Oram 44 C cruising catamaranDesign Concept The Oram 44 C by Bob Oram Design is a mid-size cruising catamaran capable of ocean crossings. It had been Tom Honan's lifelong dream to own a cruising catamaran, it occurred to his wife Judy that if they made some landscaping alterations to their front yard, they could have room to build one themselves. Judy presented this thought to Tom. After 400 hours of internet research perusing many study plans, Construction The Oram 44 building system involves assembling CNC-routed DuFLEXTM panels in female frames with chine bilges. Judy and Tom purchased Techniglue R60 adhesive in dispensing cartridges to quickly deliver a pre-mixed structural adhesive to join the DuFLEX Z Joints. They also hired the DuFLEX Z-Press to reduce the curing time of the epoxy mixture and make the joining process more streamlined. "Bob gave us a micro-apprenticeship in boat building, helping us to join the DuFLEX panels, set up the frames, tab and tape the keel to the lower bilge panels and place all the other longitudinal panels to show us virtually half a boat, all in 6 days. Then we rested, when he left, and our version of boat building set in, i.e., SLOW!
1. Joining and cutting out a total of 87 panels of Duflex took 2-3 people four days. 2. Depending on the thickness of the panels (13mm,16mm or 25mm) it took on average 15 minutes per panel to prepare, glue, join, press and release. 3. The press needs to be turned on twelve hours prior to use. 4. For brushing the glue, we found natural bristle artist brushes (size no. 12) to be very effective. We used approximately 6 at a cost of about $1.20 each. Newsagents usually stock these. 5. Clean up brushes with acetone, and hands with vinegar" |
© 2007. DuFLEX is a registered trademark of ATL Composites Pty Ltd, Australia Site Admin