Styrofoam boat

[QUADMASTER]

what's an easy way to make a boat out of styrofoam boat for school?it's gotta be 10inches long and 5 and a half inches wide.

[duke416ex]

Does it have to hold anything or just be that size and float? Just get that foam in a can.

[QUADMASTER]

no it's just gotta be light weight and made out of styrofoam and it has to go down a river type thing.you can put engines and stuff on it to.

[exboy]

Originally posted by duke416ex
Does it have to hold anything or just be that size and float? Just get that foam in a can.

if u do use that foam in a can take into consideration how bad the stuff swells... i had to make a thing out of it for a science thing last year and i didnt know that it expanded like it does i ended up havin to sit there and cut it back down the size i wanted it.

[duke416ex]

That could be an option, just make a huge chunk of it by spraying it and letting it set up and then carving you a boat.

[4punksdad]

buy a plastic sand box type toy boat..........take it apart and use the hull as a mold to spay the foam insulation into.

Or get a piece of that dense blue foam insulation board used around foundations...............and carve it up. Any construction dumpster should house the materials you need.

[QUADMASTER]

yeah.they already give us a piece of styrofoam.it's long an flat.like a piece of sheetrock.we gotta make something out of that

put a stick on top and through it with some cloth to make it a sail boat.

[QUADMASTER]

well i mean you have to cut it out to be 10inches long and 5and a half inches wide.it's gotta go down this thing full of water in a fast time.you can put engines on it if you like.but i'm trying to think of a good way to do it

[Tommy 17]

ahhh easy to put a motor on it...


get two paper clips (blue) and put them out of the back of the boat...

then bend a circle on the end of them...

slide another paper clip (green) threw the 2 circles...

then put a U shape in the middle (crank is what ur creating)...

then bend the sides up so it can't slip out either side and its stuck between the 2 blue paper clips...

then put paddle wheels (red circles) on the green paper clip...


put another paper clip (purple) verticle to put a upper mounting point for the rubber band...

then connect a rubber band (brown) to the U part of the green papper clip so it drives the paddle...

you may have to reinforce teh top paper clip (purple) some because chances are it will be pulled down when u wind the rubber band up...

let it go and it should drive the paddles....


basically your makin a river boat fairy with one of those big paddle wheels off the back... except ur using the rubber band to drive it!

[parkers30]

One problem tommy, it will only rotate a partial rotation untiul the deepest part of the U is in line with the rubber band, then stop.

what you want to do is make the paddle wheel on a staright shaft of some form. and wind the rubber band around it.... something a little larger in diameter like a pencil or pen tube would work very nicely

shoudl get you alot of power out off the line and pretty decent top speed, try it out in the bath tub or a pool

[Tommy 17]

worked fine for me on my car i had to make in an engineering class last year... it actually worked 2 good bc most of the time it just sat there and spun the tires off!

i also thought it woudln't have enouf momentum to get back around a 2nd time but it worked!


you could use a straight pencil and just pin the rubber band on in one spot... it'll work the same and mayb even better but the U worked fine for me...

[parkers30]

I must be missing something then..... or just dont understand it

[Tommy 17]

Originally posted by parkers30
I must be missing something then..... or just dont understand it


no what ur saying is that when the U is at the point closest towards the rubber band it will stop the crank... it won't be able to go back around because the ruber band will always pull the U to that spot... thats correct but also not correct...

it may happen alot but if u do it right and have enouf torque from the 1st 1/2 it'll go back around... you just have to get the U spinning fast enouf that it'll have enouf momentum to do the 2nd 180 degrees before the ruber band pulls it back again...


i know its hard to explain on the net but what ur thinking is technically correct but if u have enouf energy it can get back around...

[parkers30]

thats exactly along the lines of what I was thinking, just didn't seem to make any sense that it would work efficiently

[QUADMASTER]

i think i may try the thing tommy said.Maybe it will work.I'll start on it today and let you know.

[fast426]

http://www.docfizzix.com/how_work.htm

this might work, use the mouse trap and a paint stick, and a string. cd's work good for wheels, and just glue paddles on them