M/V Infinity

(c) Recreational vessels. For vessels documented exclusively for
recreation, the name and hailing port must be marked together on some
clearly visible exterior part of the hull.

 
(d) The markings required by paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this
section, which may be made by the use of any means and materials which
result in durable markings, must be made in clearly legible letters of
the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals not less than four inches
in height.

We have been using vinyl decals, such as those offered by Prism Graphics to display both our vessel name and hailing port.

While visiting boat shows, and looking at other vessels while underway, we noticed that our vessel name is difficult to read under low light, and is a little 'flat'. As an alternative, we have been looking at a variety of illuminated and raised lettering used on various modern megayachts.  Here is a sideboard name on one vessel (also called Infinity) I found at the 2006 Seattle Lake Union Boats Afloat Show.

A number of commerically supplied boat nameplate manufactures have websites, such as SeaPlaque, YachtLite, and YachtSign. All of these companies make beautiful products. I requested a quote from one of them for an illuminated SS transom nameplate and illuminated SS sideboard nameplates. The quote exceeded $30K US. Wow! Ok, maybe we don't have a megayacht.

How hard can it be to build one of these? All we need are a few SS letters, a sheet or two of polycarbonate, some waterproof LED lighting, a bit of wire, cable glands, a few power tools and a bit of talent.

I assembled a budget of about $7,700 as follows:

$5100 - 316 SS Letters (transom, hailing port & sideboards)

  $360 - acrylic sheets (1/2")

  $750 - LED rope lighting, electrical boxes, wire, etc.

  $100 - router bits, drill bits, saw blades, etc. 

  $700 - contengency

  $700 - sales tax

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$7710  TOTAL

My suppliers are as follows:

316 SS 1/4" thick letters: Buy Sign Letters

Polycarbonate: Tap Plastics Seattle

LED rope lighting: Imtra

Junction boxes, relays etc.: Automation Direct

 

The following paragraphs chronicle the assembly and installation. 

September 22, 2007

Today we picked up the 1/2" acrylic sheets, 3/4" plywood for the backing template, router bits, and opened the box of SS letters. The 65 lbs. of SS letters were shipped in a large cardboard box, with groups of letters shrink-wrapped to a cardboard sheet. Sucessive sheets are protected by foam padding.

We laid out the largest set of letters in the parking lot to obtain a set sense of perspective. I also tried the magnet test. Because the supplier only listed 304 grade SS on their web-site, and I wanted 316 grade, I contacted them to request that they build our letters out of 316 grade SS rather than 304. The magnet does not lie. Wow! No magnetic attraction. None!

. Each letter is supported by three or four 3/16" studs.

Each set of letters includes a paper template which provides the location the mounting studs for each of the letters

We start by assembling the smallest nameboard; 8" letters. If we screw this one up, the cost of rescue (i.e. the cost to replace the damaged materials) is minimized.

I asked TAP Plastics to cut two 12" x 51" x 1/2" pieces of acrylic for the side nameboards and for HOME DEPOT to cut two 12" x 51" x 3/4" pieces of plywood to function as a temporary mounting board.  We do not have a table saw, and it is always easier to transport smaller pieces of material to the boat.

After clamping everything together, I marked and drilled the holes for the mounting studs. The mounting studs are 3/16" but I drilled 1/4" holes so that the acrylic would be able to expand/contract with changes in temperature.

Once the holes were drilled, we dry fitted the letters.

September 23, 2007

The next step is to trace around each letter with a straight carbide tipped router bit. I decided to use a template tracing tool on the router which leaves an additional 1/4" boarder around each letter. We do not plan to router completely around the tops of all letters and the bottom of the letters "INF" and "INI".  This allows the letters to be connected together and makes final assembly and alignment easier.

September 29, 2007

After 4 hours of work with a router, a tracer tool, and a shop-vac, we finished cutting out the letters from the 1/2" plexiglass sheet for the first sideboard. It started to rain in the late afternoon so we decided to stop for the day, clean up, and take a hot bath. If the weather improves tomorrow, we plan to sand out any rough spots and cut a 45 degree bevel around all of the letters.

October 7, 2007

The Imtra 3/8" OD 24V DC LED rope lighting arrived this week. I was a bit concerned that the lighting may be too large in diameter, dim, or otherwise unsuitable for this application. I only ordered enough materials for the first nameplate so I could try a few experiments. In order to determine if the lights were bright enough, I cut a 1/2" W by 3/8" D notch into a scrap piece of plexiglass, and inserted the rope lighting. The plexiglass was sandwiched between two sheets of plywood to simulate the hull and the lettering. Question: does enough light escape to give the illusion of backlighting?

We concluded that there is enough light escaping through the unpolished edges to adequately illuminate the letters and give the illusion of backlighting. By the end of the day we added a 45 degree bevel around each of the letters with a combination of a router and files/sandpaper.

Next weekend, if the weather holds, we'll router 1/2" wide x 3/8" deep groves into the plexiglass letters to contain the LED rope lighting. According to the Imtra documentation, their 24V LED rope lighting can only be cut at 12 inch intervals, and many of the sections are less than 12 inches. I will need to complete a bit of math to determine where I need to add resisters in series/parallel with the LED lights so that I can deploy arbitrary lengths. Hopefully one of the EEs at work can help me make the calculations.

November 3, 2007

We spent last weekend at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat show. While there we carefully examined a number of illuminated boat nameplates and refined our design. Rather than leaving the acrylic face polished, we selected a translucent rather than transparent finish. I also decided to route the LED rope lights such that we don't have to splice, and add resisters in series/parallel.  The first faceplate is now complete.  I'll start the starboard nameplate tomorrow.

The above picture was taken at night, with the nameplate suspended from my workbench.

December 8, 2007

Today we mounted the letters on the transom.  First the template is positioned on the transom.

Next, we drilled the mounting holes through the 1/4" steel plate.

We mounted the letters in the daylight, and waited until night to see them illuminated.