Could possibly float boat
 

I am going to try to be eco-friendly and green and use recycled foam to build a boat. My dad gets foam by the truck loads (literally) when he unloads lumber trucks and it normally gets trashed and eventually ends up in a dump. Not cool. Its some kind of blue foam, usually 4x4 or 6x4 logs and are typically 8ft long.

My goal is to get a boat that will support 3 people or more (around 500lbs), have storage space, and be able to withstand Lake Michigan abuse. And my budget is about $50.

I should have updates tomorrow.

$50 budget?!:surprised:

haha you mean your gonna build a barge?:yes:

nah its foam whick means u can shape it however u want, you could build a pretty sweet boat with a good amount of hard foam i would make a rough form and carve it out. best of luck

Not really a barge, more like a jon boat, but bigger.

$50 is only a budget, if I have to, of course I will go over it. I get all my foam materials for free though. That will probably be the only material structure of the boat.

its probebly stuff called blue core.... its a high density foam sometimes used in RC planes....

would be good to see, are you going to work out how much you need? or are you just gunna through it all together and see what happens?

Well I am going to work out roughly how much I will need going across and then work my way up. The side of the hull will probably be pretty high and dense.

I am going to be looking at boat hull designs tonight to figure out what I want to shape it after and what would work best for me. Probably either a vee hull like on my jet ski or a catamaran. Both will offer tons of stablility.

id flat bottom it with a front curve just like a jon boat. will make it less tippy and help boyancy

I think I will but also give it a small vee slope to make it a little more controllable.

So far it looks like my dimensions are going to be 8' by 4' and a half. Id love to add a cab to it, and possibly a small storage cabin underneath. I will also have a rudder and possibly have it hooked up to a steering wheel.

are you goign to somehow seal the foam? i guess i just dont understand how dense this stuff is....do you tink itll push in with the weight of people on it?

Yeah the foam will be sealed. I might even go ahead and put a layer of fiberglass epoxy resin on it.

It shouldnt push in. The deck should be pretty thick by the time I am done. I will have a lot of foam built up in the hull.

What kind of adhesive are you going to use?

For the deck and possibly the outside, you might want to consider skining it to aleviate potential damage from beach rocks, shoes, etc. Maybe some plywood for the deck, some kind of laminate for the outside (I guess the fiberglass would work there). Once you skin foam, its dang tough.

I am thinking I will use whatever works best. Maybe some kind of marine epoxy.

Whats skinning the foam?

i asume it means putting a protective layer on the foam.... like skin....

Yeah, you want to put at least 2 layes of fiberglass on the outside, and I would do the inside too. Basically foam core that way. FG is not cheap, but you will have a robust structure.

pedebasher... do whatever floats ya boat... sorry, i had to say that :P

how is it powerd? padels? and i asume your going to have a rudder right?

good luck on the project, and get some pics up after, would be great to see this... and maybe the "skin" could also be something recycles... thin aluminum maybe or some plastic sheet from something....

How about just fiberglass resin? I recently acquired some with some cabasil. Would that work?

I would love to do something recycled for the skin. Could I possibly melt down some kind of plastic? Maybe use a heat gun to flatten lexan bodies and glue them on?

Some giant heat shrink would be cool! I agree with using a recycled product. Used be called "being cheap", now it is called "green"...

I am building a storage shed at my shop right now. Dimensions will be 10x21. Odd size, but I had a tarp canopy frame (separate tubes that slip fit together) that was not being used. Decided to weld that up and add some bracing (more tubes that I had). My buddy pulled up a deck, and gave me the old lumber, 60+ 2x6x12' treated boards. My other friend gave me some old thick wall 3" water pipe, I cut that down and concreted 12 3' pieces in the ground for supports. Bolted some of the lumber to the pipes and used the rest to make a "deck". Flipped the old boards over so the good side faces up, looks like new! Another friend frames houses, so he gave me most of the scraps from the last house, I almost have enough to frame the walls, then i will bolt the canopy top to them and use some old sheet metal siding (came off my building during the storm) as the roof. So far i have about 150 bucks in it, mainly nails, bolts, and saw blades. I consider this being cheap!!! but I would rather not spend my money, and used lumber is just as good to me. I priced new lumber/materials and would easily go over 2 grand....

Lake Michigan has worse currents than pipeline. I grew up surfing Cali and dont trust the Michigan lake under toe or currents 1 bit. I take a sip of the lake everytime I see it because I can't believe it isn't salt water.. maybe a little river cruiser or behind the breakwall boat maybe to look at boobs by Navy pier. I can swim quite well Ill go past the break wall to test it LOL... can we bring my wife ? She is rican born on the ISLAND and cant swim. Pathetic huh

Haha. I trust the lake like no other. I have a private beach and no breakwater so I cant really have a breakwater cruiser. The current is only ever bad near me during either A, storms or B, windy days. Both not often occurrences. If it gets bad I can set anchor. Meh.

Tonight I think I will start a long, short centerboard. I didnt get any foam today but Monday I hope to have some more. I should have pics of my plans, progress tonight.

Empty coke / beer cans wouold make an ideal skin- very thin and light, yet resistant to... not terribly much, but it'll look cool...

OOO!!! Maybe water bottles! I actually thought of that too.

+1 for the cans over the bottles. It would be easier to work with and shape(tinsnips and your hands) it can be made very flat for less drag(most water bottles have ribs). mabye you can weld them together. and it would look quite cool. If you wanted something really robust however, old licence plates!

what i know about foam...
polyester foams have to be fiberglassed over with epoxy resin only.
urethane foam can be fiberglassed with normal resin.
high density foams are great for boat building but if you fiberglass it it will be punctured, it is designed to crush under loads.

takes AGES to rot in water.

umm....that's about it...
i used to be a member of the RC airboat clan and we built 1/4th scale gassers out of the stuff. layered it up then glassed it over.
i made 2 gassers like that and one gasser out of plywood.

Now I see what your saying about the cans. Thankfully beer is a constant beverage at my beach house so I will have no problem getting enough.

Monday I want to start the base of the hull. Started the centerboard as said yesterday but nothing note-worthy yet.

9 days till the races, I have the bottle to christen the craft lol bay view

And then...:neutral:

Couldn't help it:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...ed_Spy/n-1.jpg

Haha. I am still waiting on another good helping of foam. As soon as I get like 3 more pieces I will start the hull. I wish I could get things faster.