polyethilene

[pamarine]

Originally Posted by Steve W

If you have ever skied or snowboarded? this is how the uhmwpe bases are prepped for bonding,followed by reverse screen printing with 2 part epoxy screen printing ink followed by the epoxy glass laminate which is actually bonded to the ink,the adhesion is exceptional.However i should point out that the epoxies used are formulated for press molding at about 100 degrees c,the weak link is the bond to the wood or foam core,the core fails.As you try to bond thicker PE to PE there are probably better adhesives.I use snowboard base material for all sorts of things in boatbuilding, ie,the rudder in a drum trunk and the keel trunk of my sons 24ft ULDB are lined with it.
Steve.

intresting. You have any links where I can read more about this?

[Steve W]

pamarine,sorry it took so long getting back here,when we started building snowboards back in the early 90s there was no info available at all and no company in the world who could build a board that would last a season without falling apart,it took everyone years to reach the stage they are at now with no sharing of technology,very few are now manufactured in the USA.Im sorry i dont have any links as ive been out of the industry for a decade but when i look at them in the shops im struck by how they havnt changed at all since we ceased production except for more basic logo style graphics to reduce costs.I did a google search a few weeks ago and found a place that will show you how its done(for a cost of course)What i can tell you is that i learned a lot more about sticking difficult to bond materials together in that 7 year period than in my 35 years or so as a boatbuilder.
Steve.

[Charles N]

Originally Posted by Fanie

As Gonzo indicated, heavier than glass, PE is very wear resistant, difficult to repair, trust me, a real bugger to do. Nothing glues to it, whatever you add needs to be bolted, screwed or rivited. Scrapes and other physical damages remains visible, you cannot paint over it. Black and other dark colours last in the sun, be carefull of lighter colours. Black is friggin hot.

I have a 4.1m Polycraft boat and a sit on kayak, small scape's you just heat with a hair drier and they disappear, larger scratch you sand then heat.
There are manufacturers in Australia, New Zealand, US and England,some of them produce some really weird boats, others such as the Triumph Boats look fairly conventional.
A big thanks to Steve W for your info on gluing
Regards Charles

[jonr]

Roto moulding is interesting for some applications. It doesn't have to be HDPE - ABS, nylon, XLPE (PEX), etc are possible.

I've seen kids abuse an air filled HDPE dinghy (similar to sit-on kayaks) - it was indestructible (throw it off the dock, jump on it, beat it with oars, etc) and not too heavy.

It would be interesting to compare something like:

http://www.whaler.com/boats/boat-150supersport/

to the lighter:

http://www.polycraft.com.au/450_quic...re_console.php

[pamarine]

Originally Posted by jonr

Roto moulding is interesting for some applications. It doesn't have to be HDPE - ABS, nylon, XLPE (PEX), etc are possible.

I've seen kids abuse an air filled HDPE dinghy (similar to sit-on kayaks) - it was indestructible (throw it off the dock, jump on it, beat it with oars, etc) and not too heavy.

It would be interesting to compare something like:

http://www.whaler.com/boats/boat-150supersport/

to the lighter:

http://www.polycraft.com.au/450_quic...re_console.php

visit triumphboats.com and see comparision between their line and Boston Whaler.

[jonr]

Looks like the HDPE Triumph is the same weight as a similar Whaler or Zodiac RIB. Aluminum (such as a Lund) is lighter than any of them.

I wonder which one would ultimately be most durable? If rocks were involved, I'd guess the HDPE boats.

[pamarine]

look at the "Bubba Tests" on their site

[gelisli]

we have built it in turkey but it s different.