Fabricate spade anchor

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by NYSail

Spending hundreds of thousands? So money is not an issue? just buy an anchor. They do really work.

There is nothing better than saying, I made it myself and it does work,

[chris mac]

@ Mr B
To me, That is a valid reason to make your own. Also saving money.
But, those that say they make their own because it's "better" than the original are, in my opinion, self delusional.
A lot of companies reverse engineer products. Make the same thing without all the r&d. But it is rarely as good. The r&d is what gives you the expertise and knowledge. Look at cqr copies, Bruce knock offs, danforth too, never as good as original.
So make your own if that is what you enjoy, and be proud that it works. But don't expect it to be equal to the original.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Building one for yourself is legal IF you developed the idea independently......

Independent or clean room development does not relieve you from someone elses patent. Copyright probably yes, patent no.

[onthewateralot]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Then you know better than I … just make something inspired by these new gen anchors. Make it better, faster (setting), stronger! But don’t ask for the plans for a patented item on a public forum. It’s a bit of a red flag .

I’m all for DIY. If you can make a better anchor, then great. Maybe you can patent it. I’ve been wondering what the next significant improvement in anchors will look like. Maybe it will be yours .

Originally Posted by NYSail

Spending hundreds of thousands? So money is not an issue? just buy an anchor. They do really work.

Money and my life is always an issue. If I can improve on a good design so I don't end up on the rocks wouldn't you do it? I have the training and ideas, I have the materials, I have the shop.......plus 40 years experience working on the water as a marine contractor. I have no intent to infringe on anybodies patent, indeed I would gladly pay royalties for plans if we can put our brains together to build a better mouse trap. I do this with engineers all the time who respect my experience on the water. As I said before, tomorrow I have to go salvage a sailboat for a cruising couple (with 2 kids onboard) whose boat sank in 5 minutes after pounding on a reef. They lost EVERYTHING. How do you put a dollar amount on that?

[jannw]

Let's hear it for all the armchair IP lawyers who don't understand IP law!

Let's all hear it for all the armchair welders who don't actually mangle metal!

Let's hear it from all the CF members who don't actually do much anchoring!

Let's hear it for all the engineers/scientists without an engineering or science degree!

Anchors ain't hard, no matter what the salesman tells you! All next-gen anchors are based on the bugel design!

Go find the dimensions of the relevant bugel anchor, and cut and weld it up. It's only a google search away! Add a roll bar if it makes you happy!

You wouldn't be the first, or the last.

Spend your money on beer!

[onthewateralot]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I designed and made a pipe bevelling tool for cutting the bevels on pipe for xray welding,
The patent was going to cost me $3000-00 AUD at the time,
I went into it in great detail,
It was going to be a commercial venture,
I was going to sell it to the big Gas supply companys, with a fifty cent or one dollar per item, Royalty on it,
Easy money, they would mass produce it and sell it, Giving me a dollar or fifty cents for each one sold,
It was that good, every pipe welder in the world would buy one,
There was nothing like it at the time,
It would have cost about ten dollars to buy, Mass produced,

Back to the patent, The patent would be void if they changed the heads of the nuts on it,
Changing the heads of the nuts was outside my patent criteria,

Needless to say, I never got the patent for it,
Other welders that saw me using it, Loved it, But it was not for sale,
But they could make one for them selves if they wanted too,

Cheers, Brian,

Brian,
The patent system in US is only for the very rich. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending a simple patent, like yours and the only people who won were the lawyers. I cannot recommend the process to anyone unless they are prepared to spend huge amounts of money.

[Fence Man]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_anchor

Just look at all the immoral theft and modification of the original design that landed us in this predicament.....50 pound anchors that hold better than a ton of stones in a basket. The nerve of these thinkers and doers!

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by chris mac

@ Mr B
To me, That is a valid reason to make your own. Also saving money.
But, those that say they make their own because it's "better" than the original are, in my opinion, self delusional.
A lot of companies reverse engineer products. Make the same thing without all the r&d. But it is rarely as good. The r&d is what gives you the expertise and knowledge. Look at cqr copies, Bruce knock offs, danforth too, never as good as original.
So make your own if that is what you enjoy, and be proud that it works. But don't expect it to be equal to the original.

