jode hillman
Well-known member
Yes, that's the stuff. Couldn't remember the name. It is definitely Stone Age technology. The last time I bought polyester resin supplies. I felt like I was back in the 1980s. Lol, but I got what I needed.
New boat building experience
- Thread starter SJ Fairbank
- Start date
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
SJ~
Indeed, the US Composites ordering process is a tad Old School by contemporary interwebs standards. However, I recall my early years ordering through Herter's (and Sears, Roebuck & Co, Montgomery Ward, et cetera).
Lots of opportunity to practice arithmetic - long before pocket calculators (and 800 numbers and credit cards). Adding up all those ounces and checking the table for the Zone 6 prices.... The best part was getting the "refund" checks from Herter's for 39 cents (no longer a cents symbol on keyboards) and such. Personal checks were mailed off with 5 cent stamps and the order arrived promptly in about one month.
All the best,
SJS Class of '53, Zone 6
I was reminded of Herter's when I wrote regarding ordering from US Composites. Them/Him, and to a lesser extent Cabela's in the late 70's - early 80's when you could drop a dime to order, and not long after get two/three day delivery. That was George Jetson stuff.
In fairness to US Composites, they have always had what I want and shipped it reasonably quickly. They also saved me from myself once, when I ordered thick epoxy resin, rather than thin resin as I had done many times previously. I got a call to confirm, and was happy to have the chance to change the order. Can't say that was their site's fault either, as I might have clicked on the wrong one anyway. I'll continue to buy from them as my go-to fiberglass supplier. Insofar as their system reminds me of old time catalog ordering, talking duck hunting off season is mostly a trip down memory lane anyway.
In fairness to US Composites, they have always had what I want and shipped it reasonably quickly. They also saved me from myself once, when I ordered thick epoxy resin, rather than thin resin as I had done many times previously. I got a call to confirm, and was happy to have the chance to change the order. Can't say that was their site's fault either, as I might have clicked on the wrong one anyway. I'll continue to buy from them as my go-to fiberglass supplier. Insofar as their system reminds me of old time catalog ordering, talking duck hunting off season is mostly a trip down memory lane anyway.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
SJ~
Hard to believe it was the Space Age that began in 1957.....
SJS
Jeff Reardon
Well-known member
SJ--when the line at the shop door shortens, let us know. That thing would be perfect for some of my salt marsh spots. Or perhaps you could rent one of the Maine ones to me. Really only likely to use it from a week or so before Christmas through the end of the season. I'm mostly kidding, and have been acquired a lay out blind and am developing plans for that, but the comfort of a water proof version has my brain churning. Key question is whether it might need alteration to fit Sasquatch feet in size 16 wading boots.
If I can pull off making four of them, I'd be happy to let you borrow one. It's always nice to get different perspectives on how a vessel performs. I absolutely intend to have one glued together this weekend. If it takes longer than that, I don't think I'll have time for four this year.
I doubt boot size will be a problem on these boxes, as there is no aft deck to deal with. The canvas and grass covers the entirety of the cockpit, my feet are 13s and had ample room in the original. The glass hull should also have an additional inch of depth since there aren't timbers on the floor.
The first attempt at a deck was as anticipated. As easy as the bottom was to make with a sheet of plastic instead of mold release, the deck fought me at every turn. In short, I found the coaming impossible to glass using the plastic sheet. I tried several ways, just a mess that carried over into the deck proper. This resulted in some bubbles that I couldn't work out. I finally gave up and got a bottle of PVA and built the coaming as a separate assembly, basically the coaming with a 3 inch bib around it to tie into the deck, which I had already popped off. The hero tool in this boat building exercise is the cutoff wheel on the grinder, it cuts and smooths as needed. I did not take photos during construction as I was working outside and racing an incoming thunderstorm. Here's what the box looks like with the two halves rough trimmed.
The plan is to trim both halves to a best fit, glue them together with a thickened resin fillet inside, sand and fair the hull, then put one layer of cloth and tape around the entire hull. Hopefully this weekend.
This hull was a learning experience, I want to think I can build the next one more rapidly and efficiently. Efficiency will be necessary to keep the resin use down, I'm almost 7 gallons into this hull. That's far more than I anticipated. My next part will be another deck since I have that set up with wax and mold release right now. Then I need to order a bunch more resin for another hull. Another lesson is to break the coaming assembly free after one layer of glass. With square corners and vertical sides, the coaming assembly is very susceptible to getting stuck. Breaking it free from the mold release early minimizes the chance of having to cut it free as a result of the resin shrinking during cure.
The plan is to trim both halves to a best fit, glue them together with a thickened resin fillet inside, sand and fair the hull, then put one layer of cloth and tape around the entire hull. Hopefully this weekend.
This hull was a learning experience, I want to think I can build the next one more rapidly and efficiently. Efficiency will be necessary to keep the resin use down, I'm almost 7 gallons into this hull. That's far more than I anticipated. My next part will be another deck since I have that set up with wax and mold release right now. Then I need to order a bunch more resin for another hull. Another lesson is to break the coaming assembly free after one layer of glass. With square corners and vertical sides, the coaming assembly is very susceptible to getting stuck. Breaking it free from the mold release early minimizes the chance of having to cut it free as a result of the resin shrinking during cure.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
SJ~
Your separate coaming mold approach makes good sense!
Just a few more thoughts from my Unsolicited Advice file.....
