She's under construction...new pics

[Neill]

I just got back from Chicago, Alex and Trace have been working all week on her......

There's still another 17ft to be added on....

[Saluki]

Oh man.... that is too damn cool.
Having a custom built boat and being able to keep an eye on her from the very first cut & weld.

Congrats Neill, and keep posting pix... this is gonna be a great thread.

[mokahehteh]

yep. this is really gonna be insane

[Ali]

Congrats Neil,

i'm sure that's gonna be a hell of a boat.

Give us some details....

How big?
How Wide?
What layout?
Who's plans?
Did you cut the material or was it laser cut?
Who's building it?
When is it going to be done?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[Neill]

Originally Posted by Saluki

Oh man.... that is too damn cool.
Having a custom built boat and being able to keep an eye on her from the very first cut & weld.

Congrats Neill, and keep posting pix... this is gonna be a great thread.

This is Alex's first boat but we have been very thourough in our research and traveled to Canada, talking to some of the best builders of aluminum boats in the world.

We also are lucky enough to know Bruce Kolstad of Aluminator Boats who has built 4 or more awesome boats of similar design. He has given us great insight and we have crossed many hurdles already thanks to him.....

He's also letting us build her in one of his shops.....

I'm sure I'll be really tired after this weekend, there's no "keeping an eye" on this one, if a 400lb sheet of aluminum has to be moved we have to do it ourselves. Taking them off the top of his dually and putiing them on the saw horses for cutting was a bitch.....

[Rob E]

WTG Neill!

Glad to see your dream is starting to take shape, looking forward to following the progress.

Rob

[Squid Vicious]

.............congrats Neill , custom toys rock !!!!!!!!!!

[Neill]

Originally Posted by Squid Vicious

.............congrats Neill , custom toys rock !!!!!!!!!!

Manny,
You've been quiet..........

What have you been up to.....?

[Neill]

http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/at...1&d=1139729174

[Neill]

Wow…….I’m tired……

We learnt a lot today as you’ll see…comments below are in order with the pics......

Bulkheads blocked and supported


More blocking

Alex tack welded handles to the underside of the bottom sheets so he could pull them down while I stood on top of the sheet to form it to the frame…

Alex did some really good tack welds today and some really horrible ones…
The welder Trace is not gonna be a happy camper on Monday....


Bottom sheets


Front bow sheets, 20ft long and 400lbs each…


Alex putting a 45 degree router along the sheet edge…



Starting to form the bow, another BIG, BIG thing we learnt today was that aluminum sheets have a memory because they are cut off a roll when ordered. There is a right way to cut a sheet and a wrong way…..
One bow sheet had the natural curve towards the bow, the other sheet did not like it at all…


We were having to put extreme pressure on the sheets to get them to form together, Alex would tack as we went….


More Pressure…..


The fork truck could not apply any more pressure so we had to create a jig that would keep pulling these sheet’s together….gotta love aluminum…

I was at this point very concerned about the amount of force we were applying, if something gave way it was not going to be pretty…


Inside view….


Success…….



Pretty good for a computer geek and a wood flooring contractor…….

Back at it in a few hours….

Neill

[Dos Locos]

Dude, that thing is fucking rad

[horn toad]

Wow you guys are f'ing charging it. Way to do the research and go for it. Thanks for letting us in on the project, as I'm sure everyone will really dig the whole process of watching a custom ride come together. When that thing finally makes it in the water....that will be a day to remember!

Buena Suerte

HT