scratch built boat any suggestions

[vincent]

hey remember me? if u dont then im the guy that said about a year ago that i was gonna scatch build a boat.
:p

well i have finnaly started and instead of listening to ur suggestions of setting up surface drive, i have decided to set up a subsurface drive. (surface drives are too hard to set up and im making all of my own hardware and my lhs dont do rc boats. all their props ventilate so much that if u get the prop about 2 centremeters from the surface is start sucking air down).

bak to the point. i have started building it and ive got the frame done and put most of the ply boads in. i set up the strut. (its not really a strut, it just holds the prop in place so it doesnt vibrate as much.) started on the motor mount and soon to make the rudder.

dont expect too much, im only 14 years old and my experience with water dynamics is very limited. dont critisise everything i do wrong because i usually find out i did something wrong after i do it.

this boat may seem like a very weird design but i think the flat bottom of the boat makes it skim over the water easily.

i just posted this because i wanted u guys to give me suggestions. ill post a few pics now so u know what it looks like.

[vincent]

here is the frame, as i said it may look weird, i havent seen a boat like this in this whole website. ... so... yeah heres the pic.

[vincent]

here is another one

[vincent]

so there u go. my boat. right now i have my prop and everything installed but i cant find the camera, those where 1 week old pics.

post some suggestions thanks. and if ur gonna tell me to get some hardware that cost $500 then forget it, my budget is around $10 australian dollars a week so any thing that cost more then $50 and isnt neccesary please dont suggest.
and forgot to tell u before, this boat is 55 cm long and is running with a 540 size motor (no i am not going to upsize to 550 or watever i cant afford it ) with a 6 cell battery pack (no im not going to go up to 7 cells i cant afford that either) and i think thats it. ( but if any one has some 7 cell battery and a 55 size motor lying around and doesnt want it they could always donate it to someone in need...<hint...hint...nudge nudge>) ;) ;)
thanx

ill post more pics when i find my camera.
so thanx again

[bugfanatic]

Vincent, good for you doing your own boat like that! Ok, if you want to do subsurface drive, you can use music wire & copper tube to build a cheap & reliable prop shaft & stuffing tube - I know you already got it mounted but not sure how you did it since no pics of it.

A good bolt-on rudder would be the one from the Nitro Hammer http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJ758&P=7 Tower Hobbies has it for under $8.

Also, are you using the dog-bone style to connect the motor & prop shaft like this? http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXE444&P=7

Good luck, post pics

[TXTRCR]

thats pretty cool looking, i built my own boat once i made mine an out rigger hydro. the problem with my boat was lack of experiance and lack of money so i never got the boat to go any faster than like 15 mph needless to say it wasnt much of a hydroplane but it was still fun and quite rewarding to see a boat that i built myself run. i hope you have fun with it. it kind of looks like one of those cracker jax type hulls i think is what there called. those are supposed to be a challange to drive so be carefull in the rough water and shape turns. looks good so far get some more pics up. you have inspired me to build another boat now i have some electronics, same as what you have i think 6 cell esc a 540 motor, prop and some metal to build running hardware, and some scrap balsa and bass wood. ill get some pics of my boat too.

[vincent]

well the prop and rudder looks good for $8 but i already got a drive dog prop thingy for $32. oh well, isnt tower hobbies in america anyway...i can make a rudder out of scrap wood and a hinge.im gonna make that as soon as i find a small enough hinge.


:) i found my camera, and guess where it was... sitting on top of my boat!! how could i have missed it. well as promised here are some pics

[vincent]

the boats dont look as good because i forgot to turn on the light so it's all dark and makes the boat look all musty. heres another pic, i got about 10 of them

[vincent]

well here is the weird strut thing i made because i wasnt skilled enough to make a strut the looks like one of the ones the pros on this site used. its made out of a bit of metal screwed onto some wood stuck to the bottom of my boat. well it looks alright. itll probably get alot of drag but wat the heck it works.

[vincent]

i made that tunnel bit because SOME BODY: namely little sister, steped on it:mad: :mad:

well here is another pic of the boat from front bottom looking rear ways

[vincent]

well ill show you my motor. this is not the real motor im gonna drive in this is just a standard but im gonna get a 15 turn motor for christmas... hopefully, santa hasnt fully understood my letters for the past 14 years hehe. so here it is connected to the board im gonna use to shove in my boat. but i hit a problem, i want to put this motor and board in the boat so that both the motor and board can be removed in one piece, so i can attach the motor to the board easier. well im thinking it through hope u can give me some suggestions on this one. ( im not familiar with metal thats why basically everything on this boat is made of wood.

[vincent]

last pic is of my motor in the boat, it is not attached to the boat, it is just hanging limply on so if u shake it it will almost definately fall out.

so here it is

[bufferoo]

Vincent,

Good on 'ya for starting a scratch built boat. They're not easy, but well worth is.

Everyone here is great and they've given me some good advice on my projects so maybe I can help with yours.

I'm better with wood as well so I think that your motor mount issue can be solved very easily and CHEAPLY.:D

Add two somewhat vertical pieces of wood to the sides of the hull on the inside where you want to mount the motor. They may not be perfectly vertical as your needs may be different. They should be farily snug to stop vibration, but not too snug so that you can't pull it out easily.

I think it would look something like a CD rack. You know how there are little "tracks" that hold the CD cases in place? I think that could be your solution.

Basically if you have the motor mounted to a 1/2" piece of wood, then you would have two pieces on each side of the hull 1/2" apart so the motor mount can slide right down inbetween. Look up "DADO" in any woodworking book to get an idea of what I mean. I'm sure just for added safety you could rig up a spring or elastic setup to ensure that the mount is held down into the slots.

