Created with Wolfram Mathematica 9.0 Explanation of some technical terms
For technical terms concerning kayaking and traditional strip building we refer to Bjørn Thomasson's web page, or the web page of some other vendor of drawings for strip-built kayaks. Here are eplained a few terms that go beyound the realm of traditional strip building.
dxf
dxf is a format for describing 3D elements. We produce dxf-files for the parts of the building jigs and for the cross sections that are mounted in the jig. Also, we produce dxf-files for the strips. The dxf-files are transferred to the Tjelmeland Friksjon (builder of climbing walls) in-house CNC machine, where the parts are machined more or less automatically. It would also be possible to produce dxf-files for the assembled kayak for viewing in a standard CAD program.
stl
stl is the standard format for 3D printing. Although we dream about 3D-printing a whole kayak, we are realists and will start by printing crucial kayak parts. The first endeavour will be printing hatch rims for Kayak Sport hatch covers for the kayak Turøy. Making hatches can take up considerable time for a builder. If successfull (we will see by the spring 2017!) we could deliver either stl files or hatch rims that fit exactly the kayak you are working on. We will need a copy of your drawings, though. Later, we will print cockpit coamings, knee braces and seats.
For now, we have a fusion 3D printer with a modest print area of about 25x15 cm, so we will have to divide the larger parts and glue together afterwards. We are working on building our own stereolitographic printer with larger print area.