3D Printing for Spadefoot

One of the fun things about owning a custom one-off boat is that you get to do custom things without rules or restrictions.  This has been very true over the past year as we’ve added a retractable sprit and asymmetrical spinnakers.  The sprit is actually part of the original carbon Hoyt jib boom.  The brackets holding the sprit are from Selden.  This created a small problem as the the bracket options from Selden were either slightly too small in diameter or a fair bit too big (~0.25″).  Obviously, there was no way to utilize the small brackets, so the bigger diameter brackets it was.  Then there was the need to “fill” the interior of the bracket to make the diameter just slightly larger than sprit O.D.  Enter 3D printing.  Oren, one of our great crew, happens to own a 3D printer that he uses for teaching school age girls about the wonders of science.  What a perfect application for 3D printing.  A few precise measurements and wa-lah we had two perfectly shaped circular inserts that fit inside the Selden brackets and wrap around the sprit, providing a comfortable snug fit, while allowing the sprit to slide in and out easily.  The finishing touch was added this weekend.  A 3D printed nose cone for the sprit.  Technology is amazing!

Custom sprit, Selden brackets, 3D printed inserts (blue) and 3D printed nose cone.

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