fiberglass on wood.

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by degeusjordan, Sep 23, 2007.

  1. degeusjordan
    Joined: Sep 2007
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    Location: Fiji

    degeusjordan New Member

    Hey everyone.

    I have been pondering over this idea of building my own boat. But i still have not yet found a design i REALLY like. I was thinking about a pure fiberglass without a wood core. BUT then one day i was looking around at cris craft boats and looking at the wood. THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL!!! i love the looks of them. Has anyone seen and have any photos of maybe a catamaran or mono built out of wood and clear fiberglass over the wood so that it shows off the beauty of the wood?? I live in the Fiji island and am wanting to build a 28-35ft cat or mono out of mahogany wood and have a few layers of clear fiberglass over the wood to preserve it. Has something like this actually been done? Thiis is a dream for me. I am hoping to start building sometime next year.

    Any info about it would help me TONS!!!

    thanks
    JOrdan
     
  2. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    This is done sometimes, not often. Natural wood can be beautiful, like women, but it is still prudent (alas) to cover up beautiful things for practical reasons. In the case of wood, maintaining a bright (meaning natural) finish takes a lot more work than a painted finish. It also is a lot more work to build to begin with.
    I would say, from experience, that the yearly varnishing costs on a fifties Chris Craft of 20 ft would approach five hundred dollars in labor and $100.00 in materials. Multiply times six if the finish has to be wooded down and built up again. Catamaran hulls have a tremendous amount of surface area.
    Most who own bright hulls miss scheduled varnishing maintainence simply because they don't sail for a year or three. The hulls are not completely covered, and what is exposed loses enough protection to require wooding to get back the original finish. So much to think about compared to maintaining a painted hull.
    Be practical--- unless you can't live without an all-wood look, avoid hundreds of hours of work and paint.

    Alan
     
  3. jim lee
    Joined: Feb 2007
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    jim lee Senior Member

    Its really common with smaller boats. Typically the wood is encased in epoxy and fiberglass. Epoxy because it bonds and flexes better with the wood. Poyester tends to crack and make a mess when you try doing this. The problem with epoxy is it doesn't like UV, so you'll need to keep it painted or varneshed to keep it alive.

    Have fun!

    -jim lee
     
  4. keith66
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    keith66 Senior Member

    I have used clear epoxy coatings several times covered in linear polyurethane varnish.
    Each time the finish was superb, but it did not last. The last time was on a cold moulded whitehall. The finish was too hard and chipped and scratched with use, the UV got to it within a couple of years and i stripped the whole boat back to the wood and varnished her with Epifanes oil based varnish.
    The Epifanes oil based varnish outlasted the supposedly superior epoxy polyurethane by years and was way easier to maintain.
     
  5. Raggi_Thor
    Joined: Jan 2004
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    Raggi_Thor Nav.arch/Designer/Builder

    Can you use Epifanes varnish on epoxy also?
     
  6. bistros

    bistros Previous Member

    Epiphanes on epoxy

    Yes. Make sure you get the right mixture and check for the UV protection content. There are lots of SwiftSolos and older I14s using this combination of finishes.
     
  7. degeusjordan
    Joined: Sep 2007
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    degeusjordan New Member

    I know that you should never put varnish on wood. We learned that lesson when my father built our house. He put varnish on the poles and less than a year it started to chip and peel. But what I am wondering is just clear fiberglass, I would think that it shouldn't chip or peel(if it bonds with the wood correctly, right?).
     
  8. gggGuest
    Joined: Feb 2005
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    gggGuest ...

    Sadly no, The UV in sunlifgt will damage just about any coating, some more than others. Epoxies are particularly sensitive. Carbon fibre masts end up being varnished because the varnish allegedly protects the epoxy from UV. Empirical observation suggests that this protection is less than complete, and of course you can't spot where the varnish has peeled off. I use white paint!
     
  9. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    Of all the clear finishes, varnish is the most practical for use on bare wood. It can last 30-40 years IF scrupulously maintained by recoating on a regular basis by a qualified person.
    It is truly amazing. All summer, my varnished coamings, spars, and tiller sit out in the sun and wet, cool and hot, and yet look just about identical to when they were varnished (6-10 coats). I will maintain that original varnish thickness by recoating two coats each year.

    If you father varnished wood and it peeled off, it was likely not because the varnish failed, but because of other factors such as wood moisture content, thickness of varnish, or the presence of some incompatable material on the wood. And if the varnish failed, it was because the varnish was not manufactured correctly.

    Alan
     
  10. alan white
    Joined: Mar 2007
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    Location: maine

    alan white Senior Member

    The more expensive varnishes, no matter from which major manufacturer, have really good UV inhibitors. I prefer varnishes that are moderately priced but reliable, because the cost increase is 50% and the extra UV screening isn't 50% (though it might be 15%).
    Just add a coat! You need a good ten coats to get the UV up to where it's doing some good. If the best UV varnish is $36.00 a quart, get the $25.00 varnish with a good rep and do one more coat.
    The problem is, varnish can look thicker on sealed epoxy than on oak, and so many folks do not put on enough. A bright hull's varnished surface can be maintained in very good condition for years and years (especially if trailered and covered in between). You must initially put seven more coats on than it appears are needed!

    Alan
     

  11. degeusjordan
    Joined: Sep 2007
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    degeusjordan New Member

    So what would you recommend for a mahogany wood boat?
     
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