Posted by ken on April 24, 2003 at 19:52:25:
In Reply to: ply vs c-plex, building outside with ply ??? need info... posted by duane on April 24, 2003 at 17:23:04:
I am building a Double Eagle/plywood version. So far, all my hardware and engine and stuff is coming out of old fiberglass hulls that were rotten. I have sold the outdrives and kept the engines for inboard conversion. Everyone has heard that "wood boats wont last" as well as I have, but the glass hulls is exactly how I got my hardware. There is a professional glass repair shop in my town. He has some classic wood hulls in for restoiration, none of the glass hulls in for "restoration". There are however, glass hulls in for "repair". Repair as in the sides blew out leaving the flotation foam exposed below the waterline. He is constantly repairing glass hulls transoms and stringers. Some of the hulls he gets in for repair are scary, and I am talking of the modern glass hulls. So, I would not worry about the difference between wood and glass.
More to worry about is the conditions that you lay up glue with. READ the LABEL. All the labels will tell you not to glue in cold temps. BELIEVE IT. Make sure you have the correct temps for the whole cure before you perform that part. If you are stuck in winter, then do another phase of the project. Keep your project out of the weather as if you are portecting a investment and I do not see any problems.: hi, thanks for any advice, I know all things have their pros and cons, and every one's uses will be ultimately different,,,,,,,,but going to order plans for the yankee star, I am 35 years old, hopefully this boat will be my home, as well as my point-a, point-b machine from now on....anyone that has used both building methods....??? nothing last forever, but this is obviously going to be a major unteraking, with time, expense, etc.......hate to reach a point where hindsight, being 20/20 would have been nice, I want a strong as hull possible of course, as I do plan on blue water cruising with this, like the strength of wood, with todays epoxy systems, if you get these boats covered with epoxy good, are you home free from the rot/moisture damage problems, etc??, with normal maintenance of course??? WITH THE C PLEX ROUTE, there is less wood obviously to worry about, but what about the strength ???.......dont want to worry about hitting something floating, reef etc, and it not be able to withstand the impact as possibly better than wood etc ???...I am not worried about weight, speed loss etc...just want my home to last, reguardless of a knot or 2, etc....................I know I might be wanting my cake and ice cream both here, but how about some insight from someone who has been there, done that, with both.Also, I am currently living in tennessee, going to try to find accomodations to build inside, but if i wind up building outside, trying to keep project tarped to stay dry, etc.......and when winter comes, with the cold temps, etc. Is this going to present much of a moisture problem, if i try to keep things dry as possible, especially with ply construction, will the ply be capable of drawing moisture, etc more so than desirable ???....any thoughts will be greatly appreciated, going to order plans in two weeks or so, so i would appreciate any help here.
thanks for your time, good luck to everyone in their current projects. duane