Hello Ray - We purchased our plan from Traplet for about $8.00 US. We have had the plans scanned into PDF format and then ran the file through a conversion program to develop DWG files. Yes, this line work is is extremely rough, but with multiple clean-up passes the line work has improved substantially. The drawings are now way beyond the accuracy of building at this point. We should be complete within a another week. This is being done on the side, at work, during slow periods. Unfortunately, lots of slow periods at this time!
One of our purposes for improving the drawings was to pursue a mold or even a finished boat made by rapid prototyping, using ABS plastic. Our high school team has been very involved with international underwater ROV competitions for the past three years(See www.marinetech.org). Our ROV was computer designed and prototyped. This process is amazing, but not cheap. Can be a deal killer. We have decided to move on to a new challenge(See Sailbot 2009).
.
Interesting enough, the specific gravity for ABS is 1.08. Looking at the internet, the specific gravity for epoxy resin is around 1.10, slightly heavier, but the matrix is also made of glass or carbon fabric, which reduces that number. We have had parts made as thin as 3mm, but probably cannot go below 2mm. At the very least, it is another way to make a very accurate mold. We will eventually place the CAD work in Solidworks to manipulate and enhance with details.
Dick/Ray, if you are interested in our work, you are welcome to contact me at thecoregroup05@msn.com. OK, no more CAD talk on the Forum.
Ray - I sent Peter Wiles an e-mail, but no response. Is this his correct e-mail - peter.wiles4@ntlworld.com?
Thanks guys - until my next set of questions!
Trent