I hope this helps.

Bufferoo

[vincent]

hello again i have now got a few more pics so here they are

[vincent]

ok here is another pic of my motor attached to the detatchable thing i made before seeing the advice bufferoo gave me (sorry now im wishing i didnt do it) but wats done is done so here are is another pic.

[vincent]

ok i got more money now (yay!) i got a job and earn about $8 an hour so i earn around $80 a week but im not going to blow all my money on a boat.
you guys can suggest stuff that cost more but not dat much, like burning $150 on hardware when i can make it for $10.

you guys are the best and know too much about everything.

if i get a 15 turn motor but cant afford an esc can anyone give me the plans for a computer chip thingy that works like an esc but only has forward and reverse(maybe 2 speeds on forward) with out using a servo and can plug straight into the reciever. i might be asking for a bit too much there so dont go through all the trouble to get me one just send it to me if u have one lying around. (that might sound stupid but it happens sometimes.

[Doubledog]

What can you say? Looks like you've done a great job. Not everyone can start with an idea in their head and turn it into reality.

I'm excited to see the finished product out there tearing the water up.

[vincent]

hey if i put a 15 turn in with a one speed mechanical switch (forward) would the motor burn up?would i need any cooling or anything

would a 15 turn make it go heaps fast? wat speed would u estimate,

and how do i make a mechanical speed control with forward and maybe even backwards. or another alternative is how do i make a chip thing with forward and backwards and works exactly like an esc.

[Doubledog]

I'm not an electro guy at all. Just to start with, I'd suggest a standard Speed 500/600. They're cheap ($10-$15), will give good speed also. And you can buy a reliable ESC anywhere's for $30 or so. Thats what I'd do, but then again, I'm kinda simple minded also.:)

[vincent]

ok ive done the rudder hinge bit but its not very good. the hinge wobbles a bit because the axle is a bit small, but it should work. ill get a few of those pics up now.

[vincent]

ok uve seen the hinge and i need a rudder. do u think a copper rudder would work ar can i just use ply. and wat size rudder should i use. 2cm long and 7.5cm down???

and what is all this about turn fins. wat does it mean 5 degrees out or in or what ever. i want two turn fins and 2 trim tabs. heres a pic should the turnfins be A or B. (angles are 5 degrees and sorri about the crappiness of the drawings.)

[n.h.schmidt]

Hi Vince
I like your boat so far. You are a industrious young man.You keep this up and you will go far.
On the turn fins.With a flat bottom boat ,you should have only one turn fin. This would only help in turning one way.Not what you wanted I know. If you use two as you are intending . the fin on the outside of the turn will trip up the boat and cause you to flip. With a v bottom the boat leans into the turn and the outside fin is usually lifted out of the water. Many fast boats have been run with a servo switching on a micro switch. Or even a knife switch, to run the motor. It's cheap and will work. feel free to e-mail me anytime n.h.schmidt@Att.net

[vincent]

my rudder u have seen does not work very well because the two braces i used to hold it together bends a bit so i dun think itll work. so i want to buy a rudder.

does anyone know where i can get an outboard rudder for a 55cm boat (22inches) with a 15 turn motor. the rudder is preferably metal but plastic will do as well and if it comes with trim tabs or/and turn fins... even better!

the price range im looking at is $0-40 AUSTRALIAN DOLLORS.

so if any one can find me a rudder for around that price please suggest.

ill see if i like it or not or is it practical for me to get it (im in australia so i cant get somethign from like europe unless they can send it over and if they do send it over the price of the postage and rudder should preferably be under $40.

[vincent]

i have found a rudder i like but when i click on the buy here button nothing happens. this is really annoying me. the rudder is at:

www.offshoreelectrics.com/accessories.htm

scroll down and you will see one saying rudder with standoff bracket and it costs 9.00. where is this sites shop at; is it in australia or america.

well im trying to click buy now right now and its not working. can anyone help me. or can anyone suggest a better rudder for around the same price.

[Doubledog]

Geesh, there has to be a better way of getting a rudder than dealing with an international shipment. Not trying to take business from Steve either.

Lets think this out.

Can you solder a rod to a flat piece of sheet metal? Kind of like the ones Prather uses? All it is a piece of flat stainless with a rod. You build your bracket, put a steering arm on it. Done.

Hell, I can go buy you a rudder at my LHS for 9 bucks, but the shipping would eat your lunch.

[vincent]

thanx doubledog but i think ill skip the shipping. but i finnaly annoyed my lhs soo much about not selling proper boats and stuff they now well traxxas blast and a kyosho blade runnes. yay! i can buy the spare parts to put on my boat.

ok my lhs now sells two kinds of props. they are kyosho ones, and they are a semitransparent orange and traxxas blast spare props. they both can handle surface drive cant they. because im switching my boat to surface piercing set up.

ok just a few questions.

if i just connected my motor up to the propellor and shove half the prop in water and turn on the motor, will that give me any thrust. or those it have to be moving for it to give thrust or does it have to be on a boat to work. because i built a boat once and used these propellors my lhs use to stock (radioactive props) and when i set it up on the boat it either kept on sucking down water in a whirl tunnell thingy or gave a hell of a rooster tail but moving about 1 inch a second spraying water all over my bath room wall. will these kyosho or traxxas props act in the same way?

and they also sell steerable outdrives. but they are a little to big for my boat but i might be able to modify it a bit. should i use a steerable outdrive or just a strut and rudder in one combo?

thanx for the help.. u guys rock