Fabricate spade anchor

[onthewateralot]

Ok....heard lots of good reviews about new spade anchors, problem is they are not cheap. I own a fabrication shop and really don't think it would take too long for one of my welders to fabricate one for my boat. I am an engineer also so know where max stresses are etc. Anybody do this? Any plans available?

[NYSail]

How much is a professional welder and an engineers time worth? My Rocna 25 (55lbs) cost around $600..... so if you can get the materials and have him spend hours working on it (cause you have to pay him) plus the hours you will spend redesigning/copying the engineered one..... sort of like doing my own taxes..... sure I can do them but hell why? Why not just leave it to someone that does it for a living and have perfected the end result. just my opinion but I would just buy one.

Good luck
Greg

[Mike OReilly]

Sounds like a copyright/patent violation to me.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by onthewateralot

Ok....heard lots of good reviews about new spade anchors, problem is they are not cheap. I own a fabrication shop and really don't think it would take too long for one of my welders to fabricate one for my boat. I am an engineer also so know where max stresses are etc. Anybody do this? Any plans available?

Same here, Engineer, Blacksmith, Boilermaker DLI welder,
Own my own company,
I just made a copy of the three new generation anchors,
Took the best ideas of all three that I liked and made one up,
The shank is Bissaloy 350, Old left over excavator jaw bits,
It wont bend no matter how much stress is put on it,
I made it out of scrap bits of steel I had laying about my yard,
The point is Stainless Steel, Ground to a point,
Its about 75 LB, with the point weighing at 35 Lb,
The hoop is .26 carbon steel,
The base plates are 350 Carbon steel,
Welded with S6 Mig wire,
The chain cant get entangled no matter which way its rolled over,

One problem I did have was getting the point to weigh more,
I widened the hoop up about an inch, So the point went from 10 lb to 35 Lb,
The more you can get on the point, the better it bites in,
I had to make up a new bow roller to fit it on, The original was too small for it,
Have a look at Panope's Video's on anchors, They are very informative,

Cheers, Brian,

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by NYSail

How much is a professional welder and an engineers time worth? My Rocna 25 (55lbs) cost around $600..... so if you can get the materials and have him spend hours working on it (cause you have to pay him) plus the hours you will spend redesigning/copying the engineered one..... sort of like doing my own taxes..... sure I can do them but hell why? Why not just leave it to someone that does it for a living and have perfected the end result. just my opinion but I would just buy one.

Good luck
Greg

What he said and then you need to galvanize it unless you use SS.

Not a patent infringement if you don’t sell it.

Used anchors show up occasionally. Look in the yards, keep your eyes open. Check EBay and Amazon.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Sounds like a copyright/patent violation to me.

Just change the measurements slightly, Patent and copyright are a non issue,

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

...Not a patent infringement if you don’t sell it.

I’m not a patent expert, but in the case of other intellectual property crimes like copyright theft, it clearly would be considered illegal, regardless of whether the copy was sold.

Instead of making a Spade anchor, make an anchor inspired by Spade, or even better, inspired by “new gen” anchors in general. Especially considering that Space Anchor monitors this site...

[Fence Man]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...iy-200740.html

You'll be celebrated by some, and castrated by others.

[Iaangus]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Sounds like a copyright/patent violation to me.

Maybe, maybe not, that would be up to a Judge to decide in the event of a lawsuit.

[onthewateralot]

Brian your thinking just like me. I see room for improvement in all of the designs and would like to incorporate those in my own. As an engineer I see structural flaws as well in some of the designs. It's my ass out there and if I can sleep better I'm going to do it. And to the naysayers who say I don't know what I'm doing i probably will personally weld it myself to make sure it's done right........can you say the same for the guy in the factory who may be having a bad day welding your own? I welded my own barge together and tomorrow we are going to salvage a 37' sailboat off the bottom who did not read the charts right but thats another story.

[thinwater]

Building one for yourself is legal IF you developed the idea independently. It is common for two companies to develop similar ideas but only one of them to patent. The former company retains some right of use, only because they also developed the idea before the patent date. But copying is copying.


What is absolutely NOT legal is sharing plans for something that is patented or a variation that falls withing the patent claims. The later is tricky, so I would keep plans off the forum.


And how complicated is it to copy and anchor pattern? Really.

[onthewateralot]

Mike, I have patents of my own and don't like it when I must go to court and challenge copiers (costing hundreds of thousands of dollars), however in this case I am just copying the concept and probably will improve upon it to suit my needs. I have no intent to copy it for profit just my own personal use.

[NYSail]

Originally Posted by onthewateralot

Mike, I have patents of my own and don't like it when I must go to court and challenge copiers (costing hundreds of thousands of dollars), however in this case I am just copying the concept and probably will improve upon it to suit my needs. I have no intent to copy it for profit just my own personal use.

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

[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,

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by onthewateralot

Mike, I have patents of my own and don't like it when I must go to court and challenge copiers (costing hundreds of thousands of dollars), however in this case I am just copying the concept and probably will improve upon it to suit my needs. I have no intent to copy it for profit just my own personal use.

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 .