Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

[JasonJ]

After two days of mind numbing, hideously dusty grinding with the trusty ol' 4.5 inch angle grinder, the hull is now ready for the glasswork to begin. I have purchased the wood. I am using one piece of 3/4 acx and one piece of 5/8 acx with a layer of glass in between for the transom. It will then be glassed in to form the final 1.5 inch transom thickness that the splashwell will allow. the two sheets will also be screwed together with 1.25 inch stainless screws. The original transom was a miniscule 1 inch thick, kind of surprising for a 140 max horsepower boat, so my transom should work fine. The stringers will also be 3/4 acx. Floor will be 1/2 inch acx, screwed on with 1.25 stainless screws and glassed. Cost of all wood was $130. I know some on here do not care for acx, but it doesn't make a rip. Old boats were not made with marine ply, nor was it even as good as acx, but they still lasted for over 30 years. Doesn't take rocket science. Water soaks into wood and expands, doesn't matter if its marine ply or acx or solid or whatever. Its not what you make it out of, its how you care for it. <br /><br />

 

[flashback]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Great job Jason, one of the cleanest I have ever seen. looks like it just came out of the mold. makes me itch just looking at it. I ground the gelcoat off the bottom of a 34' beneteau sail boat once. blisters covered the entire bottom,boy what a miserable job......good luck........

 

[boatingfool]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

JasonJ<br />

Its not what you make it out of, its how you care for it. <br />

I couldnt have said it better myself!<br /><br />Good Luck!!

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Now you know what an Iron Butterfly concert or Ted Nugent concert was like. Keep on keepin on. Looks real good. Looking forward to seeing more progress on the beast.

 

[brokeboater]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

jason, you are making some good progress there. i started a project similar to this last April-May time frame. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a nasty, itchy, time consuming job most people will not be able to appreciate because when you set the deck back on, it all gets covered up. It's a good feeling when it all starts coming together and looking like a boat again. My little 4 1/2" grinder will be near replacing soon. I did buy a cheapo 7" grinder for the big stuff. It was handy for removing excess wood while cutting and fitting stringers too. Keep on grindin....

 

[hi-speed]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Jason <br />marine plywood has been treated to resist moisture in marine enviroment I wouldn't go thru all the trouble of cutting,grinding& itching then put cheap plywood in the structure.<br /> If you insist on using acx make sure it isn't pine, polyester resin doesn't bond to well to pine.also make sure you resin coat the plywood and let it cure before laminating.<br />I would also recomend encapsulating all plywood including the deck.

 

[MIKE F]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

For what it's worth, I don't think you want to resin coat the plywood, and let it cure before you encapsulate it. I don't believe you'll get as good a bond to the plywood that way.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Thanx Hi-speed. Yes, marine ply is treated to resist moisture, but that treatment only lasts so long. Its the fact the marine ply has more layers and no voids that make it superior to regular ply. That being said, the majority of boats were not built with marine ply. The older they are, the more likely they are comprised of a hodge-podge of whatever the manufacturer could get cheap at the time. Take my boat for instance. It is a 33 year old boat that had six stringers of lord-knows-what, and a 1 inch thick transom that was crazy with voids, yet it lasted 33 years. It wasn't a pretty 33 years, and I am sure the last several have been hard years, but needless to say, it did work. I had thought the transom was in good shape, it had no deflection, and very little bowing uner the weight of the 350 pound motor, yet it was thoroughly soaked and rotted. I know for a fact that the 1.5 inch thick laminated acx transom that is going in will be stronger. I am of the opinion that you can boat smarter or boat harder. I know, with the materials I will use and the way I will do it, it will last at least 33 years. If I get two years of use out of it and it dies or sinks or I sell it or whatever, I am still money ahead, as I will not have more than $2000 into it. I can guarantee that with the way I care for boats that it will outlast anyone elses boat that is made of all marine grade and epoxy but sits in the pouring rain and stays full of snow......<br /><br />MikeF, I have been told that a layer or two of resin on the underside of the floor is enough. The boat restoration place I got the supplies from actually place a layer of mat on the underside. The fact that my boat will always be under cover and never have moisture buildup in the bilge causes me to wonder just how into it I need to get. I tend the think a coating of resin would be enough, but I'll see when I get to that point.

