foam core

S

Scott Gentry

Active member
any one no of a good web sight concerning foam core fiberglass boatskinda thinkin about somthing close too a delvin skaup without tons of wood work exuse me if im tottally wrong on this but isnt there alot less wood work in a foam core boat?
 
boatbuildercentral.com/products.php?cat=47 A page showing different foam products. I got a link from bateau2.com If you look around that site they should give you information on foam core boats. The advantages of foam core is insulation if you sleep on the boat. A lot less dampness. It seems though the cost is higher. Some of the sheets of foam were over 500 $ most seemed as high as good grade marine ply. Let us know what you find out. pete
 
you can build a lighter & stronger boat with the good high density foam core or the honeycomg cores but as already said the foam material is a little more pricey but well worth it some of the same material I have used before building a airplane
 
http://www.diabgroup.com/americas/u_opening/u_home.html

Diab makes one of the best foams for hull cores. To make a hull out of foam that is as strong as plywood you will have to do a lot more work to support the foam or use a lot more fiberglass. The foam is easier to work using hand tools, but it takes more work to give it the strength of wood. To do it right you will have to build a frame to cold mold the foam over. There also appears to be adhesion issues between the surface of the foam and the epoxy. If there is any flex in the hull, the epoxy will delaminate from the foam and you have just wasted thousands of dollars in materials.

I made a foam cored marsh boat out of blue board from a home store. It is just a large surfboard with a wood cockpit. It was easy, but messy with the foam dust/chips. In the end it weighed the same as a plywood boat, but was not nearly as strong. The guy that borrowed it from me last fall dragged it behind his ATV and tore some big holes out of it. It was also delaminating in the sun due to the trapped air pocets being heated and expanding.

If you have the money and time to experiment then give it a shot, but if you are looking to save money then foam is the wrong way to go.
 
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