Why haven't the Americans gone RIB mad?

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Aren't all hypalon boats "built by hand"? At least the tubes are... No automation, as far as I'm aware.


jky

Yes, all hypalon tubes are hand glued. PVC tubes can be hand glued or thermobonded, but are most often thermobonded because it is a much cheaper process (which is the primary reason for using PVC in the first place).
The problem with thermobonding is that it makes the PVC less pliable at the seams, creating a stress concentrator resulting in the area just beside those seams being prone to cracking.

With a PVC boat that has hand glued seams (which I believe zapcats are) if there is a leak in the seams it can be repaired, whereas thermobonded seams cannot be repaired.

[pathalla]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Aren't all hypalon boats "built by hand"? At least the tubes are... No automation, as far as I'm aware.

Are there any automated glass operations going? I always thought the laying up of hulls was primarily a hands-on job, but that was just a guess.

jky

Nautica uses automated hypalon cutting machines for the tube patterns, as far as I know tubes are still glued up by hand overall, seems the industry has not progressed much beyond that.