Quality control methodology for composite boat construction?

Hello,

I'm trying to get a better idea of the various quality control aspects of building composite boats. I'm interested on the whole process, from when the raw materials arrive at the boat factory to when the finished boat is loaded onto the truck. I want to learn about testing equipment, methods, ways of dealing with QC issues, success stories, failure stories, the whole deal basically. I realize that this is a very broad question and I could get all kinds of answers back but if anyone can share links or information please do.

Many thanks
Splint

 

after you read every post on this site, go to another boat forum site,, then another,,then about 2/3 rds of all those posts has to do with quality control. i couldnt even start,,waY too much typing,, would take 20 minutes of talking just for a quick response to just getting the material and where and how to keep it all.wow,,it just boggles this old hippies mind to just think about all the reading you have ahead of ya,,hehe,,and with these old codgers on here,,,ha,, they can type fer days

 

The1much,
yes you're right it's a massive subject and would take for ever to get a strong wholistic knowledge of the whole process start to fiinish. Maybe to narrow the feild a bit, the area I know the least about and want to learn more about is the the chemical side of things. For example, viscosity measurement of resins prior to infusion, structural testing of offcuts of the cured part, resin/cloth ratio testing etc. Any information or links in this area would be of great interest.

Cheers
Splint

 

Unlike the construction industry, where testing of rebar and concrete is mandatory procedure and there are thousands of universal tests set out in standards, boatbuilders tend to come up with their own ways of doing things. In many cases, this is next to nothing. In others it is visual inspections; others might use various electronic gadgets to test finished parts. But you will not find much in the way of standard, generally accepted quality control procedures that are common to the whole industry.

 

hahaha i'm not laughing at you,,more at me,,i didnt understand much of what you said heh,,im a little "simple". measuring,,well,, i put bout this much
[------] resin in the bucket/ and or coffee can, then grab the mekp and put bout this much
[--] in, i only measured once,,that was like 20 years ago lol.
as fer testin,, i patch an area, and right before i do final fillings, i WAP it with a hammer, if i was smart and did it right, i wont have to repair again, if i didnt, well i loose money and i hate doin stuff twice.
ratio? yup i got one listen to am90 all the time lol
i put nuff resin on the cloth to make it wet nuff, yet not to wet,, or when i get to the "WAP" it starts all over again.
i guess im trying to say, i've worked in multi-million dollar custom yacht builders, and know hundreds of guys that know more in jus 1 finger then i will ever,, but all of us have the same quality control," dont skimp, do it RIGHT, peoples safety is in our hand,, and most important,, our name goes on it

 

Thanks guys,

someone once told me to use the same testing methodology as your materials supplier, that way if you find the materials are sub standard or not working out as expected that at least your testing is on the same page, which should make resolving any problems a bit easier.

Cheers
Splint

 

Keep good records??

Related issue: If you get to actual manufacturing and testing, you will benefit a lot from enforcing good record keeping and samples from each lot or days process. You should be able to know which part of which hull was done when with which materials and with what ratios or values. At least you won't be making the same mistakes again, and you will hopefully identify the occasional mistake as a unique event not a systemic problem.

The stuff I worked on was invisible and the results weren't known until many process steps later. Without good data we would have been clueless.