Edited by shipchips1 on May 09, 2013 - 11:32 AM.
Impressive!!!
What are you doing there exactly?
I've had a terrible time with those little black cups...I must be doing it wrong.
Damon, instead of using screws to pull the deck together I am using a vacuum pump.
Rob, I have had trouble in the past, but what I was doing wrong was not letting the vacuum build up enough suction and not having enough hands!!!
Both bows are done and ROCK hard!!!! It feels like a new boat. On to the mid decks tomorrow.
now you have done it and gone high-tec-red-neck on it! taking the ole drill-and-fill to the next level...trend setting along the way. jolly good show!
I don't know about that....
... all those hoses and PSIs and stuff and I'm thinking he's kegging something....
or sniffin too much glue ?? ;-P
Shipclips1,
Any update?
Shipclips1
Any chance of a Tutorial on this process? The drilling and filling, I understand. The bagging befuddles me.
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!!!
shipchips1 wrote:
One last item - have screws at the ready incase you can't get a suction!!!
Thanks. Could you run a dry run, skipping the resin, to check whether the vacuum will hold? For example: drill your holes as needed, then set up the vacuum bag, pull a vacuum with the pump, and then monitor the gages and ensure that the vacuum can be maintained. After that do the resin fill, and vacuum again?
Absolutely.
Yes you can but the glue tape and the plastic is a one shot deal, so you will have to re tape the deck and cut a new sheet of plastic after the dry run. The resin also acts as a small hole plug with the old pours fiberglass mat. So you might not show much suction without the resin in place, I found this to be true on an old power boat with floor delimitation, I gained double the suction force with the resin then without.
Why replace the plastic? The mastic should pull right off.
Not the stuff from Jamestown, it is some of the sitckest, gum like stuff I have ever used! It is a real mess if your not carful, but it dosen't leak. It would take you more time then it is worth trying to clean up the plastic, and that is the cheaper of your materials anyway.