Catamaran with your own hands. Homemade catamaran. Catamaran frame

And on a full river, and a small lake, and on a pond, a self-made catamaran will become not only fun, but also a useful device. You can sunbathe on it, jump from it into the water, because it is almost impossible to turn it around. You can use your homemade catamaran to transport small loads, as well as swim to inspect the cages in which fish are caught. If you create a fleet of such vessels, then it is quite possible to arrange small speed competitions or figure driving, they will also be an excellent means for a small tourist trip.

What are we dealing with?

In order to assemble the catamaran yourself, you do not need any special materials - they are all available and very easy to process. If you do not take into account the metal elements, you will need ZMM-plywood and slats 15-25 and 25 * 25 millimeters in length and 3 meters in length. This is the main advantage of the resulting raft, as well as its feature. It is best to use waterproof plywood. If it does not prove to be so, it is better to buy birch, but even in its absence it is allowed to use spruce or aspen.

If you seriously decided to make a catamaran with your own hands, the choice of plywood is a very important step, because it will depend on the longevity of your boat. Naturally, it is important to show and diligence in terms of thoroughness of finishing individual parts, as well as their connections. Plywood should be soaked with pre-heated natural linseed oil. It is better to apply it on a hot, sunny day, using a wide brush. Heating oil should only be done in a water bath using a wide dish with boiling water. Of course, it's important to remember about caution, because a hot substance burn is painful enough. It is possible to complete the impregnation operation after the drying oil has ceased to be absorbed into the wood. Typically, the application is carried out two to three times with interruptions of several hours.

Constructive elements

So, understanding the question, how to make a catamaran, it is worth considering everything in order. The pontoons of the raft are made of racks and plywood. It's worth starting with the frames. To do this, it is necessary to cut out 12 pieces of plywood, the dimensions of which are 320 * 320 millimeters, knock them down with three or four nails, and then process them together along the contour. Next, you need to make slits under the slats. Reiki square, but the slits should be 20-25 millimeters in size. The remaining 5 millimeters in the slats are equipped with grooves. It is best to lay all six racks next to them, fix them, and then make a saw in all at the same time. Since from the edges they will get a little deeper, it is worth leveling the average depth, shifting the foot tips several times during the work.

Before grooving, check the dimensions of the plywood sheets. If we are talking about a number less than 1500 millimeters, then it is necessary to adjust the location of the cross-beam 7 and frame 5, respectively. Six frames require that pieces of slats be attached to them from the sides and from above, and a piece of the board should be fixed from below. Everything must be done as firmly as possible, it is better to use screws or screws for this, because the nails will be hammered into the slats, the task of which will be to hold the plywood.

Build a vessel

If you decide to make a catamaran with your own hands, then you need to prepare a few racks. The length of four of them should be three meters, two - at 1.9 meters, you also need four segments of 570-600 millimeters, after which you can proceed to further work. It is clear that it is worth placing a pair of upper racks from below, which will allow the frames to sit firmly in their place. Immediately you can fix a pair of cross-members with screws, and then lay the keel strip, screwing it to the frames 1, 5 and 6. Then you can turn the frame for the catamaran sideways to fix the upper rails to the same frames.

A board 50 millimeters thick will be needed for you to cut out the aft and nasal bosses, and here it is important to consider that their shape should be conical. And then they need to be inserted into place, preliminarily pulling off the top rails by wire. On the bow and stern overhangs the keel strip is made of several scraps.

Sheathing

Now it's time for such an important element as the skin. To make a catamaran with your own hands, you need to cut several elements. The width of the central part is 823 millimeters, it is not difficult to cut it. It is easy to bend in the shape of the frame, as it has already undergone the impregnation procedure with linseed oil. But here it is important not to hurry. To facilitate the work, you need to pull the workpieces with wire, ropes or something else, and then leave in this position for a few days. It should be noted that the plywood must be fastened with nails, but beforehand it is necessary to lubricate the fastening points with thick oil paint on rails, frames, and also in the corresponding places of plywood. The joints on the frames should be smoothed out most carefully.

Continued assembly

If you make a catamaran with your own hands, the drawings have already been carefully thought out, then on the cardboard template you should determine the shape of the blanks for overhangs. There should be something like a cone. They are installed similarly to the previous elements. Blanks should only be attached to the paint. Their contours should be specified by the finished skin. It is necessary to nail the rails 9-11 to the paint, like all the other parts. Next, you can do the cutting of the deck, circling the almost completed pontoon around the contour. When the deck is nailed, it is possible to complete the manufacture of the pontoons. During the installation, you should not feel sorry for the paint.

Deck

The easiest way is to make it from the same plywood as the other parts. For strength from below and from above, it is necessary to nail the slats in steps of 300-350 millimeters. If you do not trust the strength of plywood, then you can lay it in two layers, laying one on another. Where pedals are installed, it is necessary to adjust the step of the rail accordingly with them. Naturally, when talking about how to make a catamaran, it is worth noting that for the deck it is appropriate to use other materials, for example, thin boards that will be beaten so that there is a space of a meter between the pontoons.

Working part

If you decide to make a catamaran with your own hands, then the rowing drive should be made of parts from the bicycle. You will need to use a pair of frames with carriage assemblies and pedals. The edged ends of the frames should be flattened, and then fastened to the deck by means of screws. Between the pedals should be installed remote bushings, the length of which is 120-130 millimeters, and the pedals themselves must be connected by long common pins.

The water catamaran is equipped with rowing wheels, which are made of bicycles. Blades should be cut out of rubber, the thickness of which is 4-6 millimeters, and then wound with a wire to the spokes. One wheel should be equipped with five or six blades.

Functional area

The seat is made of plywood and slats, the cross section of which is 25 * 25 millimeters. Seats are fixed to the deck after the rowing drive is installed - so that the slats from below are not accessible to the tight chain. Fasten the elements best with screws, as, it is quite possible, you need to make position adjustments.

So, you make a catamaran, the photo of which you liked. Next, you need to make a steering, for this, too, will need rails and plywood. Dimensions of the rudders - 200 * 320 millimeters. To the right, a plywood bracket with sides 200 * 200 millimeters should be nailed with the help of rails, and then let it pull the lever to it, which should be installed on the side, in the immediate vicinity of the seat. The axes of longitudinal and transverse links can serve as thick nails, for which drill holes must be drilled, otherwise the thrust can burst.

The final stage

With the assembly of the catamaran, there should not be any special difficulties. Pontoons should be installed in a flat place, after which they can be put on deck, outline the installation of bicycle frames with pedals, propulsion and seating. But do not rush to fix all these nodes. All the wooden parts of the raft must be painted with three layers of oil paint. Since the drying of each layer takes a day or two, you will need a week for this operation.

When the coloring is complete, all the nodes should be set in place. The seat is mounted at the end. To tie the catamaran to the pier and to ensure the convenience of its carrying, it is necessary to screw 4-6 door handles on its sides.