 

[MIKE F]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Jason, I agree with you that a coating of resin on the underside ( and edges) of your new deck would be sufficient. I interpreted hi-speed's post as telling you to resin coat, lets say, your stringers and let that cure before putting on the fiberglass,with which I don't agree. Maybe I mis- understood his post.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

My interpretation of Hi-speeds post was to take all my individual pieces, completely encase them in resin with mat or cloth, then install them with more glass. This is do-able I think, as long as the glass is fully cured and then scuffed with 40 grit, but I think if I install the stringers with glass all the way to their tops, then run a wet mat strip on the stringer tops, place resin coated floor on before resin has "kicked", screw into place, then glass and sheath floor top, it should be okay. Lord knows they didn't get that high-speed at the factory. The glass wasn't even all the way to the tops of the stringers.

 

[Arrowglass]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Jason, your right on track on your process. As long as you resin coat (with a good coverage) of all exposed wood, you will be fine. The wood stringer, as long as fully encapsulated, will also work well. Older boats they did not fully encapsulate the stringer, letting the water and moisture have a place to enter. By fully covering them, and resin or sealing any and holes, you prevent water from entering. This is what most people don't do. If there is an opening, water will find it's way in. Also, as for the stringers, if you fully encapsulate with roving, the wood is on the form. The glass should actually do the work. Some newer boats will pre form glass in a mold before laminating it into the boat (mold).<br /><br />P.S. Remember alittle bit of water will create moisture in an enclosed enviroment.

 

[Kenbo]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

I have never posted a reply on this board before but I have been following your progress with some interest. I used to earn my bread and butter building fiberglass boats and have done a transom core replacement on my own boat. One reason to resin coat the plywood before you laminate your layup is to seal the wood so that it doesn't absorb the resin from your layup. We would add extra hardener to the resin so that it would cure quickly before absorbing into the wood. We called it "hotcoat". You also want to ensure that all surface voids (knots) in the plywood are filled. You can use bondo or something like that. It will make wetting out the glass that much easier. I don't know if you have started glassing yet but one tool you might want to consider is a air bubble roller. Defender Marine has them and they help remove air bubbles from the layup before it cures. I did my transom about 12 years ago and it's still solid. Good luck.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Kenbo, I have not started glassing yet. I didn't have to work today so I spent the day cutting my two transom pieces. It was nice out, clear and sunny and a bit over 50 degrees. I had the hull out in the sun, and it was quite warm. If I had the time, I could have glassed and let it kick in the sun, then do the tarp/heater thing overnight, but it took all afternoon to get my transom just right. The next time it is nice, its getting glassed, otherwise its just cutting wood.<br /><br />Arrowglass, by the time I am done, all wood will be covered fully in glass.

 

[hi-speed]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

Jason <br />I meant to reply sooner but when I was posting my reply my mouse went out.<br />I agree completly with kenbos' reply as I also have paid my dues in the grinding booth.<br />I have had many customers bring me thier boats a year or two after they have slopped a few coats of resin on the underside of thier deck complaining about all the money they paid to have thier boat repaired and the floor already had soft spots in it.<br />I ask them If they glassed the underside of the deck.<br />the answer is always no.The guy who did the work said the plywood needed to breath.<br />The bottom line is this save today pay tommorow.<br /> http//www.proboat.com/pbbb.htm

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Hull is prepped, ready for glasswork

I bought enough material to glass the underside of the floor as well as everything else, The shop I bought my stuff from glasses the underside of their floors prior to installation, so I will more than likely go the same route.