Boat building Q-Epoxy vs. vinylester

Decked Canoes, Open Canoes, as long as they're canoes!

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Marko
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Tip for rim making

Post by Marko »

HI


Here is tip for rim making that will save some sweat. No Kevlar to rim. When sanded the kevlar fibers don't smooth out. Use carbon for cool looks and colour and glass as main material. Easy sanding and nice finish ...


mh
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Marko Hakolahti
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Marko
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One more cool idea for looks

Post by Marko »

Best looking silver deck can be made out of beam glass. acually S-glass with metal coating made for satelite antennas etc.

The reflection varies little but most of them are really cool.. option for gelcoat and matches nicely black carbon bottom.


marko
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Marko Hakolahti
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TomAnon
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Post by TomAnon »

I like Marko's idea regarding the Diolen if you are determined to go with Carbon on the outside. Also, consider his reccomendation on the carbon/kevlar hybrid. You can get some really neat looks with the hybrids. Cheaper as well.

Twill pattern of C/K with the K tinted blue or green? Cool stuff :D.

The guys who are mentoring you sound pretty experienced laying Carbon by hand on the outside. So, you would not go wrong sticking with their expertise either.
Sir Adam
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Ok...

Post by Sir Adam »

The "silver" s-glass does sound interesting...I'll have to try and track some down:)

In general I do not believe carbon is used as an exterior-it doesn't have the abrasion resistence of kevlar or even S glass. hence my thought of S glass as the outermost layer.

I believe the S-glass I've got is 6 oz, hence the thought of using two outer layers for added abrasion resistence....

Any thoughts on using 1 versus 2 layers of s glass on the hull (I am planning in 1 only on the deck)? I'm not gel-coating, so I'm assuming increased thickness would be best....


Thank you to all for taking the time to provide your experienced input! Marko, I'll definitely look for that glass, if not for this boat, for another one:)
Keep the C!
Adam
John Coraor
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Post by John Coraor »

Adam:

The choice on number of layers of S-glass is a matter of your comfort level in trading off stiffness and strength for light weight. With your planned use of carbon and carbon-kevlar, you should have enough stiffness to make it possible to drop one layer of S-glass, but you may prefer to retain it for additional strength.

The Torrent C-2 that I built in the early 80s with a 3/4 layup actually used 6 oz. E-glass instead of 10 oz. in order to reduce weight. I kept stiffness by adding foam and carbon fiber ribs in selected locations. It was a lot more labor intensive laying up, but it sure made a nice lightweight race boat. However, for a squirt boat, I imagine that you might want to err on the side of strength rather than lighter weight.

John
Rumplestiltskin
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Post by Rumplestiltskin »

Maarko is calling for a layup with 30-35 oz/sq yd (that's 1000-1200 g/sq m, converted) for a squirt boat.

I am not so sure that is enough material for an East coast (US) version of a whitewater vehicle!

It is often a good idea to layup a 1'X1' sample of your composite before doing a whole hull or deck. That way, you can test out just how well the laminate holds up to flex, impact, and sanding.
clt_capt
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Post by clt_capt »

Adam,
I agree with many of the eralier comments on Carbon - you are better off with the carbon close to the outside, but it doesn't have the abrasion resistance of glass, so I might suggest S\C\K\K\K for the hull
and S\C\K\K for the deck.

One thing you are going to find out with metal flake in a skin coat (ie: not just a layer of resin) is that your metal flake is going to take up the weave pattern of whatever cloth you have as the outside layer. It does make for a cool pattern though.

As far as resin goes, Vinylester is a lot easier to deal with until you figure out how much resin you will need for each layer. after the first couple of boats, you will have a good idea and can pre-peasure your epoxy.

I would recommend getting some graduated mixing cups - 1 quart is probably a good size. You can use a large syringe to measure your catalyst - it is a lot quicker than counting drops.

One last comment on resin - typical boat building Vinylester is fairly thin and will run out of vertical surfaces. You should thicken it slightly (1%) with Cab-o-sil or similar. You won't have this issue with West System in the future.

F
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