Building an Aluminum Sailboat Pt 4 - How the Hull Plates are Shaped
We're Sheryl and Paul Shard, presenters of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series and Distant Shores KZhead channel. We've been cruising internationally since 1989 documenting the sailing lifestyle to inspire and inform anyone dreaming of sailing to distant shores. We invite you to follow our adventures as we build our next boat, a custom aluminum Enksail Orion 49.
This time on Distant Shores we get our first look at the boat welded together… We also dive deep into how flat aluminum plates are shaped into the smooth curved pieces needed to make a fast and strong sailboat hull. Then we take the opportunity to climb right inside our new boat and learn more about how the welds are made.
#boatbuilding #aluminumsailboat #aluminiumsailboat #timelapse #welding
00:00 Show Introduction and episode summary
00:40 Curved pieces of the hull, 3 methods of creating curves in aluminum
01:48 English Wheel and how flat pieces of aluminum are given 3D shape
03:20 How to check that the desired curve has been achieved
04:46 Klaas Kuperus explains the English Wheel and demonstrates how to use it
08:18 Our visit to the factory to see the hull of our Enksail Orion 49 welded together
09:14 Viewing the inside of the hull
09:35 Explanation of how the hull welds are made
11:11 Trying out the cockpit
11:21 Next build slot available and what's coming up in future videos
11:57 Meet us at the United States Sailboat Show, Annapolis MD October 13-17, 2022
12:21 END
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See you at the United States Sailboat Show, City Dock, Annapolis MD October 13-17, 2022
We look forward to meeting you in person at the boat show in Annapolis! Here's where to find us for "Meet & Greet"...
Thursday October 13
10 AM to 12 noon - Tent M5/M6 L&L Pardey Publications
Friday October 14
10 AM to 12 noon - Tent M5/M6 L&L Pardey Publications
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Sailing Channel booth, Vacation Basin
Saturday October 15
10 AM to 12 noon - Tent M5/M6 L&L Pardey Publications
Sunday October 16
10 AM to 12 noon - Tent M5/M6 L&L Pardey Publications
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Sailing Channel booth, Vacation Basin
Monday October 17
10 AM to 12 noon - Tent M5/M6 L&L Pardey Publications
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM - Sailing Channel booth, Vacation Basin
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Special Thanks to:
Enksail Yachts - gebrvanenkhuizen.nl/?lang=en
Satellite Yacht Design - www.yacht-design.nl/
KB Alubouw - www.kbalubouw.nl
KB Alufrees - kbalufrees.nl
Members of the Distant Shores Cruising Club whose support make these videos possible - / distantshorestv
Partners:
BRNKL Yacht Security & Monitoring: www.brnkl.io/
Brunton’s Propellers: www.bruntonspropellers.com/
Seldén Mast / Furlex: www.seldenmast.com/ Lewmar: www.lewmar.com/
Raymarine: www.raymarine.com/
Scanstrut: www.scanstrut.com/
Navionics Charts: www.navionics.com/
GN Espace Galley Systems: www.gn-espace.com
Highfield Classic Inflatable: www.highfieldboats.com
Oceanskies Yacht Registration: www.oceanskies.com/yachts/
Gebroeders van Enkhuizen Boatbuilders - gebrvanenkhuizen.nl/?lang=en
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About Paul and Sheryl Shard
The Shards are award-winning travel documentary television producers and videographers who have been sailing internationally since 1989 documenting their global adventures for television, social media, in books and sailing publications. They have sailed over 120,000 nm including 9 ocean crossings and are the producers and presenters of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series which is broadcast to 47 million households in 24 languages around the world. Through their TV programs, KZhead videos, articles/blogs and popular boat show cruising seminars, the Shards help anyone dreaming of setting sail to get out on the water and experience their own adventures safely and comfortably.
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The English wheel is beyond engineering and into the realms of art. Incredibly skilled work. Your guys pass it off as if it's nothing. You chose well.
It is science, no more and no less. They are working from a CAD drawing not a Da Vinci.
Its an Art and clearly the Klaas Kuperus is a master at it, a skill only learned through repetition.
@@teeanahera8949 Apparently you have never attempted to use an English Wheel .. its an art for sure .
