Cardboard boat project

[Ebbie E]

Goal: To design and construct a boat out of cardboard that can carry two people of the opposite sex across the Orme (my rival school) Swimming pool.

The boat can be 8' wide and up to 14' long but that's pushing it since we have to transport it to the pool. It can be any type of boat. It must be made from cardboard. The boat can be put together using glue or calking. The boat must be painted with the name (CECE) on the sides. You can water-proof the boat with different materials, tea seed oil, water proof paint, and any other materials that can be bought.

Ok so any ideas. So far my team, CECE, has thought that a catamaran would be the best idea but maybe too difficult to build. Any thoughts on other boat plans? And what do you think would be the best way to water-proof it? Thanks for the help!

Ebbie:D

[Kaa]

If you don't need any points for style... :-)

Make a big box out of whatever cardboard you have. Use duct tape to attach pieces to each other. Reinforce the bottom with strips of duct tape so that it can hold the weight.

Now, buy a painter's drop cloth. Get the plastic one, the thickest you can get. Wrap the box in the plastic and duct-tape the edges to the inside walls of the box.

I don't think it can be called a boat, but you have a reasonably waterproof box that should make it across the swimming pool :D

Kaa

[bennieboat]

you do need points for style?
no need to travel anywhere?

think 'out of the box'

http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/boat_2000/dreadnot.htm

or more conventional, for a wooden boat forum:
http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/cardboard.htm

besides: do they finish?

http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/boat_2000/therace/P9090107.jpg
http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/boat_2000/cardboard2000.htm

yes!

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Long ago a bunch of looneys in the UK used to (dis)organise a cardboard boat race. The course was about 300 meters long and on white water and was usually run with the air temperature close to freezing.

The initial idea was one of those "what-is-the-most ridiculous-boat-race-we-can-think-of" notions, and yes strong drink was taken.

But 300m is only a couple of minutes and if you choose your carboard carefully it will last lots longer than that.

Pete Knowles (the legendary Greenslime) built a sort of five foot diameter cardboard coracle which survived not just the first 300m but the next three miles - which is a top division national white water racing course.

You can get cardboard called "Tri-Wall" which is nearly 10mm (three-eighths) thick and this can be treated as plywood - Gaffa tape and hot glue fillets allow you to build almost anything you could from ply - any of the simple canoe shapes should work fine.....


Off the wall proposal
If no-one has defined the term "Cardboard", you might use the mould for a fiberglass boat (or use a coleman canoe as a "mould") and lay-up a papier mache craft using newsprint and PVA (leave the outside surface still readable for best effect)
The use of glossy paper (playboy/rustler?) might be frowned upon.

Getting two people (of opposite sex) to agree can be tricky - perhaps one person and the appropriate inflatable dummy.....

[htom]

You can find some inspiration at Hannu's Boatyard. His projects are plywood, but thick cardboard might work for the length of a pool. I think I'd start with something like the Portuguese Style Dinghy.

http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/gsahv/index.htm


Hannu's been at it again, for those who've been to his site before but not recently: a one person, four foot "dinghy", Half Pea. A most impressive watertoy.
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~hvartial/dinghy44/dinghy4.htm

[uncas]

For the past 15 years, there has been a card board boat race in Oxford. I mean this is serious business. Lat year, something like 12 states and three foreign counties had participants.
Also, the day after any particular race, the crews were designing next year's entries.
Call up Jakes Point Marina. I can't think of the names of the big guys in this event but Jakes Pt Marina would know....

[donald branscom]

[QUOTE=P.I. Stazzer-Newt]Long ago a bunch of looneys in the UK used to (dis)organise a cardboard boat race. The course was about 300 meters long and on white water and was usually run with the air temperature close to freezing.

The initial idea was one of those "what-is-the-most ridiculous-boat-race-we-can-think-of" notions, and yes strong drink was taken.

But 300m is only a couple of minutes and if you choose your carboard carefully it will last lots longer than that.........

[QUOTE]

A properly built cardboard boat should last a lifetime.

[KNOCKABOUT]

Well what sex are you? For in order to determine the design parameter of carrying "two people of the opposite sex" we would need to know what your chromosomes look like.

[Hughman]

If you don't have restrictions on the definition of cardboard, you can do just about anything. :D

Mahone Bay NS boat festival has a cardboard boat building competition which allows building foam and duct tape, but the boat must be built in two hours, which limits the waterproofing aspect of things.

FWIW, appliance stores unpack hi-end washers and have lots of structural cardboard- long 1/2 inch thick corners, that are sometimes waxed. Rug stores throw away long tubes that can be waterproofed and used for floatation, like sponsons on a canoe. Cardboard cement forms from Home Depot would make a dandy party barge.... Get a seagull outboard (great for indoor use!! :D ) to power it.

[Ebbie E]

you guys are so helpful. thanks for all the ideas. but what do kind of boat would you be pulling for in a race? canoe? catamaran? what? all man powered by two wooden paddles. and i am a girl with a strong guy, we will be the power. im in physics remember so i have to think of the center of gravity and all that. thanks again, ill get pictures up when we start work.
Ebbie

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

The little boat in my avatar is 8' x 46". It's plywood and will easily support 350lb. So, your boat need not be to large to have sufficient displacement.
What you are up against with cardboard is the ability to support point loads. For instance when you step in or out of the boat. The bottom will have to be fairly strong. The sides less so. If you can make a two layer bottom with an egg crate layer in between you may get the bottom strength without a lot of weight.
Good luck.

