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Making a tapered aluminum tube
You are right: sails are shaped according to the bendiness of the mast. I do that when I sew my sails. However, there is a limit to how much the mast should flex. Too much - and no sail shape can compensate for it. That is an interesting idea. All the carbon wrappings I've ever seen have full... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Thank you for the extensive replies, guys. I like where this thread is going, there are some really great ideas here. I do have a plasma cutter. Never used it on aluminum, but I think it should be pretty straightforward with an appropriate straightedge fixture. As for clamping, if I were to... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
I covered the telescoping tubes idea in my initial post. The overlaps required to have enough strength would negate all the weight savings of having this kind of "taper". It would actually weigh even more. Holes are generally avoided in masts wherever possible because they disrupt the "grain"... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Mike, what is it, exactly? It is very difficult to make out from that low-resolution picture. Can you tell us more? Like I said, I want to explore aluminum options only in this topic, because I have well-researched these other methods, including wood and carbon, and I am well aware of them as... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
I just found this video on factory-made tapered aluminum mast manufacturing: How masts are made for sailing dinghies : Friday Forum - YouTube It appears that they are doing exactly what I suggested in my very first post. They are using plasma cutters to make that tapered removal of the... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Interesting idea. Similar to wrapping carbon, I suppose. I have never seen anything like that done with metal, though. Adding to the list. Well, I build a typical wooden mast of these dimensions (tapered) for around $50. I can buy an aluminum tube of these dimensions (non tapered) for a little... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Thanks, great videos :) I have no idea of the forces involved in this process, and I wonder if it is possible to substitute a construction as rigid as in these videos with a less rigid jig but making more passes. Though I suppose there is a minimum amount of force required to overcome the... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Well, theoretically I could wrap a VERY thin aluminum tube (say 1mm wall thickness) with carbo, but I would still need to make that taper in the aluminum tube somehow prior to carbon. And like I said, carbon is way out of budget anyway... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
I already did that on some of my previous boats. Without taper, it is dead simple, but also pointless. If I didn't need taper, I wouldn't be asking here :D Unfortunately, taper is absolutely essential, it's the whole point of this. -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Well, for me, guythatbrews said it best, because he actually suggested a very viable idea. Look, I don't mean to be rude, since I'm asking for help, but discouraging and saying "can't be done", when just a few posts above people are actually suggesting good ideas how it could be done, doesn't... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
I build small racing sailboats (3-4 m in length) for myself, as a hobby, sailing and racing inland. But I do have quite a lot of experience with them already. Most are built on a shoestring budget (<1000$). Definitely no high-tech materials. Seaworthiness, storms and lightning are of little... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Thank you for this additional info. But by now I am wondering: wouldn't it be easier to take make all of this from square stock rather than two flat panels? I mean, split square stock into two, taper, form bevel on edges to allow through welding, then weld back together, and finally expand into... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
That sounds like a very promising option! I'm just not exactly sure about that first part: why do the halves have to be flat? Wouldn't it be easier to start with a round tube, cut in half with tapering? Starting off with flat plate and making 30 degree lengthwise bend sounds like a very tough... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Guys, look, I appreciate these suggestions, but I've been building boats for 8 years, and I wouldn't be here if I hadn't exhausted all other options :D Wood is very labor intensive, carbon fiber is extremely expensive, and fiberglass (like carbon) requires a very complicated, straight, smooth... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Good point about warping! I thought that if I clamped that aluminum tube against flat floor it wouldn't warp while welding, but your suggestion - two opposed wedges - makes even more sense. But that would mean that at the top I wouldn't have a 35mm round section, I would have something like... -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Hi Milland, and thank you for your rapid answer! Yes, I am very well aware of this technology, and I am exploring various options including this one, but I'd like to focus on tapered aluminum option in this forum topic, since this is a machinist forum :) -
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Making a tapered aluminum tube
Hi, I am quite new to machining and metal work in general, and I'd like to ask for some advice about making a round tapered (cone shaped) aluminum tube. The tube in question is meant to be a mast for a sailboat, 5.5 meters in length, 70 mm in diameter at the bottom, gradually tapering to around...