Been mig welding Al over 20 years. We don't grind weld preparation we cut it with a carbide blade sometimes known as a meat axe. The grinding process leaves impurities that contaminate the weld
Some observations based on the video. The construction approach is very traditional and proven. The hull plates are butt welded on the inside after tacked in position on the outside with removable stringers (longitudinal braces). Before welding the hull plates are chamfered (beveled) on the inside, placed and tacked in position, and welded completely through to the outside in continuous welds. The most common weld for 5086ish hull plates is GMAW-P (Pulse MIG) and most likely uses a push-pull MIG gun. My guess is the hull weld area is preheated by one worker to a predetermined temperature and then the welder follows the preheat. Then the inside weld is V cut from the outside and then welded to get over 50% penetration, then the weld is sanded flush. As such the weld two sided weld has complete penetration and the welding wire is chosen for similar strength as the as welded 5086 (5086-O). The frame welds are stitched, meaning not continuous, so as to limit unwanted warping of the hull plates. If you can get large enough plates and have a large enough laser cutter, you can cut complete frames which are cut nested which does not require welding the deck top portion of the frame. The frame is complete like a huge donut. As such, it can be taken to a very flat large welding indexing table where the T plates are welded on. With the T plates attached the frame will not warp or distort as you weld the boat together. The frames can be laser or waterjet cut and are usually nested on the sheet. The frames can be very accurately cut as per the CAD file and essentially provides a very accurate positioning guide when welding the boat. The T Plates, which can also be water jet cut if not wider than about 4 inches, on the frames is considered a very common addition for strength (buckling) and also have many other functions, like holding of the hull insulation and attaching inside facia. A curious item is it seems the passage bulk heads do not have an extrusion liner or cap, which acts like a T plate with more advanced geometry on the door opening. The bulkheads are also reinforced with grid plates. Missing on the bulkhead is having T plates around all openings to address metal fatigue (crack stops).
WOW What a Beautiful Boat! Klaas is a very very good tradesman!
You enjoy higest dutch craftmanship there, this Aluboat will outlast all those Amels and Oysters.. A strong advice: make very little hull-through holes (1 or maybe 2 as central accesspoints) and bring them with a straight tube over waterline level. In this way You are unsinkable, and if anything blocks the hole, You can just push a stick into the tube and push it free. I don´t know the english term for this, but it is a very good safety feature, because a leaking seacock did sink a many boats. ;)
The English term for the straight tubes you are describing is 'above-waterline stand-pipes'. These are a great idea and are easy to incorporate into an aluminium hull, as they can be welded directly onto the hull plates, as well against supporting brackets. Unfortunately, they do not make the boat unsinkable. There will still be at least three points where a broken hose or fitting can let water in at worryingly fast rate; these being through the STD (speed, temperature and depth) sensor, the intake for the watermaker and the propeller shaft seal. The words' unsinkable' and 'boat' should probably not ever be used in the same sentence! 😐 This boat, like our former Garcia, is certainly less sinkable than most sailing yachts, which tend to have several through hole fittings with hoses connected below the water line. However, if softwood bungs are wired in place next to these penetrations, there is a reasonable chance of dealing with a hose and valve failure if it happens. The biggest concern is getting a whack on the hull or an appendage by the head or tail of a whale. At least with aluminium, it's more likely to bend and remain watertight, rather than crack like fibreglass. Regards, Rick.
@@SailingSnowGum Yes Rick, Alu or Steel rules the safety. In my view the worst safety Point in terms of sinking is the rudder, when hitting submerged contaiers in the south. This hull opening will be mostley difficult to treat in timely manner.
@@MauserM03Blog I meant it on a general level as a danger to sink, not to this model, no doubt dutch do well.
@@Iam-mad We’ll have to disagree on this. With these boats (and most sailing yachts) the rudder bearing structure and its opening through the hull is above the waterline. Further, with aluminium boats there tends to be a watertight bulkhead between the steering compartment and the rest of the hull, with its own bilge pump. Some aluminium boats have foam zones at the top, to avoid penetrating the hull plates if impacted (Garcias). So the rudder is not the greatest concern. However there is a history of fibreglass boats coming unstuck from rudder damage. The orca encounters on the Spanish or Portuguese coast are examples.
She is one pretty lady !! it’s fascinating to watch this boat come together.I think you picked a great boat builder.it’s getting close and I can’t wait to see her splash Fair winds ⛵️
Excellent. I worked at Boeing for 22 years, some in tool planning. We would call the plywood pieces checking templates. Also, the hull plate to hull plate welds, done from both sides would be considered full penetration welds. The idea is to have solid defect free metal at least as thick as the adjoining plates so the welds are just as strong, or stronger than the plate material. If done properly the weld will not be the first thing to fail.
I admore the skill here, even as a non engineer or technical perspective.
L
Aluminum welding is notoriously susceptible to porosity. If it was that good Aircraft would use it. Riveted joints resist crack propagation..
