Boat Builder Central

Thanks guys.

I built and used a D5 for the past 2 seasons as a tender, and while I love the boat, to me it is ideally a boat for one person. I am looking for something that will comfortably hold 3 people as a tender. I believe I need something in the 10' range, but maybe I am wrong. I also think 10 feet is about...

Ended up using the "Toggler" toggle bolts which are twice as strong as conventional wing styles. I used an allen wrench in a drill to clear out the foam in the hull so I could flip them around. Here are the results: http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/johnshan/0908489e.jpg Should be okay...

Thanks so much for the reply. I do think I am over-estimating the force on these screws or bolts, I just do not want to have any water issues in the hull later on, and I worry that may happen if/when they pull free. I used milled fibers to thicken the resin and I perhaps did not wait long enough for...

I am trying to install a swim platform support strut and pre-drilled the holes, installed the #14 screws and then had half of them strip out before I even used the boat. I did use the correct sized pilot bit but either way, I do not like the idea of screws. I removed the support struts, drilled out ...

Thanks for the input.

I plan to build with 3/4" ply and use 1.5" x 1.5" as support beams to stiffen from underneath.- similar to the photo I posted above. What cloth will I need to use on this structure? Can I use anything or should I use biax or? Also, is there any disadvantage to using polyester resin vs...

I just spent the last couple hours researching platforms and I am not convinced I need the foam in this project. My whole reason for it was to add thickness, why not just wrap the perimeter of the platform in 1/4" ply as was recommended earlier to achieve this? Here is a photo I found of someon...

I take back what I said about the epoxy melting the foam, here is the info I found: "Tested polyester resin on the common pink rigid styrene foam and also polyisocyanurate foam. Both available at the home centers. Polyester resin melts styrene foam, but not polyisocyanurate foam. Polyisocyanura...

I totally agree with you.

From what I read the epoxy will not stick to the foam, but the polyester does. I will try to find my source, the website showed foam with epoxy vs poly. The epoxy melted the foam if I recall while the poly stuck well.