Boat Design Software

[Stu Dows]

It has been a keen interest of mine to fabricate my own plate alloy boat but most of the kits are a little pricey and I would prefere to design a boat custom to my liking. I have access to aluminium and have no problems using Auto CAD and some other solid design software, so why not have a go?
My question to the Aus fishers is weather any one has any onpion on boat design software I would like to buy a program that I can draw up a few designs and have a play around with a few ideas. It would be great if someone has experience in designing boats with Auto CAD and could give me a few pointers on how to get started. I have allready used CAD and measured friends and my own boats and drawn orthgraphic pictures of these boats but rendering and getting the flat plate templates from the curves is one my issues.
I have seen software that claims to do everything under the sun for boat design and I know from experience some programs can be pretty clunky I would love to get some of your views

[tunaticer]

I use Autocad to design a few boats that have been built.
I suggest that you start by the three views to get the heights, widths and curves right for all the edges of the boat.
Then create your station blocks and insert them along a centreline for a 3d model to verify your designs.
Once you have that done it is a simple case of creating the ruled surfaces then laying the curves out flat for processing.
The tedious part about the whole process is getting your curves to flow and tapers to be even. Once you have that done everything else falls into place.
Space your stations apart at regular intervals.
Set one station exactly on the point where your keel starts to curve upwards, this will give you an exact point to where all of your pieces will need to align. If you are 5mm north or south from there, your bottoms and sides will battle hard to come together. Be certain that point is aligned before you begin any assembly.

It is not rocket science and should not be treated as such, basic fabrication designs come into play from most forms of metalwork. Do not be afraid to change shapes around for something new, the 3d model will give you a good impression of the model when you flick it around in orbit.

There are lots of untried concepts and designs I have played with and seen others play with, Some with good merit, others can lead to problems. Usually your 3d model will show up anything that look wrong very quickly.

I do not bother rendering my models, I just use 3d polylines and adjust them to fit.

Once you have the polylines right then cast your ruled surface on them and then use a 2nd program to lay them flat. I use Plate'n'Sheet for that. A 2 second operation, then export the shapes back to Autocad.

BTW, are you any relation to the brothers Russ, Mal, Stevie and Gary?

[Stu Dows]

Thanks Jack for your reply its great to hear that I can use Auto CAD for my designs but it sounds like I will have to brush up on my CAD skills. may be just chance I think I have a copy of Plate n Sheet at work.
Stu

[tunaticer]

Worth its weight in gold Plate'n'Sheet Stu. What sort of hull are you thinking of drafting up?