I agree with you on the welding Capt. Mike. The plate would tear next to the weld instead of the weld failing...stronger than the original material itself. Riveted joints would tend to create valleys and hills in the material...
Yeah.. those Dutch can build some boats: they were MASTERS of the old wooden boats… but they can build any kind of boat. There are a few boat builders up in Virginia n stuff that make some of the finest carbon finer competition sailing yachts.. like 130’ Comanche… really expensive boats.. hundreds of millions
So interesting, and heartening to see how important skilled craftsmanship is required in aluminum boat building. Clearly art as much as skill.
The welding technique was something I had never seen before. Really amazing to watch such talented craftsmen.
It's quite common for welding thick metal and for ensuring their is no parting line (weakness) in the hull. Large ships do it also, as well as pressure vessels, especially if the welder is not very powerful. MIG welders use very thin wire, so they are limited with the amount of power they can handle.
I've spent quality time on aluminum jet boats here in Alaska and they're amazingly tough boats. Beating into 6' short period waves and just slamming onto the next wave, no problem. An engine would fail before the hull would become a problem. Aluminum is harder to make into a hull than is GRP as far as I know but it'll outlast GRP for sure and can handle running aground or hitting small ice bergs ('bergie bits' as we call them). Plus, if the prop is protected by a skeg and the rudder is hung from a skeg, that affords a lot of protection in icy situations. We run V8 engines with jet drives on them in 4" of water and I've seen guys blast over small sandbars at 20+ knots (you have to throttle back when you hit the sand bar to keep from sucking too much sand into the intake on the drive unit), so these aluminum hulls can handle a lot of abuse! I take it you guys are going to do some high latitude sailing?
Lovely boat
The craftsmanship is top-notch! Kudos to the men working on this boat. This boat is very impressive. 👍
First class boat work. In the rural Philippines Mr. Mumby builds the aluminum Cyber 48 foot catamaran and I doubt he has access to such advanced shaping tools, which was very well explained.
I knew a man who dropped sand bags to shape the alum. parts for the aircraft he was building. The results were very good. Even small radius bends were accomplished.
The English wheel is actually a pretty primative tool. CNC cutting the metal is more advanced.
@@LoanwordEggcorn Good point.
Wow guys the hull looks amazing. I've never understood how the bending technique works, the explanation is super clear. Thank you so much for sharing this videos!!!!
It still isn't clear to me though how they trim the curved panels to fit
@@John-Nada kzhead.info/sun/otGLnK16hoCAdIU/bejne.html&ab_channel=RonCovell
Since we can't have our own boat, we appreciate you letting us "adopt" yours! Watching the progress on the new boat is fascinating. We both smiled when Sheryl sat down for the first time in what will be "Distant Shores IV". It was as though we were there and sharing your joy with you. Thank you for including us.
Boy, in the shed, it looks larger an a 49'! It should be a truly beautiful yatch. It will be an interesting video series to watch.
I agree Jim! She looks big in the building 👍
Impressive craftsmanship!
My new friends ! Looking good! I will def stay tuned .
Hi Matt! It was so great meeting you at the Cruisers Creating Content booth and International Cruisers Awards at the Annapolis Sailboat Show! We are enjoying your channel too. 👍
My Friends, indeed, and THANK YOU!!! I'm sitting editing and thinking, I didn't get a photo of you cats! Darn!@@DistantShoresTV
Fascinating on how everything is done! In this video we were able to get a feel for how thick the aluminum is, and how much human detail goes into shaping the panels.
6mm is just less than 1/4 (0.25) inch. (6.4mm = 1/4") My question is how much thickness reduced when rolling the plate. I suspect it insignificant but certainly measurable.
@@secretsquirrel6308 The thinning is going to be very little.
Wonderful to watch a skilled craftsman so clearly enthusiastic about his work. What a joy to see your yacht coming together. She's going to be a real beauty. David
Incredible.......I come from aviation......but the truly artists come from boatbuilding I think. Its a interesting experience this practiced technology to see. Thank you for showing and stay healthy. Regards from baltic shore.
Thanks, guys! What you have added to my knowledge is the way the "molds" are used to get the curves in the hull plate made with the English wheel just so. As an aside, I might mention that I used a plasma cutting table for years to make art and craft items in steel near Seattle, under the name Steel Silhouettes. Most were sold in Costco road shows. Before that, I made voyages in the Pacific on my 35 foot fin keel marconi sloop, the Artful Dodger, and my 34' junk schooner rigged yacht, Batwing.
