your money on a good aran hat

oceanman

hi, i just had a look at the crackerbox plans, what a lovely boat, like a 1920s two seater sports car on water! what engine will you use?

fergal.b

This is it, a small block chevy V8 :eek: :D:D:D:D

oceanman

jesus! where did you get that, or what did it come out of!
lovely sound, big and powerfull but probably not too hard on fuel as its slow revving.

fergal.b

oceanman wrote: »

jesus! where did you get that, or what did it come out of!
lovely sound, big and powerfull but probably not too hard on fuel as its slow revving.

I got the block from http://www.marineparts.ie/engine-parts/mercruiser/engine-parts-1-2/long-blocks/ the GM blocks are the same as mercruiser and then just built it up from parts I got on ebay

oceanman

fair play, its looks great even before you add the shiny stuff!
how far advanced are you with the boat itself?

fergal.b

oceanman wrote: »

fair play, its looks great even before you add the shiny stuff!
how far advanced are you with the boat itself?

Any updates on the boat will be posted here,http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963665or if you want to ask any questions just go to my post or we might get whacked by whacker for hijacking his post

The boat is put on hold while I rebuild the trailer and that post is here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056492267




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DaveClint

Hi lads, I'm just finishing up on a plywood canoe at the moment. My next project will hopefully be a 20ft sailing boat- Dark Harbour 12 1/2. (hopefully???).
I live in Clare and would be interested in joining the boat building course in Limerick. Could you post the details for this course please Whacker? Awesome boat btw fergal. Where do you get your glues and resin? I got mine in Midleton, Cork.

Looking forward to discussing projects with ye.

fergal.b

Hi Dave I get my fiberglass cloth from http://www.shorebreaksurfboards.com/ and my resin from http://www.marineparts.ie/paint-and-maintenance/epoxy-repair-kits/ I find the west system with the pumps very handy to work with, I also use http://www.wallerwickham.ie/csd/index.php the odd time but they are not cheep.
If you can stick up a photo of your canoe I would love to see how it's coming along

Here is a weekend course in Co.Clare http://ien.ie/2011/boat-building-course-at-celt-2/ and this may be the one in Limerick http://www.ledp.ie/projects/boat-building-school/ or http://ilen.ie/ilen-news-and-events-boat-building-school-news.php?newsid=3



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DaveClint

Hi Fergal, I use SP106 resin. I find it fairly strong and ok to work with but in truth I haven't used any other type for what I'm doing now. I used to do fibreglass repairs on aircraft years ago and this is much the same. (apart from the wood!). I recently watched the programme- 'Dreamboat' on Discovery shed with a guy building a boat from scratch. He used glue from a bottle, like normal evostik wood glue, to bond parts together. I have to do more investigation. There's loads of products in US for this work but not much here. I've just joined boards.ie and hopefully some people here will point me in the right direction.
Anyway, heres some pics of my canoe. I coated the outside with 3 layers of resin but due to the cold weather it didn't take too well. I'll have to sand it down and go again (or try to find some heat lamps on donedeal). The first pics are of the cut-outs which are then stitched together with copper wire and bonded with resin and microfibre. A 50mm strip of f/glass tape goes along the outside of the seams too, for added strength.
I hope to be on the water soon- weather permitting.

http://

DaveClint

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fergal.b

Looking great good job. I think the guy was using gorilla glue good stuff but can be a bit messy, the good thing about epoxy is you can get slow or fast hardeners and mix in fillers "microballons" or sawdust to match the wood.
It's a bummer you have to sand it down if there is one thing I hate it's sanding I did my epoxy outside in september and starting early I was able to get 4 coats on with a 3 hour gap between each coat I put a heater under the boat and when the resin was on I turned it off letting it cool down.

whacker1982

HI Dave sorry about the delay. I've no lab top anymore just phone internet. The guys name is Martin kay. The course is starting Tuesday week. Which is the seventh. And lasting for ten weeks. His phone number is 087 0933292
You should give him a ring I popped in there before Christmas to have a look around. It's clean and a nice few boats being made. Clinker rowing boats to curraghs. Was talking to a few people in there who are doing volunteer work and they answered a lot of questions about wooden boat building in the space of twenty minutes. SO you can imagine what ten weeks would teach. Can't wait! It's the start of the beginning

colliemcc

DaveClint wrote: »

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Sorry for jumping your post wacker. Your canoe looks great. Where did you get the plans and did it take your long to get to where you are.

connel42

Hi Whacker 1982
Back to your origional question if I may.
I am actually looking for 3 lake boat hulls to finish off myself.
If you do decide to take this further then give a me a shout and we can discuss pricing etc.
one possible stumbling point though - the hulls must carry CE marking.
Also I need them ready for spring.

whacker1982

hi connel42, thanks for your interest but im still looking into sourcing a mould, there is one on done deal but its not exactly what im looking for. so it could be some time before i do end up getting the right one for me.

if you are looking for just a hull have a look at done deal there is one up for sale, its just out of the mould, and there is nothing done to it.
i dunno how to attach a link to take you straigh to the hull.
but if you go into the boat section on done deal,
its for sale in galway, and its 29 days old, as from today 1/2/12
its pricey, best of luck.

connel42

Hi Whacker
Thanks for that - I found it and yes it is very pricey.
More suited to the sea.
I am looking for clinker fashion hulls for lake use.

11wingnut

Did you ever get a mould .. i have one and no space . pm. if you have an interest .it is in dublin in a tight car garage. with almost finished boat in picture

11wingnut

Hi . Happy new year.
Can anyone tell me where would be best to advertise this? Lots of views of add, but few calls .
Thanks.
https://www.donedeal.ie/boatextras-for-sale/boat-mould-and-boat-/17136776

fergal.b

11wingnut wrote: »

Hi . Happy new year.
Can anyone tell me where would be best to advertise this? Lots of views of add, but few calls .
Thanks.
https://www.donedeal.ie/boatextras-for-sale/boat-mould-and-boat-/17136776

You could also try Adverts.ie and Apolloduck, you already seem to have the facebook pages covered there is a very small market for moulds, if someone was to buy them to setup a small business they would now have to get a "Declaration of Conformity" to meet EU standards before they could sell a boat. If someone was to buy the mould to make a one-off for themselves it would work out more expensive than just going out and buying a new boat.






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11wingnut

Thanks Fergal. It comes with a boat .. not as nice as yours.