Foam/fiberglass VS Plywood

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by fuzioncore, Nov 5, 2011.

  1. fuzioncore
    Joined: Nov 2011
    Posts: 1
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: Chandler, AZ

    fuzioncore New Member

    Hey everyone, this is my first (of many most likely) post. I obtained an old 14ft aluminum V-Hull fishing boat and trailer for free from my dad who has had it sitting around forever. since he has a 16ft one that he has all geared up.

    As of right now the boat is pretty much stripped it is an aluminum shell with some old weathered plywood making a sketchy deck platform and back bench seat. basically a project that was started years ago and never finished.

    My plans with the boat are to make a much smaller deck (front 1/4 of the boat) some side storage bins, a couple swivel seats and a rear bench with compartments for the fuel tank and battery.

    I was originally planning on pulling out all the existing wood and replacing it with new, water seal treated wood and carpeting it. the problem I see, is that this hull isn't all that deep and I dont want to add a bunch of extra weight especially since my fishing buddy is a 6'4" tall 330 lb manchild.

    Now, I have never fiber glassed anything before, which makes me kinda want to do it instead of wood that much more ;) but I was thinking I could get me some nice sheets of the blue or pink insulation foam from [insert local hardware store here] and build out the framing for wverything, then gey some of that nifty A/B Poly expanding foam and fill in every thing, once that all cures up nice I would shave and sand it all smooth then resin it and lay a bunch of CSM fiberglass matting maybe 3 or 4 layers of mat? the either carpet or gel coat it.

    I figure it would be lighter than wood, and virtually unsinkable. on the other hand I could be horribly wrong and end up swimming back to shore.

    I plan on taking pics of the entire process either way I go ahead with this.

    thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions
     
  2. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
    Posts: 6,163
    Likes: 495, Points: 83, Legacy Rep: 1749
    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    It might be worth doing a search of the forums for the other dozen threads that wanted to do a similar thing.

    The first things that might produce a possible disappointment are the words

    "CSM fiberglass matting maybe 3 or 4 layers of mat?" and "I figure it would be lighter than wood"
     
Loading...
Similar Threads
  1. MaddMatt
    Replies:
    4
    Views:
    1,936
  2. HG Faulkner
    Replies:
    3
    Views:
    1,340
  3. Mowgli
    Replies:
    32
    Views:
    3,961
  4. BHM36
    Replies:
    3
    Views:
    1,317
  5. CaptainObvious
    Replies:
    20
    Views:
    11,019
  6. mojounwin
    Replies:
    8
    Views:
    7,072
  7. frank92808
    Replies:
    8
    Views:
    8,282
  8. alexbarker2
    Replies:
    5
    Views:
    22,657
  9. williamchill
    Replies:
    11
    Views:
    4,365
  10. petethai
    Replies:
    44
    Views:
    13,652
Forum posts represent the experience, opinion, and view of individual users. Boat Design Net does not necessarily endorse nor share the view of each individual post.
When making potentially dangerous or financial decisions, always employ and consult appropriate professionals. Your circumstances or experience may be different.