I had a Bruce and a Danforth,
The Danforth got rocks caught in the clevis pin on tide changes and would not reset,
The Bruce, I may have just dropped the chain with out it on, It was useless,

I made my own, Simply because I have all the gear to do it, And its backed up by fifty years of practical experience,

Most of my life was spent fixing other people mistakes, Engineers, Architects, Draughtsmen and Tradesmen,

We would still be in a horse and cart, If you cant better the original,

Even the cart got redesigned multlple times before it became a car,

Who said the original was the best, The A model Ford was the best in its time,
Who drives an A model Ford now,

Quote, Just because you cant make some thing, Doesnt mean others cant,
And the others can excell in their endevours to improve things,

Cheers, Brian,

FWIW, I can make left and right handed screwdrivers, Shifting spanners and Hand Hammers, And have done so,

[Mr B]

For a bit of entertainment,

I had to remake a D Shackle for the ship yard as they lost the first one we made,

How do you lose an eight ton D shackle that stands eight feet tall, and six inches thick.

It was the shackle to hold the Anchor on the ship they were building,

I still laugh about it to this day,

Cheers, Brian,

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by onthewateralot

Brian,
The patent system in US is only for the very rich. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending a simple patent, like yours and the only people who won were the lawyers. I cannot recommend the process to anyone unless they are prepared to spend huge amounts of money.

Thats the reason precisely why I didnt proceed with my Patent,
A few alterations to my tool and my Patent was useless,
3 grand was a lot of money at the time, Which I didnt have,
So losing it was a very big incentive to pass on it,

Cheers, Brian,

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I had a Bruce and a Danforth,
The Danforth got rocks caught in the clevis pin on tide changes and would not reset,
The Bruce, I may have just dropped the chain with out it on, It was useless,

I made my own, Simply because I have all the gear to do it, And its backed up by fifty years of practical experience,

Most of my life was spent fixing other people mistakes, Engineers, Architects, Draughtsmen and Tradesmen,

We would still be in a horse and cart, If you cant better the original,

Even the cart got redesigned multlple times before it became a car,

Who said the original was the best, The A model Ford was the best in its time,
Who drives an A model Ford now,

Quote, Just because you cant make some thing, Doesnt mean others cant,
And the others can excell in their endevours to improve things,

Cheers, Brian,

FWIW, I can make left and right handed screwdrivers, Shifting spanners and Hand Hammers, And have done so,

I agree with you that everything can be made better. However as I said earlier, r&d is what prevails. The original post was about having one of his workers try to fab a close proximity to a Spade Anchor. Using plans if available.
That is never(99.999%) going to produce something better.
Breaking down the pros and cons and years of production and modification will possibly yield a better product.
Doing a one off to save some money, or for the satisfaction of having built it is great. But a one off won't be better than the (arguably) most advanced and best testing anchor already on the market

[Mr B]

But a one off won't be better than the (arguably) most advanced and best testing anchor already on the market[/QUOTE]

Why not, All these new anchors came from a one off, Some time,
Lots of one offs till they got it right, and it worked,
Most things are a copy of some thing else,
Thats a great idea, But I can improve on that,

These were all updated from some thing else, Which supposedly were the best at the time,

Its called progress, There is allways a way to improve on a reliable product,

My new gen anchor was a dud, Till I figured out how to transfer the weight of it onto the point, Minor alterations and I did it, Over 1/3rd of its weight is on the point,
It now works great,

[Jim Cate]

It now works great,

I didn't realize that you had your boat back in the water for testing the anchor, so good onya for persevering.

Jim

[hellosailor]

Mike, here in the States it would not be any kind of rights violation. Anyone is welcome to download the patent filings for anything, and use them to build one of the same thing for their own personal use. No commercial use--just personal use. (Having a paid employee build one for their bosses personal use, debatable but likely no one will bother about just one of them.)

Ordering the right metal stock, the right alloy, having large pieces of waste from the job...I'm not sure it would be economically feasible but that's for the OP to enjoy.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Mr B

But a one off won't be better than the (arguably) most advanced and best testing anchor already on the market

Why not, All these new anchors came from a one off, Some time,
Lots of one offs till they got it right, and it worked,
Most things are a copy of some thing else,
Thats a great idea, But I can improve on that,

These were all updated from some thing else, Which supposedly were the best at the time,

Its called progress, There is allways a way to improve on a reliable product,

My new gen anchor was a dud, Till I figured out how to transfer the weight of it onto the point, Minor alterations and I did it, Over 1/3rd of its weight is on the point,
It now works great,[/QUOTE]Ok, it actually looks like we are saying the same thing. "lots of one offs till they got it right" That is called research and development. A one off, is just that, one copy.
Your anchor as you said needed to be redone after an initial failure. I'm glad you improved it and it is working, but i havent heard you claime that it works better than a Spade Anchor. I have heard others make those type of claims without any actual proof.
That was the point I was trying to make. An attempt or two can produce a great product, especially with a knowledge base such as yours. However it won't suddenly become the best anchor out there. That will take many attempts, redesigns, and a lot of money.
To restate, I originally agreed to your statement of building it for the pleasure of building it and knowing it works.