resin advise

[D Grass]

I am thinking about building a jon boat out of plywood; similar to the plans on Uncle Johns country store website, if any one has seen them. I am wondering if I can get away with using poly resin instead of the epoxy, or am I wasting my time if I use poly. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: resin advise

Epoxy is a superior adhesive to Poly but both can be used for boatbuilding. Poly layup is best done almost as a single step to ensure good adhesion and strength while Epoxy, because of its better adhesion to previously cured epoxy, is more forgiving of stop and start boatbuilding projects. Epoxy 'systems' may help a boatbuilder get better results than poly also. Poly can be thinned and thickened just like epoxy can. Epoxy doesn't stink like Poly. Epoxy costs significantly more than Poly.<br /><br />Do your research and with the proper preparations and procedure you can get great results with either type of resin. I personally prefer Epoxy and find it worth the extra cost.

 

[D Grass]

Re: resin advise

thanks for the info, it's the cost of epoxy that scares me. I have never built any kind of boat and i don't want to spend that much on what could be a complete failure. could any one tell me about how muck resin I would need to do a 15 foot flat with a 48" floor. what kind of epoxy resin do you recommend, or what kind of poly resin do you recommend?

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: resin advise

Buy a GOOD condition used aluminum boat for about 200 too 500. Float it for 4 hours before buying to see if it has leaks. May take awile to find one. But no expensive mess with building one by yourself.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: resin advise

That might be missing the point cyclops2, if the goal is to build a boat for the sake of building one. Otherwise that would get one on the water quite effectively. <br /><br />I've personally had very good results with West System Epoxy and associated products. I've heard of good results but not had firsthand experience with MAS and US composites Epoxies. Google those names for suppliers or more info.

 

[fishingdan]

Re: resin advise

System Three is also another excellent epoxy brand. <br /><br />The thing to be careful of with poly resin is can be brittle and it doesn't always stick well to wood. Some people can get good results, but epoxy is much more foregiving in this area. <br /><br />Here is my advice. If you are building the boat and plan to row it around or maybe use a trolling motor on it, then you can probably get by with poly. If you expect to use an outboard and reach planing speeds, I would only go with epoxy.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: resin advise

D Grass, Do not forget to use cloth with whatever resin you use. Cover all seams with multiple layers of cloth to assist in water tightness when the boat flexes. I personally would use poly resin. It saturates into wood well (if you mix less hardener than usual), and on raw, dry wood sticks very well, much better than you will ever need. Using cloth on the non-seamed portion of the boat is desireable, but not essential. <br /><br />Also, if you can find some urethane foam, you can use it to fabricate nonstructual components of the boat. It is very lightweight and strong when reinforced by resin and cloth.

 

[Rick K]

Re: resin advise

Dgrass, <br />Everyone here is steering you in the right direction. If you want to read up on resins, fillers, etc., go over to www.clarkcraft.com, and click on "reference materials".<br /><br />That should be enough to get you started...<br /><br />Hope this helps<br />Rick

 

[BillP]

Re: resin advise

You want to build a cheap plywood boat that will last 15-20 yrs? Use AC exterior ply, weldwood type resorcinal glue and SS or bronze boat nails. Paint with an oil base enamel. It won't leak and it will last a long, long time. For storage, keep water from standing in the boat when not in use. Keep the boat turned upsidedown and stored off the ground if kept outside. Paint it once a year to keep nicks and dings protected.

 

[trackersocha]

Re: resin advise

i like poly, it is cheap(compared to epoxy) and it works well, for the uncle john, use 2-3 gallons, i used 2 gallons each on the minimax,<br /><br />thae your time and ask lots of questions, you can build a boat

 

[D Grass]

Re: resin advise

hey guys, Thanks for all of your advise. I really appreciate your taking the time to reply. any more tips would be great. I am sure as I get going on it I will have more ?'s.

 

[trackersocha]

Re: resin advise

dont let the scarf joints scare you, i did them. i used a 4"grinder for the rough shaping, then a belt sander. a brad gun is helpful if you have one. also mebbe you might look at TBAB(usually towards the top of boat restoration) there are a lot of great guys there.

 

[D Grass]

Re: resin advise

the scarf joints do scare me, but maybe I'll try it. I never considered using a grinder, that's a good idea. I had visions of sanding and planing for months.

 

[BillP]

Re: resin advise

If scarfs are tough for you do butt joints with backing blocks. Glue the backing blocks. Very easy, simple and stronger than a scarf.

 

[bigbad4cyl]

Re: resin advise

you need a 21 inch belt sander . i dont know how i did without one . realy a handy tool

 

[Wimperdink]

Re: resin advise

Just my opinion, I perfer poly only because i've never tried epoxy. My prefrences are based on what I've read on lots of reading here.<br />for me...<br />Pro's - <br />1/2 the expense of epoxy.<br />more forgiving than epoxy with mixture ratios ( Read this post )<br />most every boat out there was created with poly and if its good enough for them, its good enough for me.<br />cons - <br />smells more than epoxy but not bad in a well ventilated area<br />more brittle than epoxy.<br /><br />there are lots more differances than that, those are just the immediate that come to mind.<br /><br />if your just wanting something to play with for a couple of years, poly will be more than adequete. if your wanting it to last forever, go with epoxy.<br /><br />Belt sander is a must, and i've found an autobody DA sander to work great for finishing sanding.