Fiberglassing Questions

[Hunt M Up]

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I have been following many of the builds here for several years and now have a project of my own.  It is not an Aquasport, but it's mine.  With the wealth of knowledge here I was hoping a few of you could point me in the right direction and save me some head aches and the expense of trial by error.

I have a fiberglass boat that I am going to turn in to my duck hunting rig. It is flat across the stern to about 3/4 the way up toward the bow, then it has a very slight and shallow tri hull to it. The boat is wide open on the inside, which is the way I plan on keeping it. The boat is a mid eighties Tuffy 15' of solid fiberglass construction with no stringer system. It looks similar to the modern day Carolina Skiffs. I will be hunting mostly small rivers and small lakes with it. I know it is not the ideal duck boat, but I got it for next to nothing including a trailer and running 20hp Merc tiller.

I have read all I could find on line about the various kinds of resin and have decided on using epoxy, but I am confused on what type of fiber to use where. There is mat, roven, biax, etc. I need to replace the transom and am wondering on what type of fiber to use to sandwich the plywood together and then what to use to bond the wood to the transom, and finally what fiber to use to cover the new transom and tie it back in to the boat. I was planning on using 2 layers of 3/4".

I also plan on building narrow storage boxes the full length of the boat down each side. Do I use the same fiber on this structure as I do the transom? Obviously this does not need the strength that the transom does. I was planning on using 1/2" for these storage boxes.

Yes, I have read enough to know that I will be using marine grade ply for this build.

Finally, I was wondering if there was any type of fiber that I could use to layer over the outside of the hull to give it more strenth to firm it up against stumps and ice. The boat is solid fiberglass construction, but I thought as long I am rehabbing, now would be the perfect time to do any additional strengthening if needed.

Is there a book on fiberglassing that I could purchase that would be good for a newbie to fiberglassing that would help me along or have I read enough on here and CM to get me by?  Other than US Composites is there another company that you would reccomend for purchasing my materials?  

I know this is a lot of questions, but you all remember what it was like to be a fiberglass rehab virgin!


Thank you for all your help.

[Marcq]

Hey dude, welcome    Here's some reading material, very informative
http://www.classicmako.com/forum/topic. ... C_ID=16723  tanks LilRichard :)

Marc..

[Mad Dog]

Here is site to check out also.

http://forums.bateau2.com/index.php?sid ... 89b1b6c99b

MD  

[lynnstrick01]

HuntM

Sounds like you have a great plan for your boat, just remember marine plywood is HEAVY, be careful how much weight you are adding with those storage boxes.  I had a boat that sounds much like what you are describing, previous owner was a cabinet guy so he had added a lot of really cool storage boxes, he had used just regular plywood (not nearly as heavy as marine) and it added so much weight to the boat that it sat VERY low in the water and the motor could barely push it, and god forbid you hit a few waves in a lake or river.

I dont pretend to know anything about re-glassing and this may be way off base.. but when you talk about it being a hunting boat and holding up to stumps and ice and such, It made me remember something.. there is polymar substance that they use on airboats here in Florida, that stuff is virtually indestructable, I have seen some of these guys run their boats on asphalt (short distances)  and come out with barely a scratch on the boat,  I just googled it and it works on fiberglass as well as aluminum, the only question I wasnt able to find an answer to was just how it is applied.. The guys I knew who used it on thier airboats, were not the brightest crayons in the box and didnt have much $$ so I figure it must be fairly cheap and easy.

here are a couple of links I found:

http://www.superslide.com/airboatpolymer.php

http://www.tse-ok.com/products/airboatpolymer.php

If I am off base I am sure someone here will correct me quickly, but it sounds like a really cool idea to me,  maybe you could start a new trend.

[Marcq]

but it sounds like a really cool idea to me,  maybe you could start a new trend.

Looks like a very cool idea, wonder how much that stuff cost?
Thanks for sharing

edit. just checked the cost, not bad at all

Marc..

[Hunt M Up]

Thank you all for your input.  Some really great information.  

Is there another type of plywood I could get away with if I encapsulated it that would hold up in my application for the storage boxes that would not add the same amount of weight as marine ply?  

Is there a difference between Ocume(sp) and marine ply?

For the bottom I had read somewhere you could add graphite with epoxy then add a layer of glass and a layer of Dynel.  Anyone ever heard of this?

[LilRichard]

Okoume is a type of plywood that is very dense, and near perfect - and from a certain type of wood (I think Okoume?).  Okoume is also certified BS 1088 - which is a british qualification for marine plywood.

You can certainly use that stuff - and it is good - but I used a plywood I found that is marine rated, but also pressure treated.  It was the only stuff that was kiln dried AGAIN after the PT process - which allows you to glass over it.  Typical PT wood is too moist to glass over.  I can dig up the manufacturer if you want to go that route.

You do not want to use regular exterior ply, nor do you want to use normal PT ply - period.  Marine ply has adhesives that are moisture resistant, so it will not separate should it get wet.  Plus marine ply is typically higher quality - I think A/B or B/B?

[Hunt M Up]

Lil Richard - Thank you for chiming in.  I was hoping you would.  I followed your rebuild from start to finish and to say I was impressed would be an understatement.  Yes, if you could find out the name of the manufacturer of the PT marine plywood, I would appreciate it.  I am going to redo this boat and use it and see how it goes.  I am already looking at boat plans and contemplating building a boat from scratch that will be exactly what I want for my situation.  Thanks again for your input.

[LilRichard]

No worries.  I used Plum Creek's "Marine Tech".  I got it at a specialty lumber place in Tampa... where are you located?

Here is a data sheet for you I found on the web:

http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/marine-tech.html

Hope that helps!