Charlie

[Kaa]

If you can get the long stiff cardboard tubes (e.g. from rug/carpet stores), I'm guessing you would be able to make an excellent catamaran. Will be really easy to make, too -- just waterproof the tubes (e.g. by wrapping them in plastic sheeting) and lash them together, using some as amas/floats and some as crossbeams.

Kaa

[Paul Scheuer]

My design theory for the 30-footer in the other thread was that long and narrow was an easier and stronger structure to build than short and wide. The canoe design allowed us to practice in "real canoes" without risking the racer. Success in paddle racing requires synchronized strokes. Practice, practice, practice

Such a design is also more tolerant to mismatched paddlers. Most of our crew had no experience in any boats.

For an eight-place racer, the canoe shape was easier to transport than a wide load

The one calculation I made was that each layer of 1/4 inch corrugated applied to the outside, added bouyancy that was almost exactly equal to its weight. We could have kept adding layers until we got the strength we needed. It turned out that four layers was just right.

Good luck, have fun, keep us posted.

[JBDesjardins]

My town has an annual cardboard boat race mainly for the kids. I've attended several times and have built one boat that managed to last through two years of competitions (4 races) before beng recycled. What I learned that will be incorporated into next years entry for my kids is the following:

Seams are a pain to seal, a scow can be bent out of a wide sheet with only a few seams on the end to seal. Pounds of hot melt glue simultaneously applied and kept molten with a hot air gun worked, then taped with duct tape. Seal any cuts similarly. Corrugated can wick up a lot of water fast.

Structural integrity - add a bulkhead or two accross the boat and knees on the ends. the wide sheet mentioned above will be stiffer if laminated out of 3 layers of single ply corrugated with the middle sheet going side to side.

Paint with an oil based paint.

[Don Maurer]

A kayak, decked canoe or pirogue design generally works best. It has minimal wetted surface area, a narrow width, and a large amount of lateral support relative to the length. Cut your cockpits out of the deck. Do not extend the cockpit holes all the way to the sides or you will create a weak spot. It would also be good to reinforce the cockpit holes with 1 or 2 additional layers of cardboard glued to the deck. Make the reinforcemants with the corrugations perpendicular to each other so there are no weak spots. Design it with minimal joints. use scores and reverse scores with "darts" to form your curves and tapers. Tape any joints with multiple layers of duct tape. Try to keep the flutes from getting wet. Tape the edges to keep water out. Paint the entire boat inside and out with multiple coats of oil based paint to keep it from absorbing water. Double paddles are the most efficient means of propulsion.

[Brian Palmer]

Here is a report from a recent corrugated cardboard boat regatta here in PA:

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1159408519152130.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

[David123]

Since you ahve a 14" limitation on length, I
d go with a canoe or decked Kayak design. If you can get sheets of cardboard wide enough, and i think you can, you could make the hull from one sheet with the only seams at the ends. Cut your bow and stern curves at the ends and then just fold and duct tape it. Install thwarts at approrriate to get the shape and then laminate other strips of cardboard to add strength. If you can use resin try using some polyester resin to waterproof and laminate. The canoe / kayak design is perfect for two and with at least one strong paddler you should get a good turn of speed. The key here is going to be which boat can float for the entire length of the course.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

If you think a canoe shape is the way to go here are a set of free plans, complete with tutorial, for a 13'5" X 30" pirogue.
http://www.bateau2.com/free/cheapcanoe.htm
In plywood this hull needs no internal structure. But, in cardboard it's going to need some internal support. How you do it is up to you.

[BFR]

While in school I competed in one of these events.... our boat was a cat with very simple coffin like hulls... other teams did some amazing stuff like a clinker built hull... looked great but had a issue with not enuf beam and too much free board.
we were only allowed to use corrigated cardboard no 2 pak paints or epoxys.... we found hot melt glue was the best to construct with as it's water proof and drys quick.
you need to paint it well or it will turn to mush.
if i was to do it again i would look at a surfski or canoe type boat.
we were beaten in one race by a guy in a sinking canoe and the next race we didn't make it half way round b4 our craft became a submarine.
on a side note my father had a kayak made of paper mache.

[John Bell]

Make friends with the local box plant. They can get you barrier-coated, heavily sized cardboard that's been assembled with water resistant glue. It could be your secret weapon, having a boat that won't get soggy and fall apart.

[bennieboat]

This reminds me of Nathaniel Bishop.
He travelled from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico in 1874 in a paper canoe (sort of)

He travelled “using a boat of only fifty-eight pounds weight, the strength and durability of which had been well and satisfactorily tested”
http://robroy.dyndns.info/paperc/images/map01.jpg (http://robroy.dyndns.info/paperc/images/map01.jpg)

see his book VOYAGE of THE PAPER CANOE, a geographical journey of 2500 miles
(is he well known? Is it considered literature?)

Paper it is made of … how? What materials and glues and impregnations and reinforcements where those boats made of?

And the book finishes with: “The Maria Theresa danced in the shimmering waters of the great southern sea, and my heart was light, for my voyage was over.”
http://robroy.dyndns.info/paperc/c15.html (http://robroy.dyndns.info/paperc/c15.html) (an online copy of the book)

Ben
Netherlands

[Hwyl]

you do need points for style?
no need to travel anywhere?

think 'out of the box'

http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/boat_2000/dreadnot.htm




http://jflis.com/leisure/canoeing/boat_2000/images/guitar_header.jpg

This picture made my Saturday morning, great job.