So we did a little more prep work. More sanding and cleaning. We started cutting out fiberglass but we are still waiting on another order to show up next week so we can cut the rest and start the layup of the hull. We made templates out of old bed sheets
Today was the big day. Today we did the layup of the fiberglass to make the hull. The extra material arrived this morning. We immediately got to work cutting out the last of the fiberglass. We had 4 layers of 9oz fabric and 2 layers of 20z fabric. While that was going on, others were putting a final layer of Partall paste (wax mold release) on the mold. Then for extra security we sprayed the entire mold with PVA liquid mold release. We then mixed the resin and starting racing to get the fiberglass cutouts in place. We probably had about 12 people helping at one point. It was really cool to see how many people wanted to come help us with this project. It was a rush, and a lot of fun. We had a few snags in the beginning but we got the hang of it and I think it turned out pretty damn good. More wax Then lastly a good coating of PVA liquid mold release, sprayed at 80psi The yellow fabric is aramid (kevlar). We added some for extra protection on the nose and the chines. We also beefed up the bow with extra patches of 20oz glass. So now we'll just keep an eye on it and sometime next week we will pop the hull off of the mold. The next step will be the transom. Sorry about the crappy cell phone pics, didn't have a camera with me. Others had cameras today so I will try to get some more pictures to post up.
Success! We got the hull off the mold! It took a little persuading, but after an hour of prying and hitting it broke loose and came off clean. A little bit of the plaster from our patchwork stuck to the fiberglass. Not a big deal, it scraped off easily Yeah, we think it's pretty f-ckin cool Check out that little piece of carbon fiber reinforcement! Im not sure how that got in there Next step is to glass in the transom, so we're figuring out how exactly we want to do that. We also got more material in for all the reinforements, seating, trays, decking etc. Now it really feels like the project is moving along
Two of us picked it up, our rough guess is between 100-150 lbs right now. Here's a CAD model showing some ideas for the interior of the boat.
I think you're F'n up! Why not use it as a mold? Get a chop gun, some gel-coat, some glass and turn out a couple; make a profit!!! Some advice: Level floors at fore and aft fishing positions Time to plan an integral anchor system with rope management! Fuel tank storage and plumb lines 10 foot rod tubes (some of my nine foot rods don't fit in nine foot rod tubes), look how Hyde does their rod tubes a place to store/hide a boat net maybe scallop the sides to make ingress and egress easier...
Profit would be nice . I dont think we have a chop gun, but I'm not sure. We were joking about making another, the mold release is good for 3 to 5 layups.
at San Jose State or . I guessing SJSU, seems to practical of work for Stanford or Berkeley. Could be a Cal Poly project but I think you mentioned to the BA. Either way, nice work.
Even without a chop gun, you could hand lay glass into the mold, which as I'm sure you know is the best way to build fiberglass boats.
We used oak for the stringers which will add rigidity to the hull. We will fasten some floor boards to them later. We used the vacuum bagging method this time. I dont have any pictures of the process as I wasn't actually there for it. So I guess I was wrong before about the transom being the next step, I think NOW it will be the next step
It appears one of the wooden floor stringers shifted. Apparently at some point after they were glassed in, the pump for the vacuum bag setup got turned off, which may or may not have caused the board to shift. You can see the center stringer, is off a little bit. Besides that minor hiccup things are moving forward. The transom is in and just needs some final fiberglass. We are going to use some .75 x 1.5 inch wooden strips (on the floor in the picture above) for the gunnels. The gunnel is the top edge of the sides of the boat. We plan to install those on thursday
The back of the transom has been glassed in. We didn't put the gunnels on yet but that should be next. But yesterday was a fun day. We brought the boat over to the school fountain and floated it! Holy sh!t It floats!!! The floor is nice and rigid. Gunnels will be next! Here is a sample of how we plan to finish them. Carbon Fiber! It's gonna look pretty sweet, and it should make the boat faster too!
Hate to be a buzz kill but where are your respirators? Having worked with fiberglass, resin and MEKP, i know that is some nasty, nasty stuff. You really need respirators, especially if you're sanding or mixing resin. Are you guys using polyester resin or epoxy?