Has anyone fabricated the SRC with aluminum? I just purchased plans and am undecided on material.
Curious if anyone has actually done this yet. If so, or if you have unique insight, please share!
Thanks, Chris 🙂
Has anyone fabricated the SRC with aluminum? I just purchased plans and am undecided on material.
Curious if anyone has actually done this yet. If so, or if you have unique insight, please share!
Thanks, Chris 🙂
If you've got the metal working skills, I think that could be an awesome project! It may not even have that big of a weight penalty depending on thickness and if you leave it bare. Dimple die bulkhead holes, maybe longitudinal rolled beads to stiffen, prevent oil can, and as a side benefit improve tracking
Hello Chris,
I made my Expedition the 'old fashioned' way, with plywood, so I cant offer insights to an implementation using aulminium. For whats its worth here are the places where I was glad of a bit of timber to fix to.
1 - the sheer clamps - to fix the ends of the straps to - the straps that hold the hatch lids in place.
2 - the two timber blocks - cut into wedge shapes - that are fixed port and starboard of the cockpit - that offer the oar rig a flat surface to be bolted to.
3 - breasthooks - bow and stern - made with 12mm plywood - not shown in the build instructions - to fix cleats to - that act as handles to lift the boat.
4 - I poured a couple of cups of epoxy into the inside of the bow and stern stems (while the boat was standing up on the bow, or stern) - nominally to strenghten the structure - but I found very useful to screw in a short section of rub rail.
5 - the coaming around the cockpit - the build instructions call for a concave beading between the deck and the vertical elements of the coaming - I'm not sure of the structural significance of this.
6 - the fixings and nuts and bolts sold with the oar rig kit are all stainless steel - dissimilar to aluminium - how will they interact w.r.t. galvanic corrosion? (will you be in salt water?)
None of these points are meant to dissuade you Chris, only to illustrate where a bit of forethought may pay off.
I'm keen to know which material you choose, and to follow your build, keep the info coming.
Best of luck,
Tony
Just getting started with the amas. We'll see how it goes.
