Me and my buddy are thinking about building (from scratch) an aluminum bass boat. He is an Engineer, and I have a marketing degree but am also good with CAD drafting and design. Maybe some day we will be the next big thing in bass fishing. But we have a few question before we jump in on this project.

What grade of aluminum would you recommend to be as strong as possible but at the same time weighing as little as possible?

What size boat should we start with I was thinking 16'-18', he wants 19'-20'?

Once the boat is completed, what would I have to do to register it? We plan on using a 75-100hp engine. It wont have a VIN # since it was hand built. Will we have to get a patent for it?

If anyone has tried this please help us out.

Have you checked the price of aluminum? Are you going to use welds on the boat or rivets? You may find that it will cost you a lot more time and $$$ than you originally estimated.

Do you have hydraulic presses and dies to form the hull or will you be building a rectangular floating box? Don't get me wrong , I think that you and your friend have a great amount of creative spirit to even consider the idea, however I think that there may be a lot more involved than most of us realize when we see a nice looking aluminum boat.

No we haven't looked at the price of aluminum yet, but i'm sure it will be expensive.  The boat will be all welded, both of us know how to weld, and his father has a metal working shop in his barn.  So we should be alright,  I know it is going to take a while to complete this job since we will only be able to work on it weekends.  But I never said it would be done any time soon.

The better boats have a hull thickness  of .100" to .125"

The better boats have a hull thickness of .100" to .125"

Thank you for the input

You will be lucky if you can find full 4x8 sheets of .125"  5052 aluminum under $300.  You will probably want to locate  12 ft  sheets of .125" 5052.

Where would be a good place to look for sheets of aluminum that size?

I own a Tool& Die shop , I buy alot from metalexpress online.

If you call there ask for Alan , great place to deal with . Alot of times its cheaper when you call but the online prices will get you started.

Great thanks!