Additive Manufacturing: Innovation! Imagination! Engineer prints his own Kayak!

Blog Written by Hutch Hutchison
Here’s a great article, from 3-D Printing Industry: 3-D Printed Kayak
Jim Smith, a 3-D Systems engineer, decided to expand limits of 3-D Printing, undertaking the notion that the limits were only his imagination. He undertook to print a 5 meter Kayak! To conduct the project, he designed his own, large volume, fused deposition modeling system, complete with heated extrusion chamber. The kayak, consisting of 28 panels that were printed individually and bolted together, sealed by silicone, took 1000 hours (42 Days)  to print. The total ABS materials used, and thus the weight without the bolts was 58 pounds. (Look ma, no waste!)  When you include the bolts and sealant, the total weight is 64 lb. Now that is using the imagination, and how innovative! What next, the Queen Mary?