Custom/Hybrid Aluminum Hull?? is is practical?

[WFO Speedracer]

I saw a Polaris SL750 aluminum hull on sale on Ebay one time, thing was a work of art and was built to run rapids with, not sure how much it went for but it was sweet !

 

[Tanman]

It could be done, just don't know how well it would last fiberglass really flexes and bends before it breaks, it would be worth it to try it as a stand-up hull. I think it would be a good lookin boat all polished up haha you couldn't see anything while riding it though

 

[cdickski]

I think the aluminum would dent pretty easily and pretty soon you would have a hull that was not much fun or not that easy to ride. I have seen many dented up Aluminum john boats. Sure it could be made strong but as Waternut said I think it would get heavier pretty quicky. If you are having trouble with breaking fiberglass you may want to look into useing a cloth more like kevlar that has "toughness" vs hardness or strength. I would love to see an aluminum hull but by the time it was done it think it would be a work of art that would be hard to ride and ruin.

 

[McDog]

How about reinforcing a fiberglass hull with aluminum plates for protection?

 

[Waternut]

aww waternut you're souch a downer. but the info on thickness is nice ill go buy a sheet of that thickness and test its bendability tommorow.

If you're concerned with only the bottom getting beat up, you could always bond some aluminum or maybe even some thin titanium to the bottom of the hull. Are you just more concerned with tearing up fiberglass constantly instead of actually making a complete aluminum hull?

 

[Waternut]

How about reinforcing a fiberglass hull with aluminum plates for protection?

You beat me to it!

 

[madscientist]

How about reinforcing a fiberglass hull with aluminum plates for protection?

the sides of mine are re-enforced with a sandwich of perforated aluminum and mat.

glad to se i was ahead of the curve.

 

[Banzi]

i have been doing some research lately and AL hull is do able. i even talked to a couple jet boat builders and got advice from them.
i am thinking doing a curved single piece bottom plate weld on the sides back and pump area. then weld in shaped v channel for strakes/hull stiffeners. the bonding lip is goning to be a major piece to get right it seems to be a major stiffener for the whole thing.
and i did think about just adding some reinforcing plates but if i got to shape em to fit the hull already why not just forgo the glass?

to answer the dents question glass doesnt dent it breaks so if your glass breaks you gotta sand and sand and sand to reglass it then sand and sand to repaint it.
with the al hull ill just take a hammer and bang the dent back out. opps cracked 5 min tig weld and hit the water again. bad dent just grab another piece of plate and cover it weld and grind smooth. i know im kinda sounding redneck but thats how we do things around here. we like metal cause there is no cure time its zaaappp ok go try it now

 

[Waternut]

Well I wish you the best of luck but for your own sake...do your homework. Before you even cut the first piece of metal, you need to figure out exactly what you're doing. You're reinventing the wheel so making good welds and bending sheet metal is most certainly going to be the easiest part. The big questions are going to be things like; will it float, will it be strong enough, are you going to have clearance for everything after you add stiffeners, and is your design going to be acceptable to ride.

I can tell you now that a 750 hull and a SJ hull look very similar even if you take a tape measure to them but the handling differences are night and day. What I'm getting at is; even if you try to directly copy one hull, you may end up with something that isn't even close.

 

[skithis]

I would look into riveting it like a lot of aluminum boats. Welding brings it back to -0 heat treatment. If you do weld I would anneal the entire hull.

 

[QuickMick]

Well I wish you the best of luck but for your own sake...do your homework. Before you even cut the first piece of metal, you need to figure out exactly what you're doing. You're reinventing the wheel so making good welds and bending sheet metal is most certainly going to be the easiest part. The big questions are going to be things like; will it float, will it be strong enough, are you going to have clearance for everything after you add stiffeners, and is your design going to be acceptable to ride.

It sounds like your not wanting him to reinvent the wheel but rather over engineer the wheel. Do you know how many boats there are on the market made of ALUMINUM? This could be done.

http://www.fun4u2do.com/Boating-AluminumBoatBuilders.html

 

[McDog]

Engineers are like that.

 

[Vumad]

Billet. Just grab a giant block of aluminum and a drimmel.

 

[j0hnny]

so this is awesome i love the idea.... my bigger question is if ur riding fast rapids how you going to protect yourself lol

 

[yamanube]

I would look into riveting it like a lot of aluminum boats. Welding brings it back to -0 heat treatment. If you do weld I would anneal the entire hull.

I think almost all new aluminum boats are welded, rivets loosen up over time.

 

[suva]

I heard that somebody in the McCall area build an aluminum ski, but I never found out anything else about it. I've thought about building an aluminum ski for quite a while but I guess I'm not ambitious enough to try it. Another alternative I looked into is putting a layer of UHMW plastic on the bottom of a stock hull.

 

[Banzi]

the more feedback i get the more i want this to be my winter project

 

[Melmack]

WThe big questions are going to be things like; will it float, will it be strong enough, and is your design going to be acceptable to ride. .

LMAO, all this from a stunt hull guy. LOL

Seriously though, Ive pondered this for years. I say go for it. The coast guard uses aluminum for its boats, just make sure to add several zinks.

 

[VIVA MONTESSA]

This would be cool.I want a top and bottom deck if you make some.I can tig my own together.That would be a great winter project.NON DESTRUCTABLE!!!!!

 

[rkm]

Let me see if I can round up the old 550 aluminum hull. Its here somewhere...