Re: 1996 Regal 17.6 Avanti restoration using composite materials
Jack,
I just checked
www.compositesone.com and they have locations in northern USA. I think Main was the most northern location. They are a wholesaler that sells to the public. UPS will not ship a 4x8 sheet, so you have to pick it up or pay a lot for it to go my a carrier that does freight. Compositesone has a location in Lake Land Florida, and I live in Sarasota Florida. I am only a one hour drive away, so for me it was easy. I used Nida Core for most of my work and Coosa for the Transom. After using both products I would spend the extra money for the Coosa. The reason being that the Nida Core, has little strength in and of itself. The strength comes from the thickness of the entire laminate and the fiberglass skins on both sides of the material. I put a PIC on Jay's thread showing the raw Nida Core material flimsy like a noodle before lamination, and another PIC with me standing on it, after it was laminated. There are a couple of problems with Nida Core IMO.
First it offers no compression strength. You have to keep in mind that when you are talking about material strength, there are different types of strengths. My floor, done with Nida Core is very "Stiff" meaning that it will not flex. It does not however offer very much in the way of "Compression Strength". If you took a section of my floor and squeezed it in a vice, it would fail very easily under little compression force. If you are looking for the absolute lightest and the most stiff floor, then laminated Nida Core is the answer. The question then becomes weather or not the labor and resin cost involved in doing the extra lamination is worth the weight savings. Coosa Blue Water at 26 Lb density is still 1/3 of the weight as plywood. It has compression strength and stiffness strength. It doesn't match the stiffness of a laminate, but in its raw form it is acceptable for a floor and a transom. If you laminate the Coosa (fiberglas skins on both sides), then you have the best of everything with a little addition weight.
In a lot of respects wood is hard to beat. It offers "stiffness" and the best compression strength. It's compression strength far exceeds even the Coosa. The cost is cheap and it's easy to work with. The down fall as we all know is that it can rot. I think doing the things that Jay and others have done by properly sealing the wood will definitely preserve the wood for years and maybe a lifetime if taken care of properly. The thing you have to ask yourself, is how much resin & fiberglass do I want to buy, how much labor do I want to invest and finally how much heavier I am going to make my boat. I think when you factor in these other aspects the Coosa becomes the best choice.
As far as demand goes, there are so many boats down here in Florida that are very cheap. Part of this is due to the economy and the other is because everyone knows the high heat, humidity, high UV, and salt water, ruin boats in a hurry. Are boating season is a lot longer so a boat down here gets used a lot more in an unfriendly environment. With so many boats available, it's hard to justify expensive repair cost.
Sorry for being so winded here
Take Care Jack