I (Sandy) am out of town. Cell phone only. So I'm copying this email question to the forum. Perhaps someone else can answer before I do......well I did get to the public library, here in nowhereville. It's so backward here in coastal Texas they don't even have snow.
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Hey Sandy,
Thanks for the follow up. I do have a few quick questions I’m hoping you can help me with or point me in the right direction.
The Beavertail plans do not include drawings/measurements for the bottom panels that I can find. Can you point me to them?
It's all in the written instructions. Build the temporary rib like formers. Build the side panels. Attach side panels to formers. Attach stem. Attach transom. Now it looks like a boat with no bottom. Make a 4x16 bottom panel. Put it on the upside down boat. Weight down the ends, or screw them down temporarily. Pencil trace the edges. Take it off. Cut to the pencil line with an angle on the saw. Put it back on, this time with glue.
I plan to join 3/8’’ plywood sides to a ¾’’ plascore bottom. I can’t find good descriptions of how to join both materials in a stitch and glue setup given the disparity in their thickness?
Same as above. Make a Plascore bottom panel. Glass one side only (so it can still bend, glass inside or outside it doesn't matter). Trace out the edges. Cut it. Glue it down with a bit of thickened resin at the edges. The instructions talk a out details in more detail.
Do I simply treat them the same with a 45 degree bevel on the inside edges as I would a standard 3/8’’ plywood panel?
Not sure what you mean. 45 degrees? Plascore generall box joints together, perhaps with 6" square interlocking box joints at the ends, so two 4x8 Plascore panels make an end to end panel that is 6" less than 16' feet long.
I’ve looked all over the internet and had trouble with this one.
Last question, do you know any lamination schedules for plascore using Kevlar? Also, do the honeycomb sides of the plascore need to be filleted (filled in) first before I stich and glue?
Filleting comes after stitching, if you stitch at all. I don't bother with stitches. I put wet thickened resin on the chine edges of the side panels. Lay the bottom panel down. Weight down the ends and edges with boxes of nails, cans of paint, power tools etc. Let the resin harden. Now flip the assembly over. Take out the temporary rib-like formers. Fillet the inside edges, between side panels and bottom. Now glass over the edges. Now it's together. What I just said skips over a crucial straightening step. The assembly HAS TO BE SQUARE AND STRAIGHT before gluing on the bottom. It's all in the written instructions.
Unfortunately, there just are many good sources on the internet I can find with detailed plascore instructions but there are plenty of builders raving about it! - I did search your builders forum about plascore but only found 1 thread with only basic information.
RE> Kevlar. I only used it once. It's good stuff but hard to work with. I put one layer of 6oz fiberglass directly on the bottom panel. Then one layer of Kevlar. Then 3 more layers of 6oz glass. It's not written in stone. Others like bi-axial glass. That stuff can be hard to wet out. You might want to buy a "fiberglass roller" from West or Raka.
Thanks again!
Dan
I have another question about flotation compartments. I have looked at multiple drift boat designs and some have flotation compartments (Devlin Drifter 15) and others don’t. For the Beavertail ‘17 I don’t see any built into the design. Is that right? I have also seen reference that with Plascore bottoms you don’t need to add any additional flotation to a drift boat. Just curious if you know any resources I could use to look into this.
Thank you!
Dan
/* colin (sandy) pittendrigh */
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