Living For Sailvideo

BACK to Work on ANTIDOTE! - How I Used 3D Printing to Fix My Boat

23 August 2026 · 24 min · 5K views

What this video covers

Restoration of a 1989 Liberty 458 involves structural repairs to the transom, bulwarks, and prop shaft strut.0:08 To address moisture in the transom, a vacuum bag system successfully reduced saturation levels, allowing for fiberglass repair.0:54 For the bulwark, custom stanchion backing plates are being fabricated from G10 by Current Composites.4:05 To ensure precise fitment for these one-off parts, 3D-printed prototypes were created using a Qidi Plus 5 printer, which features an actively heated chamber and integrated bed-leveling sensors.9:53 These prototypes allowed for testing bolt alignment and complex angles around scuppers before final production.4:05 Additionally, the cutlass bearing was replaced by freezing the new bearing to shrink its diameter and using a 3D-printed guide tool with three-quarter-inch hardware from Bolt Depot to press it into the bronze strut.18:24 The process of removing the old bearing required careful manual cutting with a hacksaw to avoid damaging the surrounding bronze.16:59

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Boats in this video

Liberty 458Their boatNewport 30-1Their boat

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