Building pirate ship float. Strange requirement.

[Adam Brownstein]

So, I am building a 12' x5.5' pirate ship for a parade. the base/hull is made of 2x4's and the planking (the stuff on the side of the boat) are made of thin plywood. The modeling was pretty easy to do in sketchup and I have added the image to the post. The tricky part is that I need to get this float through a standard door! So, I designed the boat in such way that each half (L and R) are seperate pieces (each half will have 4 casters) and we can roll them into the building and then "clip" them together. The issue is that I need to clip them together FAST. We will have very little time between getting them through the door and then starting the float parade. Any ideas on a quick connect system? I thought about using hanger bolts sticking up out of the floor (2 sets of 4, one front and one back), with the set of four straddling the 2 pieces and then having a plate that would slide over the 4 to hold the 2 halves together. I also thought about using clips like one would find on a wooden chest, but I'm not sure if that would hold. Any other ideas?

boat.jpg

[Adam Herman]

https://www.pennelcomonline.com/en/u...saAm5SEALw_wcB

we use butterfly latches for stage sets and road cases. they work well and can deal with a little misalignment and pull it back into shape. they are also quite strong.

[Jeff Robinson]

If you attach a short rope to every other beam and then affix a boat cleat opposite of each rope you could essentially tie the two sides together. If you have enough tie off points, it would be really strong. Essentially it's the same way boats attach to a dock without having to tie a knot. And it would go perfectly with your pirate theme! Might be a better or different way to do it, but that's how I would do it since boat cleats are readily available where I live and other types of hardware connectors can be pretty expensive. Cheers!

[Peter Christensen]

These would work with a few dowels for alignment.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#over-center-clamps/=1ccb4jo

[Adam Brownstein]

If you attach a short rope to every other beam and then affix a boat cleat opposite of each rope you could essentially tie the two sides together. If you have enough tie off points, it would be really strong. Essentially it's the same way boats attach to a dock without having to tie a knot. And it would go perfectly with your pirate theme! Might be a better or different way to do it, but that's how I would do it since boat cleats are readily available where I live and other types of hardware connectors can be pretty expensive. Cheers!

I think this idea....but the floor is either going to be covered with fence planks or OSB...cost depending. I could still adapt the ship cleats and rope idea, but I would need to be careful of kids tripping on the "laces".

[Adam Brownstein]

I think the pull action toggle clamps are the way to go! Thanks everyone! (They are on amazon for cheap!)

[Jeff Robinson]

Hm. Probably wouldn't want the trip hazard. The butterfly latch would work too, if you can mortise the space for it easily.

[Bill Dufour]

Since your location is not shown I assume this is for a school presentation on career day in Somalia? Are the kids human or goat?
Bill D

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Goats wouldn't trip.

[Bill Dufour]

Maybe he meant they are going on a trip after the show.
Bill D

[Charles Lent]

With the battery operated impact drivers and a hand full of impact rated screws, you can assemble and dis-assemble things very quickly, if the process won't need to be repeated many times. I would just build the two halves with impact driven screws being the means of final assembly, since this isn't going to be something that needs to be repeated over and over. Maybe paint the screw heads so they can be found easily if dis-assembly time is as important as the assembly time. No trip hazards either.

Charley

[Don Bunce]

Door hinges with removable pins would probably work.

[johnny means]

In the exhibit world wing nuts with bolts are pretty standard.