Sail Life · video

What this video covers

Mads Dahlke develops a rapid, cost-effective method for creating thermoforming molds for the acrylic windows of an Antares Yachts 44 catamaran.1:33 Moving away from labor-intensive fiberglass layup, he uses 3D scan data in CAD to design a plywood rib-and-surface structure.2:17 The design features 12mm plywood ribs with CNC-cut rabbets for precise alignment, topped with a 6mm plywood sheet that conforms to the required curvature.13:28 He secures the assembly using thickened epoxy fillets and screws, noting that the 6mm top layer provides sufficient stiffness for the thermoforming process.18:03 This CNC-based approach reduces the fabrication time for a single window form to approximately one day.15:53 The project also includes upgrading a CAD workstation with 64GB of DDR5 RAM and an RTX 5080 graphics card to better process large 3D scan files.2:50 Tidying the catamaran and tool trailer remains a priority to improve workspace efficiency during the ongoing refit.7:10

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