IYRS School of Technology & Trades is a non-profit, post-secondary experiential learning school located in Newport, Rhode Island. The school offers education & training programs for craftspeople, artists, fixers, technicians, thinkers, problem-solvers, and creatives! Set on Aquidneck Island, Newport and its yacht-filled harbor hosted the America’s Cup, a renowned annual sailing regatta, for many years. The school’s alumni are rapidly employed into the local shipbuilding industry which helps makes Newport one the most popular lifestyle and tourist destinations on the New England sea coast.
Be sure to check out the video below of IYRS alumni help to restore The Mayflower II at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT.
IYRS School of Technology & Trades was originally founded on the boatbuilding restoration program. A 20-month program to master the craft and fundamentals of restoring, building, and finishing classic wooden yachts. Students build a beetle cat sailboat the first year and then come back the second year and learn boat building restoration. The school has recently added three additional programs, Composites Technology, Marine Systems, and Digital Modeling & Fabrication.
Composites Technology
Kelsey Britton is the Composites Technology program manager and instructor at IYRS School of Technology & Trades and considers shipbuilding to be more a way of life than a job! Her mother taught Kelsey how to sail as a child. Her brother is a ferry boat captain in New London, CT and her father is a career marine mechanic and manager. Kelsey started her career in hospitality, doing everything from bussing tables to managing entire restaurants. Soon however, the love of the boat building trade urged her back home where she enrolled and excelled in the school’s yacht restoration program. Kelsey made such a positive impression on the staff that in no short order she was offered and accepted a full-time position to teach at the school she loves!
“The marine industry and shipbuilding specifically is more a lifestyle than a job. I love what I do – teaching others how to find that passion and help them move forward in life and hopefully continue and work in the marine industry!” Kelsey Britton, Program Manager & Instructor IYRS School of Technology & Trades, Newport, RI |
We recently sat down with Kelsey to discuss her use of RhinoCAM as part of her curriculum in her Composites Technology class. Kelsey says that she uses many of the articles on the MecSoft Tech Blog to learn and teach her students how to be proficient in RhinoCAM. Kelsey likes how RhinoCAM’s user interface pop-ups helpful information about the various machining parameters and specifically mentions MecSoft’s technical support as a key part of her classes success. Here is a project that IYRS student Simon Pride recently completed in Kelsey’s class with the help of RhinoCAM.
The Marine Steering Wheel Project
In this project Simon designs and manufactures the marine steering wheel shown in Rhino below using composite technology materials and techniques. Simon used the 3D model to split and subtract a cavity to design the mold block. The design consists of the main steering wheel that is 22 mm in cross-section and 445 mm in outer diameter. The center connecting spoke is 6 mm thick and blends into the main wheel at both ends. The central parting line lies in on XY plane. The steering wheel 3D model is shown below in Rhino.
3 Axis Z-Level Roughing in RhinoCAM
In the left image below we see the bottom cavity mold half for the steering wheel. The view shows where the center spoke transitions into the outer wheel. In the right image we see the remaining cut material simulation and in-process stock left after a 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing toolpath using a 3 mm diameter end mill.
The cut parameters include a Stock Allowance of 1.259 mm, an Offset cut pattern, Mixed cut direction, an Inside start point and a 40% tool Stepover. For cut levels, a Stepdown distance of 2 mm and a maximum Top Z height of 50.8 mm. The Clear Flats option is also checked which ensures that a cleanup finish pass is located on the floor of the spoke cavity. The 1.259 mm stock allowance ensures that only the vertical side walls of the spoke need to be finished.
(Top Left) The 3D model of the bottom cavity mold is shown in Rhino. (Top Right) The cut material simulation showing the in-process stock after the 3 Axis Horizontal Z-Level Roughing toolpath is completed. |
3 Axis Horizontal Z-Level Finishing
For finishing the cavity, two RhinoCAM 3 Axis Horizontal Z-Level Finishing operations are performed using the same 3 mm diameter ball mill. The first finishes the outer wheel cavity and the second finishes the inner spoke cavity. A 3 Axis Pencil Trace operation is also performed using the same 3mm ball mill as a finishing pass. It calculates the bi-tangent path between the spoke floor and the drafted spoke side walls. In the right side image we see the actual mold half after being prepared for composite lay-up.
(Top Right) The resulting RhinoCAM cut material simulation after the 3 Axis finishing toolpaths are completed. (Top Right) The actual mold cavity after being prepped for composite layup. |
Student Simon Pride prepares his composite marine steering wheel for assembly. |
— Cool project Simon! —
We want to thank Kelsey Britton and IYRS School of Technology & Trades in Newport, RI for allowing us to showcase their student’s work!
IYRS Alumni Help Restore The Mayflower II
Alumni of the two-year Boatbuilding & Restoration program at IYRS School of Technology & Trades in Newport, RI are featured in this video focused on the restoration of the Mayflower II and the IYRS externship with Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBFIVuIyiWM
More about IYRS
IYRS School of Technology & Trades, located in Newport, Rhode Island offers marine industry classes on Composites Technology, Marine Systems, Boatbuilding & Restoration as well as Digital Modeling & Fabrication. To learn more about the IYRS programs we invite you to visit them online at iyrs.edu as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.