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Author Topic: DIY bow thruster  (Read 18176 times)

tobyker

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DIY bow thruster
« on: September 22, 2007, 06:59:47 pm »

Has anyone made a successful bow thruster OTHER than the "angled propellor shaft into a tube" type? Most of the commercially available ones seem to be vane types which can't be all that difficult to make. I was almost tempted to buy a small one just to look inside but was too mean. An alternative might be an omega shaped tube with a propellor in one of the fore & aft limbs.
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6705russell

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2007, 07:17:29 pm »

I used car washer pumps for my Norderney, quite powerful   O0

Russ
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edible_engine

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2007, 12:17:17 am »

i have seen pepole make a vane type with a block of wood and making a impler housing
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Roger in France

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2007, 06:51:37 am »

Yes, I too have seen two pumps used (port and st'bd)with a switcher but this does mean you have to have an inlet pipe(or possibly two) somewhere. I am not sure how much a "straight through thruster" adds to movement by sucking in from the side to which you are moving as you expel from the opposite side but it must make a contribution.

Roger in France.
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cos918

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2007, 06:35:36 pm »

bow thruster depend on the model. IE i bought a second hand ferry mv Celestine ,she only had one b\t the real boat had 2 b\t. If you were using the b\t to turn and were board side to the wind the graupner thruster did not have enough power. so i put in another thruster for 2 reasons 1 so she looks like the real boat. 2 to help her turn in wind as lakes can get windy.the second thruster dose help a lot. so when considering thruster home made or brought think of the beam of the ship plus the power required. As for home made thrusters i found some nice nylon bevel gear which i had thought about using in a b\t but when weight up against the cost IE the rest of the gear ,props tube motor etc the graupner unit don't seam that dear. good luck with bow thruster
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ministeve

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2007, 10:17:28 pm »

hi all i will be at mmm this Saturday if anyone would like to see how i make my bow thrusters (shaft on an angle) and how good they work for me tug towing. some will have allready seen but if anyone wants to see one in the flesh and can get to Brian wards tugnology day at his workshops this Saturday then there will be a few in various states of build
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Bryan Young

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2007, 04:13:08 pm »

Has anyone made a successful bow thruster OTHER than the "angled propellor shaft into a tube" type? Most of the commercially available ones seem to be vane types which can't be all that difficult to make. I was almost tempted to buy a small one just to look inside but was too mean. An alternative might be an omega shaped tube with a propellor in one of the fore & aft limbs.
Sorry. Must have missed this one. I made a very successful unit from a Black and Decker drill powered water pump. The (rubber) vanes were a tight fit in the housing so a normal 12v battery could'nt handle it, I trimmed the bades down to a "close fit" and it worked fine...both ways. A touch on the noisy side, but saved many £s. I think the unit was about a tenner.
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Notes from a simple seaman

tobyker

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2007, 11:40:06 pm »

I'm still working on my plywood vane - I think it'll end up like the B&D water pump. It's to be powered by a Blackspur battery electric screwdriver which cost about £2.50 at that excellent store, XS stock. I'll let y'all know if it works. I could have used tin or plasticard, but I had some thin ply all ready to go.
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Umi_Ryuzuki

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2007, 05:30:52 am »

Metaron just made one out of Cpvc pipe or something.... 8)

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=761673
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hama

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2007, 04:22:45 pm »

Hello!
This is my new homemade thruster. I will put it in my Smit London that is under construction. I bought the Graupner thruster but when I realized that you cant get it out for repair or maintenance once installed and the shop wouldn't take it back I felt obliged to make my own. ( pure economic reasons ).
This one is will be removable by three screws and did very well in the testdrive. Just hope it works in real life!!
Cheers!
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2007, 04:36:07 pm »


Looks excellent!  O0

Tell us how you make it and how you glued the plastics together.

Martin
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hama

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2007, 11:06:03 pm »

Hello Martin!
It's made of plastictubes for electric wire and styrene sheet and some brass rod and tube. The white tube with motor, coupling, shaft and propeller already connected is inserted into the blue housing and secured to the flange. I hope some vaseline in the housing will keep the water out. Perhaps some more pictures could help out. You ask about the glue, yes thats what I'm a little worried about. I tried plastic glue and it worked on some parts but not all, most of it is glued with meltglue with a gluegun( am I right here, not sure what it's called ). It seems to work and give a good and watertight joint and I used it on a smaller thruster I made two years ago. I`ll see if I dare to put it in my precious model when time comes. You must excuse me for not getting the words right sometimes, its always difficult but now its getting late as well.
Thanks for your interest!
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boatmadman

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2007, 01:11:11 pm »

Looks great - more construction details please - photos of it dismantled would be nice too if you are inclined O0

Ian
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hama

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #13 on: November 21, 2007, 03:36:48 pm »

Hello boatmadman!
I hope some more pictures give you an idea of how it's done.
Cheers.
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ArtMar

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2011, 01:45:04 pm »

working Video:


An improved version, made with electricity tube, glued with cyano:

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unbuiltnautilus

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2011, 02:23:57 pm »

I needed to fit a bow thruster deep in a model, for use in salt water. Past experience told me most currently available units ( at the time, Marx, Robbe etc..) would either rust up or leak into the model as they would be 5" below waterline. S I plumped for a pair of full size Whale Bilge Pumps. These were rated at 300 gallons per hour at 12 volts. Both units are removable with a quarter turn of the main pump and they are still doing stirling service since 2001. Problem is, they are 8" tall .
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triumphjon

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #16 on: October 20, 2011, 09:07:20 pm »

there are newer shallower bilge pumps available !
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ArtMar

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Re: DIY bow thruster
« Reply #17 on: October 21, 2011, 03:51:38 pm »

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