Have you or have you thought about making your own Hull?

[HarryConnolly]

Have you or have you thought about making your own Hull?

Im new to the sport, and I’m just curious. I’ve researched the forum reviews and noticed many great Hull’s come from individuals instead of very large manufacturers. Specifically Air Blair as an example.

I come from a motorcycle background and it’s very common to make your own motorcycle frame. A motorcycle frame is where the motorcycle starts much like a ski hull (from my research.)

That being said, I’m curious to know or see what people think about making your own hull or hearing from those who have. Does anyone sell molds or plans?

 

[kevbo]

It takes a lot of man hours to develop the hull shape that you want. On watercraft very small changes to the bottom shape will make huge differences in the way it handles so you have to get it right through testing. Many builders just modify and copy existing hulls. Either way once you have the plug performing properly a mold can be made from that. At this point you have a ton of time and money in your mold and really need to produce several skis in order to justify the effort. Here is the problem, it still takes a lot of time and you cant get enough for your product to cover expenses. All the successful MFGs sell globally and produce wherever labor is cheap. Smaller parts are easier and much more profitable, if that matters. There is always a chance that your creation will really take off in the market, at least for a while. Otherwise look at the endeavor as a labor of love.

 

[HarryConnolly]

It takes a lot of man hours to develop the hull shape that you want. On watercraft very small changes to the bottom shape will make huge differences in the way it handles so you have to get it right through testing. Many builders just modify and copy existing hulls. Either way once you have the plug performing properly a mold can be made from that. At this point you have a ton of time and money in your mold and really need to produce several skis in order to justify the effort. Here is the problem, it still takes a lot of time and you cant get enough for your product to cover expenses. All the successful MFGs sell globally and produce wherever labor is cheap. Smaller parts are easier and much more profitable, if that matters. There is always a chance that your creation will really take off in the market, at least for a while. Otherwise look at the endeavor as a labor of love.

Thanks for the insight! I’m coming from a labor of love or enjoying the process / project standpoint.

I thought it would be fun to purchase molds and or jigs to make my own hull if it’s something people do. I’ve screwed around with carbon before on small projects.

I don’t know if people sell the tools required to make a hull without having to do crazy things like making your own model from scratch to form a mold.

I’ve noticed rockered ski threads, I thought if no one sells plans or a mold I could try to cut up a ski and make a mold from that.

I just think it would be cool to make my own carbon hull. No business aspirations or expectations of a return on my investment.

 

[kevbo]

It all started with people cutting off the rear of a Superjet until it was short enough to flip easily.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Cool yeah , maybe , expensive definatly, time consuming, you have no idea what you are setting yourself up for here.

One more thing composites has a pretty steep learning curve , most people learn about composites by doing small repairs then making larger modifications to existing hulls, when building hulls the process is quite different and you get into layup schedules and orientation of the weaves of cloth or carbon fibers, this all matters because it directly affects the strength and durability of the hull.

 

[mikesx]

Make a handle pole chin pad or a ride plate first, see how you like it, then multiply what you just did by 100.

 

[SXIPro]

Comparing making a motorcycle frame versus making a carbon hull is like comparing Science I to Quantum Physics.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Comparing making a motorcycle frame versus making a carbon hull is like comparing Science I to Quantum Physics.

I wouldn't go nearly that far , it's a different skill set for sure but neither is rocket science.

 

[SXIPro]

I wouldn't go nearly that far , it's a different skill set for sure but neither is rocket science.

Considering carbon fiber's proliferation in the aerospace and aviation industry, it kinda IS.....

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Like I said the learning curve is steep

 

[Sparkplug]

Too many useless hulls out there. There is already a race hull that can track harder than you can grip the bars. A flatwater hull that can double backflip. 720. And double barrel roll. And a rec hull that can cruise the lake and backflip boat wakes and 10 ft surf waves all day long

What are you going to improve upon?

 

[Big Kahuna]

Too many useless hulls out there. There is already a race hull that can track harder than you can grip the bars. A flatwater hull that can double backflip. 720. And double barrel roll. And a rec hull that can cruise the lake and backflip boat wakes and 10 ft surf waves all day long

What are you going to improve upon?

