i386
Captain
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2004
- Messages
- 3,548
First off, I have never worked with fiberglass, epoxy or polyester resins except for all the grinding/cutting I've done lately. I need a lot of advice on materials and methods. I tend to over engineer things that I don't have any prior experience with.
Please take a minute to click the Boat Restoration link in my sig and look at the pictures. You should have a pretty good idea what I'm dealing with.
For starters, I don't know which resin was used to build the boat. I intend to do my repairs with whichever resin was used to build it. I've read all the debates about both systems and what I take from it is that epoxy is better but polyester is cheaper and good enough for most applications (and probably mine). If I was building a boat from scratch I'd use epoxy for sure.
These are the things I need to do. Any help on specific materials would be extremely helpful.
1. Repair some small holes in the hull. There's a place on the keel up front that was repaired externally by a previous owner. I'd like to repair this from the inside so I can grind/sand the repair off the outside and refinish. Resin? Fabric(s) weight?
2. Install a new floor. The plywood that came out measured 3/8" thick. 2 sheets of plywood should do the floor and the piece that goes in the transom. I know the plywood in the floor needs to be cut to size, and sealed on both sides. Then I need to glue it down with "peanut butter". How do I make peanut butter? Cloth needs to go over the plywood too. Cloth weight? Resin?
3. Repair the transom. I think I need to do a layer of cloth across the back to replace what I ground off. Then I can cut the wood. I saved the rotten piece for a pattern. I need to glue up 3 layers of plywood. Resin? Peanut butter? I need to glass in that piece of wood too. Resin? Weight of cloth?
4. Rejoin splashwell to the rest of the "top half" I had to cut apart. I figured I'd do some grinding at the joint to make a "V" in the top side to put peanut butter in (fillet?) and use some cloth on the back side where you can't see it. Cloth weight? Resin? Good idea?
5. When it's time to join the top half with the hull, the stern section (splash well) needs to be peanut buttered in. I say this because as the boat was originally constructed there was a layer of peanut butter between the outer skin and the splashwell. This is why I had to cut off the splashwell and pop it loose using a car jack.
6. Finish. I'd like to gelcoat the whole thing white. Roll & Tip? Add some nonskid stuff to the "deck". Good idea? Gallons required?
The days of 90 degrees outside are gone. This is also something to be considered.
Sorry such a long post, just trying to provide as much detail as possible.
Please take a minute to click the Boat Restoration link in my sig and look at the pictures. You should have a pretty good idea what I'm dealing with.
For starters, I don't know which resin was used to build the boat. I intend to do my repairs with whichever resin was used to build it. I've read all the debates about both systems and what I take from it is that epoxy is better but polyester is cheaper and good enough for most applications (and probably mine). If I was building a boat from scratch I'd use epoxy for sure.
These are the things I need to do. Any help on specific materials would be extremely helpful.
1. Repair some small holes in the hull. There's a place on the keel up front that was repaired externally by a previous owner. I'd like to repair this from the inside so I can grind/sand the repair off the outside and refinish. Resin? Fabric(s) weight?
2. Install a new floor. The plywood that came out measured 3/8" thick. 2 sheets of plywood should do the floor and the piece that goes in the transom. I know the plywood in the floor needs to be cut to size, and sealed on both sides. Then I need to glue it down with "peanut butter". How do I make peanut butter? Cloth needs to go over the plywood too. Cloth weight? Resin?
3. Repair the transom. I think I need to do a layer of cloth across the back to replace what I ground off. Then I can cut the wood. I saved the rotten piece for a pattern. I need to glue up 3 layers of plywood. Resin? Peanut butter? I need to glass in that piece of wood too. Resin? Weight of cloth?
4. Rejoin splashwell to the rest of the "top half" I had to cut apart. I figured I'd do some grinding at the joint to make a "V" in the top side to put peanut butter in (fillet?) and use some cloth on the back side where you can't see it. Cloth weight? Resin? Good idea?
5. When it's time to join the top half with the hull, the stern section (splash well) needs to be peanut buttered in. I say this because as the boat was originally constructed there was a layer of peanut butter between the outer skin and the splashwell. This is why I had to cut off the splashwell and pop it loose using a car jack.
6. Finish. I'd like to gelcoat the whole thing white. Roll & Tip? Add some nonskid stuff to the "deck". Good idea? Gallons required?
The days of 90 degrees outside are gone. This is also something to be considered.
Sorry such a long post, just trying to provide as much detail as possible.
