Plug,Mold,Skiff

I have been lurking on this site for 4years learning as much as possible and like the title says i have built a plug,mold,skiff of my own design and want to share the build with the forum. i need as much input as possibly so let me know what you think.

 

The hull is 3 layers of 1 1/2 csm then i filled the keel with mix of cabosil and chop then a layer of 1708 from transom to bow. i then put chop down on the transom clamped 10 lbs 1 inch foam let it go off for 24 hrs filled all minor gaps and cracks with micro balloons and covered with 2 layers of 1708. Then poured foam 5 lbs and shaped it and put 1 layer of 1708.

 

The hull was filled completely with 5 lbs closed cell foam all of the foam used in the skiff is closed cell also i used poly resin. the floor was built out of 6 lbs foam 1/2 inch thick with 1 layer of 1708 on each side witch i think i could of just did chop on the inside but to late now. Using poly putty i stuck the floor down and waited 2 days with my entire weight set inside of the skiff.

 

I fared the floor and layed 1708 from floor to hull side i was going to to a 1/4 foam core for the hull side but decided to wait so i can test the shape of the hull first also i don't really know how to do foam core yet either i need help guys.I put the frond bulk head in its 1/2 foam 10 lbs 1708 both sides then added foam i would like to get the coast guard certification latter so i need 3 flotation compartments.The other 2 will go in the transom latter.

 

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The skiff is 15 feet 8 inches long and at its widest its 4 feet at the deck and 3 feet wide at the transom. I designed it as a tiller skiff for poling the flats and back water fishing i am planing on powing it with a 20 hp Suzuki.

 

I have lots of questions and looking for advice after floating the hull out of the mold. Using a garden hose and city water i glassed in a fitting in to the mold be for i layed up the boat. I did use PVA on the mold as well, i did not want it to stick. I had the plug sick to the mold which i PVA as well but still stuck took 2 days to get it lose with out damage. The hull is light 2 pepoil can lift it 200 lbs but i need to cut some weight off. my idea is to uses 1208 instead of 1708 save on glass as well as resin but its only going to get me like 25 lbs less not much.I am also thinking of coring the hull actually vacuum infusion but i don't know much about how to and what the lamination schedule would be different. from what i have read you need more layers of glass to get the same thickness because its dryer than hand layed glass. I did make the mold with a 5 inch flange for infusion thats what i have read is needed for the bag tubes etc. Like i said i need some help so any advice is greatly appreciated if you see some thing you dont like or is not a good idea or wrong let me know.

 

Your whole project looks pretty good. You might be overbuilding the boat somewhat, how much do you want it to weigh? How much cargo is it supposed to haul? How fast is it supposed to go?

The next thing I would do is see how the design works. Rig up something where you'd sit, put a motor on it and test it severely to see if it does what you wanted it to or to see what it actually does.

Then, if you want to change things on the hull, you can add them to the boat and test them. Once everything is worked out, finish the boat as the new plug.

What sort of chopper gun is that one that you use?

 

I would like the boat to carry 2 guys fishing gear, how fast doesn't really matter to me but i do have access to a 40 Yamaha 2 stroke tiller i will test on on it.I want to tow it behind a flats boat and be able to pull the motor off and lay it down inside to fish the no motor zones . chopper gun is a 1175 hand held works really good for the $ it cost. also i can get all the replacement blades locally.

 

Ran the boat with 2 guys and gear 22 mph top speed with 25 hp Yamaha enduro 2 stroke tiller. She drafts 5 inches of water her real performance comes in at push poll speed round bow has 0 wave slap tracks and turns perfectly. so i talked to a pro mold builder he explaned hull 1 is called a glass master plug. now i need to make a production mold

 

Just curious, why 1708 over roving?