1. South Bay Duckboats have a beveled coaming - so that it'll pop right out of the female mold. They made release even easier by shaping the cockpit (in plan view) with rounded ends - so no hard corners.
To copy that, you could add a temporary wedge (softwood, PVC, foam...) glued to the outside of your coaming. Then add a fillet with joint compound to avoid a hard bend.
Another approach would be to mold just a flange to which wood coamings would later be fastened. (Corrected spelling for image below: 3. Create flange to which wood coaming will be fastened)
Happy molding!
SJS
Your separate coaming mold approach makes good sense!
Just a few more thoughts from my Unsolicited Advice file.....
1. South Bay Duckboats have a beveled coaming - so that it'll pop right out of the female mold. They made release even easier by shaping the cockpit (in plan view) with rounded ends - so no hard corners.
To copy that, you could add a temporary wedge (softwood, PVC, foam...) glued to the outside of your coaming. Then add a fillet with joint compound to avoid a hard bend.
Another approach would be to mold just a flange to which wood coamings would later be fastened. (Corrected spelling for image below: 3. Create flange to which wood coaming will be fastened)
Happy molding!
SJS
Those are good solutions to the square edge. I knew I could place a fillet around the coaming edge to create a curve, rather than 90 degree, but didn't want to butcher the original boat. What created the most difficulty when removing the coaming assembly was the four, inside, 90 degree vertical corners, 2 fore, 2 aft. When the glass sets up it shrinks enough to make it a problem. That's no doubt why they put curves along the cockpit coaming for commercially molded boats, in addition to the tapered vertical sides.
The finish line is in sight. The last coat of resin has been applied. The final operation before painting is to trim the coaming bottom edge.
There is only one photo of actual construction. It's the boat on edge so the thickened resin fillet could be applied. It's much tighter than it looks, getting to the fillet required cutting a plastic squeegee into 1/2" strips, attached to the end of a stick for the most forward area. Next boat, I'll wait for help so a bead can be placed before the two halves mate. This was a miserable job that took me several hours Saturday, and there's globs on the hull that I couldn't retrieve.
There is only one photo of actual construction. It's the boat on edge so the thickened resin fillet could be applied. It's much tighter than it looks, getting to the fillet required cutting a plastic squeegee into 1/2" strips, attached to the end of a stick for the most forward area. Next boat, I'll wait for help so a bead can be placed before the two halves mate. This was a miserable job that took me several hours Saturday, and there's globs on the hull that I couldn't retrieve.
Yes, I can imagine that was a challenge!
Time to get back on the project. I spent the last ten days - before yesterday - having awesome fun at our place in Maine. Note the enthusiasm. Isn't there a book about spending a couple months plying the Mississippi in a BBSB? I'm gonna write one entitled "Nine days in a bucket lift". I enjoy building boats more.
So hull #2 is laid up, the deck is already removed from the plug and the bottom hull is ready to be removed. The first boat is on the right in the photo, it's too heavy for my liking..due to 8 gallons of resin. Very sturdy however. The second hull has one layer of cloth against the plug, then two layers of CSM. Once they're glued together, I'll sheath the entire boat in another layer of cloth. Right now it has a little under 3 gallons of resin, I'm thinking 5 to complete. If it's wobbly after glueup another layer of CSM can be added before the cloth to stiffen it, at the cost of more weight. I'm still experimenting and haven't settled on the exact layup recipe.
For this hull, I got a gallon of PVA, so far so good getting the hulls to release. I pop them free after the first layer, then drop it back on, just to be sure they'll come off. The build quality is better than using the plastic sheet, but you are stuck with cleaning up the PVA film. I read that it's water soluble, we will be testing that theory soon.
Tomorrow after work I'll fit the pieces and hopefully glue them together. The wish list is still four total, hope I can pull it off. There's still some additional work around the CT house that needs to get done. Always something getting in the way of fun.
So hull #2 is laid up, the deck is already removed from the plug and the bottom hull is ready to be removed. The first boat is on the right in the photo, it's too heavy for my liking..due to 8 gallons of resin. Very sturdy however. The second hull has one layer of cloth against the plug, then two layers of CSM. Once they're glued together, I'll sheath the entire boat in another layer of cloth. Right now it has a little under 3 gallons of resin, I'm thinking 5 to complete. If it's wobbly after glueup another layer of CSM can be added before the cloth to stiffen it, at the cost of more weight. I'm still experimenting and haven't settled on the exact layup recipe.
For this hull, I got a gallon of PVA, so far so good getting the hulls to release. I pop them free after the first layer, then drop it back on, just to be sure they'll come off. The build quality is better than using the plastic sheet, but you are stuck with cleaning up the PVA film. I read that it's water soluble, we will be testing that theory soon.
Tomorrow after work I'll fit the pieces and hopefully glue them together. The wish list is still four total, hope I can pull it off. There's still some additional work around the CT house that needs to get done. Always something getting in the way of fun.
Looking good! Maybe some manual labor instead of that mechanized bucket and that first boat wouldn't feel so heavy!
I'm terrified of heights. The view from that bucket looks like you're 50 feet up, when it's only 20. No way I'm getting on a ladder that high. I had to powerwash the logs, spray oil on them, paint the trim, then wash the windows. Same on the detached garage. Theres still some additional work to be done at ground level next time i go up. Grim.
The first glass hull is only slightly lighter than the original wood/glass sheathed boat. I need to weigh it, best guess is 85 pounds. I'd like the rest to be 20 pounds less than whatever the first hull weighs.