3D PRINTED KAYAK BY GRASS ROOTS ENGINEERING

The world first 3D printed kayak

Seeing the colorful patchwork of this kayak, you might think that the owner is a clown. In fact, this funny boat is more than that. It is, after all, the first 3D printed kayak! When you think about it, not so long ago, 3D printing was a very new technology, and now, Grass Roots Engineering is able to produce a real floating boat with that technique. The kayak is a little longer than 5m, and it is composed of 28 sections of ABS plastic put together. The effective cost of this watercraft is around $500, and it has been made on a home-built 3D printer. Each part of the kayak is screwed thanks to brass-threaded thermoplastic inserts and silicone caulk is used between the section to make it float properly. The shape of the kayak was inspired by the Siskiwit Bay kayak by Bryan Hansel. It has been tailor-made according to the engineer’s weight and size for optimal performance. It features a 6mm-thick hull and is fully operational as we can see it in this video: