Ok both hulls are finished with the injection and vacuum pressing and they are rock hard. I have the crew sanding today and then tomorrow I will be filling any holes left and any other imperfections on the deck. So far pleased with the results, but as with any old boat she will never be perfect but she will be strong.
Jeff, it is not very hard, the real trick is to not drill through the second layer and to use a slow cure hardener. What this does is sucks the air out of the delaminated "sandwich" and forces the bottom layer back into its original place up tight against the foam core. The screw method works very similar, the vacuum method is just more even, consistent and it removes any extra resin from the lamination so it will be stronger. It is also nice that you don't have very many if any holes to fill, because the resin is drawn back up into the holes.
1. you will need a few extra items, release fabric, absorption fabric, vacuum bag plastic rap, and vacuum bag sealant tape. You will also need a vacuum pump.
2. apply the sealant tape around the deck, all holes must be surrounded by the tape. Leave the tape cover ON for now.
3. cut your release fabric and absorption fabric to fit inside the sealant tape.
4. cut your vacuum bag plastic over size to cover the tape in one sheet if possible.
5. inject your hull with mixed resin, wipe up the extra resin, if it gets on the tape it will not like to stick to the plastic. Now you can remove the tape cover strips.
6. lay down the release fabric, then the absorption fabric and then the vacuum bag plastic over the top. I use a helper with the plastic.
7. I cut very small holes in the plastic with a utility knife then turn on the vacuum pump and apply the suction cups to the plastic over the holes. It is much easier to do this with an extra person and the pump on.
8. Let the vacuum build and leave it until the resin has hardend.
That is it in a nut shell, if I do another boat I will take more photos and do a step by step.
One last item - have screws at the ready incase you can't get a suction!!!
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Jim
New Orleans
'83 H18 SX mods 2013 -
'65 Lavey Craft 2005 -
'69 Cal 25 1997 - 2001
'80 P16 1980 - 1996
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