It is starting to look like something desirable. We can only imagine the sensations you go through but it is exciting to watch. Cheers.
just amazes me how good it looks and how only one guy put that plate in place. Right now its distant shores 3.25 , see ya on the water
WOW!!! Look at that cabin top and hull. A dream come true. Keep them coming. Looking good. Thanks 4 sharing 🙂 Jay
Love that you are using aluminium. Tired of seeing so many fibreglass boats being made, well done. Nice looking yacht.
Congratulations in your 5th sail boat 🛥 it’s beautiful 💕🇧🇭💕
This builder is really cool! Seems very passionate about his craft
This is so amazing!
Outstanding!
Thanks for this juicy contenent
Absolutely Amazing!!!!!
Great video. Love this series of videos.
Fascinating indeed. Never saw it in detail like this. Thank you 😊
This is such an amazing build process. Thanks for sharing. Cheers.
Fascinating! Intensive!
I absolutely love your videos!!
Thanks 🙏🏻 very much Denman
A great privilege to see such professionals at work who are also clearly enthusiastic about their craft. I never realized that the hull plates were welded from both sides. Quick question, how do they form the V cut in the outside of the hull plates for the external weld? Many thanks from the UK for your entertaining and informative programmes!
I think they will grind it with an angel grinder. Anyhow that is what I did with steel boat building.
They use a grinder with a v shaped blade -likely carbide. I filmed it for an upcoming video where they welded a test piece. That way we could cut the weld through to see how it had joined completely.
@@DistantShoresTV Of course, that makes sense - skillful, painstaking work!!
Being able to watch the build of your new boat is fantastic & I love the detail explanations as it all comes together. The building of my Oyster 495 is much delayed for all sorts of reasons & I hope you have a much better experience. Thank you for sharing & looking forward to your next update.
Fascinating!
OUTSTANDING!!! BEST WISHES 😊
You are both amazing and look forward to meeting you at the show.
it is shining!
Can't wait for more updates
Learning so much 😊
A wonderfully informative project, many thanks.
This truly shows top quality boat building art work, impressive to watch - my admiration for this Dutch craftsmanship!
Beautiful boat good quality! 🤙🏼
Thanks for your comment. Seasons Greetings! 🎄
So exciting guys , good luck
Love all these videos! The welding is excellent! Using the English Wheel to stretch and shape the metal plates is fascinating too. Car bodies were made that way before. This is a very labor intensive way to build a boat, with so many welds, and the English Wheel. This keeps the costs high and cruising less accessible to many people. What's needed are new building techniques and/or more automation, in order to lower costs and make cruising affordable to more people. Not really a criticism, just facts.
It's exciting to see the progress on Distant Shores IV. The Art of ancient armorers merged with up-to-date technology.
Très intéressant, merci beaucoup de nous montrer tous ces processus de fabrication!
You’re welcome Paul! Glad you enjoyed it
I am really excited with the progress they are making. I can’t wait until you get back in the water and making videos again.
This has been so fascinating to watch. Keep up the great work (you and the boat builders😊). Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Will do!
Fascinating watching these large aluminum plates being worked. Wray Schelin has a KZhead channel that shows a lot of English wheel work being done on aluminum and steel car body, but seeing this done on 6 MM aluminum is a whole new level.
Fantastic, thank you very much for the very interesting video. Making the curves of the aluminum sheet requires very great experience of the operator of the bending machine. Really great to see how the boat is created. Another little tip from me. A small disadvantage of an aluminum boat is that most workshops on the way on a long trip, do not have a welding machine to weld aluminum. So my tip, just add a small TIG AC/DC or MIG welder to your "on board pharmacy" and practice the whole thing beforehand. I am already looking forward to the other videos. It greets you warmly Siegmar
Dear Sheryl and Paul, thank you for giving sail passionate people like me the possibility to fully understand the building process and the shipowners decisions that must take place along the journey. I've a question for you: which is the aluminum used (which specifications of aluminum alloy) and which is the specification of aluminum rod used to weld it (very important too, rods have a number upon it which define the type of rod). It would be very interesting to know because Netherlands is at the forefront of the aluminum boat building processes so that this information gives a clue about the best technical choices related to the materials currently used for aluminum yachts. Also it would be interesting to know if all the boat is made in the same aluminum (meaning type of aluminum alloy) or not. I am more into steel than aluminum (I restored a steel boat, including lots lots of welding) but I'd be curious to know about these details if possible, as the aluminum construction shown in the video seems impressively strong. One very last question, the keel is in steel with poured lead: which steel did they use? 316 or 308 or different? Thank you very much for your kind answer and congratulations for your magnificent yacht.
