Cheaper to buy Hobie kayak parts or 3d print them? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

monstahfish · 04-14-2023, 08:31 AM

My first question is which parts do you need? Have all the padeyes been removed or is it just hatches? Do you have the bow hatch? You'll need to get all the parts to scan them in the first place and I wouldn't let a buddy take my kayak apart to do that especially the front hatch. That things a bitch to put together properly and you'd have to reseal everything. Assemblies like hatches will have to be completely broken down to be scanned individually. On top of that, scanning will not get all the minute details to make quality threads in the case of the padeyes, pin slots on hatches which will bind if not accurately done. Do you have CAD software and skills to do this? Also if you're going to scan parts, some scanning systems result in either point cloud or surface models and they're very difficult to turn into solids you can modify. You're looking at hours and hours of work with expensive equipment. You'll have to probably use MJF pa12 glass filled to get the required strength. If you can do all that, the printers cost about $600 a day to run then you'll need to factor in their profit. I'd say having designed a lot of those parts, you might be better off trying to get a bulk deal on parts from a local dealer. Maybe they even have some used ones from boats that have been stripped down or someone has a thrashed hull with all the parts you need and you can work out a deal. Good luck.

jruiz · 04-19-2023, 08:30 AM

Many times kayaks are stripped down like this because it was a kayak that had an irreparable hull issue that the manufacture warrantied. It would be a shame to go through all this to find out there's a crack on the hull.

04-14-2023, 08:31 AM	#1
monstahfish Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 406	My first question is which parts do you need? Have all the padeyes been removed or is it just hatches? Do you have the bow hatch? You'll need to get all the parts to scan them in the first place and I wouldn't let a buddy take my kayak apart to do that especially the front hatch. That things a bitch to put together properly and you'd have to reseal everything. Assemblies like hatches will have to be completely broken down to be scanned individually. On top of that, scanning will not get all the minute details to make quality threads in the case of the padeyes, pin slots on hatches which will bind if not accurately done. Do you have CAD software and skills to do this? Also if you're going to scan parts, some scanning systems result in either point cloud or surface models and they're very difficult to turn into solids you can modify. You're looking at hours and hours of work with expensive equipment. You'll have to probably use MJF pa12 glass filled to get the required strength. If you can do all that, the printers cost about $600 a day to run then you'll need to factor in their profit. I'd say having designed a lot of those parts, you might be better off trying to get a bulk deal on parts from a local dealer. Maybe they even have some used ones from boats that have been stripped down or someone has a thrashed hull with all the parts you need and you can work out a deal. Good luck.

04-19-2023, 08:30 AM	#2
jruiz Large Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: La Verne, CA Posts: 1,002	Many times kayaks are stripped down like this because it was a kayak that had an irreparable hull issue that the manufacture warrantied. It would be a shame to go through all this to find out there's a crack on the hull.