It's not tin, but it is interesting

[richg99]

Wood, Cellulose 3D-printed 25-foot boat in Maine.

https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/10/10/umaine-launches-largest-3d-printer/?fbclid=IwAR2QIfG0qq11wqFxc3Fw8iEyBz5BHJR2ShRd9SYeC-7Kjtsux7nW6we5IR4

 

[GTS225]

Kinda neat how the hull supports get printed right along with the hull. Quite interesting to watch in a time-lapse, but 4 days to print it? Wow, must be boring to watch in real time.

Roger

 

[richg99]

Integral supports. That is how lots of 3D structures are made. It can allow for strength that couldn't be added any other way.

Every 3D demo that I've seen takes a long time. They are just putting on a drop of material at a time.

Since the Hobbiest sized 3D printers are getting cheaper, I may to buy one just to mess around.

 

[LDUBS]

This is incredible. I never thought **** Tracy watches would exist. Now we have driverless cars and are printing boats. We truly won't recognize the future.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

The article says it weighs 2.5 tons / 5000 pounds. Is that heavy or light for a 25' open boat?

 

[LDUBS]

The article says it weighs 2.5 tons / 5000 pounds. Is that heavy or light for a 25' open boat?

I saw the same thing. I figured maybe the Navy needs a heavy boat (why I don't know) or maybe just a side effect of the new technology. Still, pretty heavy.

 

[eeshaw]

Double post, oops!

 

[eeshaw]

I'd like to know what they used for the material. It says cellulose like it's plant matter of some sort. Maybe it's been turned to a plastic of some sort and that's what has been used. That's pretty interesting stuff though.

 

[richg99]

Maine is a big forestry State.

It sounded to me like they want to expand the use of wood/cellulose products

Mix cellulose and epoxy and make boats out of them.

As already pointed out here, though, if the resulting boats are way heavier than the competition, then the idea isn't going anywhere fast.

 

[jethro]

They are 3D printing buildings out of concrete now. Crazy times. The days of the Jetsons where you just ask the computer for whatever you want are getting closer.

 

[onthewater102]

5k lbs for a 25' boat? That doesn't sound too bad on paper.

 

[MrGiggles]

5k lbs for a 25' boat? That doesn't sound too bad on paper.

A 25' Cuddy hull is close to that, so it's not terribly heavy.