Nothing, But riding something you created. Some people like to create things for them selves, not just go buy something someone else created.

 

[Sparkplug]

Nothing, But riding something you created. Some people like to create things for them selves, not just go buy something someone else created.

Why not mine the raw material and cast your own parts. Develop your own pump design. He'll withal 701 and a 155. One off the entire thing then.

I get it. A guy wants to build his own stuff. This would be a complete and total waste of time unless he likes tinkering with composites. Judging by his post. He doesn't.

 

[TheBuzzard]

If your thinking you're going to make money, forget it. If you just want to design your own for personal use, all good. You might sell a couple if what you come up with is good. My buddy senor built a fix steer that he likes and sold a few. He wasn't trying to take over the market, just maybe break even or make a couple bucks. His quality is second to none.
If you're purchasing molds, you're buying what somebody already produced and it likely already fizzled out. Lots of those out there too

 

[Big Kahuna]

Why not mine the raw material and cast your own parts. Develop your own pump design. He'll withal 701 and a 155. One off the entire thing then.

I get it. A guy wants to build his own stuff. This would be a complete and total waste of time unless he likes tinkering with composites. Judging by his post. He doesn't.

LMAO........... That was ignorant....... "Why not mine raw materials"..................

 

[DylanS]

sparkplug holds stock in major hull companies and is trying to push out the competition… lol
It’s a lot of work but if you’re looking for a challenging project it’s not horrible.
Had one that was a SN my buddies hacked up and made molds out of. Think they made the tubbies out of soda bottles lol. Had baffle in thru hull exhaust pipe.
Years and years ago. Made their own poles too. Took about a year and 6 kegs of nasty PBR.
Ski was fun but loved to randomly snag and tip over. Weighed a lot less than a SJ but ended up cracked to all hell.
There was about 3 floating around out there and one just went up for sale for 800 bucks with the pole and a certain someone on here ended up with it…

For the time and effort you’ll have into molds plus the initial purchase it isn’t worth it unless you’re planning on cranking them out in mass.

Got money and time and want to challange yourself I say go for it dude.
Pic attached just went for 1400

 

[Storbeck]

I'm thinking about mining some aluminum to make a motor.

 

[HarryConnolly]

Why not mine the raw material and cast your own parts. Develop your own pump design. He'll withal 701 and a 155. One off the entire thing then.

I get it. A guy wants to build his own stuff. This would be a complete and total waste of time unless he likes tinkering with composites. Judging by his post. He doesn't.

Judging by your post you can’t read.

I don’t appreciate the attitude, you made an ignorant assumption that I am trying to improve on hull design and bring a ski hull to market.

Go ahead and read my post again then my first response to Kevbo.

Everyone else, you’ve been great.

 

[Sparkplug]

Judging by your post you can’t read.

I don’t appreciate the attitude, you made an ignorant assumption that I am trying to improve on hull design and bring a ski hull to market.

Go ahead and read my post again then my first response to Kevbo.

Everyone else, you’ve been great.

I don't really care if you appreciate my attitude. I gave my opinion. Building a hull is a waste of time. You got time to waste. Good for you. Waste away.

 

[Storbeck]

There are a handful of threads on here and on pwctoday giving pretty good detail on people who made thier own hulls. Off the top of my head search for variations on "stryker" and "SNX hull" and "lightweight x2" and you'll find a few.

Searching for information about it is a lot easier than actually doing it, so...kinda....already not building a lot of confidence here.

I LOVE it when people do stuff like that and post all of the details, I nerd out to it, so selfishly I'll say go for it and post up a build thread.

But, it's hard. There are a ton of unfinished hull projects out there and for good reason, it's hard and it sucks, it's dusty and itchy and more work and more cost than you think it will be. The results are usually not great. Once in a while a legend comes along and does something amazing. Once in a while a guy builds a hull for themself and they are happy to have this custom thing they built to enjoy. Most of the time a guy pours a bunch of time and effort into something then looses interest and shoves it in the back of the shop.

Starting with a smaller project is really good advice. Make a hood or a ride plate or some such.

So, I can understand how the delivery might seem a little harsh, but Sparkplug really is giving good advice.