Impressive, the Dutch makes amazing boats.
Amazing, hard work.
Love these videos. I have experience working with aluminum sheets and forming them into motorcycle gas tanks but this is another beast. I was working with 2mm think sheets and they are working in 8 to 12mm? This is impressive. You know they are good at their craft when they make it look easy!!!! Thank you for sharing the build process.
I can’t wait to see where you go snd what adventures await. I hope this craft sees Greenland and even better still the Northwest Passage. How about a circumnavigation of North and South America. Keep the build videos coming. They are so interesting.
The speed of the build is truly impressive. Almonst like these guys have done it before and know what they're doing. 🙂
guys aluminium is the best, greetings froom colombia south america, twon oceans in a country south american
Nice wee boat you two 😃
So cool to see how DS IV is being built. Thanks for sharing
Our pleasure!
Very exciting
nice dutch craftsmanship
What a solid looking craft. Looking forward to the electrical systems installation. I know you'll have something very special planned for this, not to be out done by what's "under the hood" I'm sure. 😁
Вы просто молодцы! Посмотрел все Ваши фильмы! Надеюсь на этой лодке вы снимете больше интересных фильмов!
Крейсер!!!
Thanks 😊
@@DistantShoresTV Вы очень Крутые ребята!)
coming together niceley. dutch are THE aluminium specilaists.
I'm looking forward to seeing the layout you've picked. Been working with aluminum plans for several years now, but rethinking a Sirius 40DS
Check out Berckemeyer Yacht Designs
Thankyou 👍
It's wonderful to see the progress on the boat! Amazing even. : - ) I'm going to be at the US Sailboat Show also, so I hope to see you there.
Thanks 🙏🏻 we’ll be there 😀
great video
Glad you enjoyed it
Must take a lot of skill. Good job!
Forming the aluminum like this also increases the strength via cold working.
I haven't seen the Shard's for a while now, came across this video perusing "KZhead", I think going with an aluminum vessel is a smart move not that the prior fiberglass vessels had any issues I just see this as a good option. Good luck to them, I will follow this project.
beautifull
now I see why it makes a lot of sense to build a multi hard-chine boat...
Very interesting. And it gets a recognizable shape so quickly. I was wondering, as aluminum comes in several (many) different alloy formulations, is it all the same, throughout the boat? Would/could you reveal the alloy type?
Looks beautiful. I’m curious what made you want to go aluminum for this next boat.
How are you planning finishing the inside of the hull? Will you be foaming it? Also are the stringers lumbered in any way? Guess if you foam it ,it won't matter. Nice video!
It would be very interesting to see the water tight bulkheads.
Nice video again although the welding could perhaps be explained using the 3D program (Rhino?). Also what's the deal with the grinding. Very taken with this aluminium build. So neat and solid. Don't see how anyone would have anything else if there was a choice.
wondering are you going to go through the management of the electrolyse with the aluminium vessel or have i already missed this part of the discussion
I ❤️ ⛵️
great video, you talk about stretching the material to make it concave on a sheet, but what about the minimum thickness, this stretch in the middle?
its interesting when rolled the thickness is almost unchanged - I think less than .05 mm thinner to curve 8mm plate material.
Is there going to be insulation on this boat? What an exciting project! Looks great!
Yes Pietje there will be insulation and we’ll be filming that too👍
LINDO! 🥰👍👏⭐️👏⭐️👏⭐️👏⭐️👏⭐️
Will it have only one large thru-hull like Amels
Very interesting video...who designed your boat?
What type of coating will be applied to the aluminum to prevent pitting from salt? What is the purpose of those slats running the length of the hull? Looks great, reminds me of a Delorean - sure to take you back to the future. :¬) Webhead USA
What a Dream! 3 weeks ago we saw you on Vlieland but respected your privacy and didn't speak to you, I believe we could have done it? Greetings from Neuss (Germany), Klaus
How very kind Klaas! But please next time say hi 👋 it will be great to meet you Isn’t Vlieland lovely?!
👍
Klaas is great
Amazing video, one question do you know how they print over aluminium? is it laser?
It’s ink-jet printing on the part numbers
Are they doing any heat treating of the whole boat after all the welding?
Marine alloys typically retain most of their strength after welding. In other words they choose alloys that don't need post-joining heat treatment, since it's not really practical to heat treat an entire boat. (Some alloys lose less strength after welding than others.)
hi guys, are you in holland oct 14-23rd at all. ill be in hindeloopen surveying the koopman 60.
Wonder what laser welding would do to alu hull boat building.
Where can I buy English wheel like this ? Only see the this smal size