Help with my restoration. Nida stringers/deck

I guess school is over for today ! and Wiley that capable thing would leave you out.BTW in your case Common Sense it not so Common .

 

Did not read all of it, for obvious reasons. (still learning...) but would like to add to impregnate on a piece of plastic film, which you can take to the boat, roll out and consolidate in place, remove the film, then consolidate once more, to correct the usualy frayed edges from pulling the film.

A system a bit cleaner than just wet tape. (still composites like performed in boatbuilding etc is a messy job, with lots of resin contact)

 

Problem with plastic is you pull the wet laminate off with the film,However one could just use a peel ply and leave it until cure.

 

I personally never had problems with that. Other type of plastic film? I usually use nylon (left over vacuum bag)

 

LOL that is why you never use it to protect the floor the stuff becomes fly paper,I have made a lot of shop Prepregs and cardboard was the wetout surface of choice for a couple reasons One being I could have a stack of wet laminate on it and lift it off layer by layer no problem, second it could be passed to the crew inside bonding or whatever, third it was free.

 

I need help with the deck. It's a large area and I will be applying several layers of fiberglass. So far this is not something I have had to do. If I use VE I will have two layers of 1200 and a layer of CSM in between them. I am worried about getting everything wet out in time before it starts to set.

My plan is to make a templet of the deck out of Luan plywood. Then I can transfer the pattern to the unlaminated Nida-core Honeycomb pannels.

I thought about getting a role of melamine strips (sold at Home Depot) and tapping or temporarily gluing it to the edges of the cut out nida-core deck thereby making a dam or resevoir. Then I could pour a lot of resin in the middle. It would self level, and then I could drop in my 1200 and CSM. I think this would be better then trying to use a roller to wet everything out. What do you guys thing?

Another question I need answered is weather it would be OK to extend the tops of my stringers and bulkheads 1 CM by adding the "Peanut Butter" mix to the top of them, and then a layer of 6 inch tape to cap it all off?

 

What thickness nida core do you plan on using?

 

16 mm.

 

so you are planning on two 1208's on each side?

 

it depends on what resin I go with and your guys recomendation. On hand I have only 10 yards of 1208 (+45/-45) biax 50 inch. I have 25 yards of 1200 biax (0.90) 50 inch. I also have 65 yards of CSM mat 50 inch. I can purchase other fiberglass material if necessary, I just figured I could use what I have?

If I go with VE I think a layer of 1200, then a layer of CMS, and finally a layer of 1200. If I go epoxy then just two layers of 1200....no mat. Does this answer your question? I really don't want to make a mistake on this part because it's a lot of $ in material if I screw up.

thanks

 

Two layers of 1200 is a bit much,I would go with a single 1708 and a mat on top for the fairing to keep the sanding blocks off the structural laminate. the inside laminate could be a 1208 with doublers for bulkheads and around the edge.

 

Deck

War Whoop,

Thanks for your help on the Deck. I am actually now thinking about Coosa for the deck. I can get the Blue water 20 Lb density 4 x 8 x 1/2 for approx $150.00. By the time I factor in the cost of making the Nida panels structural, it comes out to be close to the same amount. The Coosa is already structural, so it will take little or no glass to finish the job.

Please take a look at my stringers and bulkheads. I get what you were saying about not using mat with epoxy. If I would have filled the imperfections where the manufacturer used Roving to tab in the old stringers, I think I could have kept it neat and perfect. I would have then been able to just use cloth and save a lot of epoxy.

I still need to make the top two inches of the stringers structural. Currently the top two inches just have the CSM on each side from when I made the panels. I have sanded all the stringers/ bulkheads. I did touch the glass with the grinder, but only very lightly. I don't think I compromised the strength in doing this? My plan is to use two or three inch strips and go across all the tops of the stringers and bulkheads. Once that is done, I will glue strips of Coosa on the top edge of the stringers and bulkheads. Finally I will mount the deck on top of that. One pic is of the front keel which is cured, but not yet sanded. What do you think?

 

What are you doing for engine bearers?

 

If I get the Coosa Board, I will make them out of that with similiar dimensions to the originals. The originals were rectangular shape, approximately 1 ft x 5 inches x 6 inches tall. They were double wall 3/4 inch plywood for the sides, and the top was also two layers of 3/4 inch plywood.

 

Your laminate work looks OK to me.

About laminating larger structures: Make resin by the bucket, and pour on the glass what you approximately need. Then spread it out with a plastic trowel (the once you use for wallpaper do a good job). This is the fastest way to process resin. A large brush or a roller can be used for the detail work, and dabbing up resin that went sideways.

I cannot help you with the decision about Coosa or anything else, as it is a material that is not common in Europe.