Design Softwear
- Thread starter beekeeper
- Start date
i've tried using sketchup but either it's not suitable for boat design or i'm not suitable for using sketchup.
reckon i'm not as smart as i look
reckon i'm not as smart as i look
If you can find a copy of "plyboats", it doesn't get an simpler than that.
Best software available is between your ears. All the computing power is no substitute for understanding the interrelationships of boat features.
Best software available is between your ears. All the computing power is no substitute for understanding the interrelationships of boat features.
There are some really good sketchup users on the woodworking forums. I find it most useful for straight lines and "easy" angles. Complex angles are NOT easy.seedtick said:
I used the plans for the Bear Mountain Prospector Canoe to build this model in sketchup:
I was basically lofting the station molds on plywood to see if I could get away with two sheets rather than three (in the foreground). Turns out, the point was moot, 'cause I never even got that far yet in my build :roll:
If you look closely, you can see on the layout that the curves are not fair. I just connected the dots to make the molds. Then I copied the molds, turned them upright and put them on a strongback. One more time, I connected the dots to trace out the hull shape (in the background).
This was a very tedious process. I was bored, and I had plans. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone trying to design a boat!
Being lazier'n the average bear, I'll sit back, sip an adult beverage, and let Matt do that part. I figure that my part (growing the 120 year old tree from seed, felling it and making lumber with my Boy Scout jackknife, splitting those boards into thin plies with a Veg-a-matic and Ginsu knife, gluing them into plywood on a kitchen table, cutting out panels with pinking shears, and then stitching it all together) is enough. I'll leave the hard stuff to someone else.rpecot said: