How thick should my cabin bulkheads be??

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by mongo75, Feb 17, 2008.

  1. AroMarine
    Joined: Jul 2005
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    Location: Atlantic City NJ

    AroMarine Junior Member

    Mongo, for major bulkheads and gunwhales and decks 3/4" is the way to go. For cabin sides and tops 1/2" is ok with proper battening. If you seal everything up with a min of 1.5oz mat you should be ok. AC fir ply from lowes is better than pine. Pine has a lot more oil in the wood.
     
  2. mongo75
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Orange County California

    mongo75 Senior Member

    Thanks for the info, sounds good to me. I think I'll put 3/4" on the sides as well because I'll want the extra strength due to having the big window cut out on the sides. For the roof, I'll lay some thin 8oz glass on a 1/2" sheet, and once it's glued and screwed to the supports / bettens, I'll sheet the entire cabin with 1708 (Lord knows I bought enough of the damn stuff) and that'll give some good structural integrity. My biggest fear is having the whole damn cabin collapse on my family if I get in nasty stuff, ya know?
     
  3. mikentx
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Texas

    mikentx Junior Member

    The original Bulkhead Plywood on a 1968 Luhrs is 3/4 inch thick
     
  4. mongo75
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Orange County California

    mongo75 Senior Member

    Thanks again Mike- I guess I missed a few measurements before I tore her apart LOL
     

  5. the1much
    Joined: Jul 2007
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    Location: maine

    the1much hippie dreams

    only 5 coats of awl?,,,man you are a cheapo hehe ;)
    and mongo,,,,dont worry bout the ply,,everyone gives me crap bout it,,but i did a boat down here 6 years ago,,,its next door,,,,and i used CHEAP ply,,,and even coated it with even cheaper poly resin,,,and i still go over once in a while and jump on it,,,i havent fell through yet hehe ;)
     
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