Building a boat with a mold

[thatsbs]

I am interested in building a little 15 foot console boat. If I do it I would be using a mold that I have access to. I want it to be gelcoated fiberglass with stringers. Where would I begin/process. Also am I getting in over my head. I am in the dealership side of the industry so I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to boats.

Thanks all for your help and input.

[PAR]

The first thing you need to do is get the plans to the boat the mold is for. The hull shell laminate schedule is what you really need. Without this, you'll have to hire someone to recalculate a schedule for your intended SOR.

If you don't have a laminate schedule, you don't know what materials to buy, in what quantities, the order of lamination, etc., etc., etc. You could take a guess, but 99% of the time, when this occurs, you end up with an overly heavy boat, which cost more to build and purchase materials for and preformance usually suffers. This assumes it's structurally sound and doesn't break up after flying off the first set of 6'ers you encounter.

What is the mold from?

[m3mm0s rib]

Before proceeding with any work you must make sure that we finish it. The principle is half of the whole

[spiritgide]

For sure you need to read up on processes, and on materials.

Most glass boats are bonded with polyester resin. A step up and well worth a little more cost is vinylester resin, which works the same but is stronger and has better resistance to water absorption . Beyond that is epoxy, which beats both ester resins, but costs twice as much. Epoxy works differently. Also has a potential to trigger a sensitivity to it that causes serious skin issues on your hands, so nitrile gloves are a must.

Fabrics need research too. Some are easy to form to curves, some just won't. Matting (non-woven fabrics) are totally formable to curves with poly or vinyl resins, but not at all with epoxies. Some weaves ravel and are very messy to work with, some are not. When you have figured out what you want to use in resins and glass materials, you make a construction plan and gather the required stuff.

You must have a good workplace, covered. You must- MUST have a clean mold, and you MUST wax that mold properly- usually three coats with honeywax or similar. The condition of the mold inside will be the condition of your finished boat surface. The wax provides both a release coat and a mold surfacing step.

If you aren't familiar with resins- get that way, by practice panels if necessary. Epoxy is consistent, the others are variable. Resins are not too hard to control if you have the knowledge, but can be the pits if you don't.

Once ready to build, the first step is gelcoat. Get yourself a gelcoat spray gun, like the GS100-6 or 200-6. The gelcoat is also the final finish that will be on the outside of the boat, so it's very important to get it right. Once that is in place the process gets less critical, more repetitive in nature.

Making ribs in a glass hull is easy. Once the hull has most of it's layup, create ribs out of iso foam and stick in place with some resin. Once that has set up, wrap the foam with layers of glass, which will create box-beams in the hull. Very stiff and tough, as well as rot-proof.

Best advice- look for some good books on glass building. Nobody can tell you all you need to know here.

[thatsbs]

Thanks for your help so far. I was just trying to get a more general knowledge as to what I was getting myself into with this project. It is still up in the air as to wether it will actually happen or not.

[PAR]

Without a laminate schedule, you're pretty much left to a bit of guess work. Given your level of experience, you probably shouldn't toss a lot of money at this.

[Eagle Boats]

If you really want to build a boat with your own two hands, go for it. I am sure you can find plenty of guys in Florida that can teach you how to work with fiberglass, and how to complete the boat. In addition, they may also be able to give you an idea as to what your layup schedule should be. It will really be a fun experience, especially when you pull the boat from the mold.