hull foam

[philb]

I am building a 12' fishing boat I am using expoy resin. I have the hull built but I and looking to help with the stability of the shell I was think if using Great Stuff foam it is a closed cell foam and it can sanded however not sure if you can figerglass it.

If you can give me any info it will help!

Thanks
Phil

[kengrome]

Great Stuff will absorb moisture. If you apply it directly to the wood this will hasten the wood's potential to rot. therefore if you insist upon using this foam you should be sure that the wood is sheathed in epoxy and glass wherever you apply it. Then when the foam absorbs moisture maybe it will not get into the wood.

[Fanie]

Phil, you get some stunning closed cell foams. I get mine from Sondor.co.za but you should be able to find the same thing elsewhere, XPS33. The foam I use is 30kg/m3 which is light enough and I buy in 1m x 2m sheets of thickness required. They go up to 200kg/m3 in density. The foam is not rigit but when a 20mm sheet for instance is fiberglassed both sides it stiffens quite a bit. The foam tears (which is quite difficult) if you try to delaminate the glass and the foam. Also you can glue, cut saw mill whatever. The foam is also UV, rot mildew resistant.

The reasons I use the foam, helps form the structure, floatation, heat insulation. With aditional ribs the whole setup stiffens quite a lot.

More expensive than some others I have a choice on, but you get value and quality. You could probably tell I'm a fan. For boating I would consider nothing else.