what wood to use???? do i really need marine grade????

[stevekyp]

here is my boat.
gona do it all

[regalman4925]

i just made a trip to the lunber store and they had a wood called araucoply which i think someone mentioned and its about 32 dollars a sheet and best of all it is 7 ply just like marine grade. it is perfectly smooth and did not feel oily like the cdx pine even thought it said it was pine, the guy said he thought it was brazilian pine? it also stated that it was outdoor rated and used water proof glue. so i am thinking this makes everyone happy including my wallet, anyone have any objections to this wood? oh yea, the 1/2" is also 5 ply rather then 3 or 4?

[OkieTunnel]

Marine ply has the same wood for each layer as the face. Regular plywood does not. Having said that...most experts say you can use high grade exterior plywood in boats..NEVER interior grade. Wet out the surface with resin, use mat as your first layer saturated with resin, then apply tickened resin, then apply your plywood already wet with resin on that side. If you use epoxy you will have a better bond. I would go ahead with the regular plywood but use epoxy. You can order it from US Composites and it wont be that expensive(Do a search but it may be uscomposites.com). Their website will also guide you to the appropriate filler to thicken. Order one that is used as a structural filler(I cant remember off the top of my head...Microspheres? I would pre coat the edges of the plywood with two or three coats of epoxy/resin. Prep the transom down to smooth glass (no remaining wood etc) but it should be roughened up already from the work you have done. if not...hit it with some 80 grit. wipe with acetone. Cut out your mat to the shape of the transom. You may want to cut it in multiple pieces depending on size. Put your mat on a flat piece of thin paneling that is surfaced smooth and white, I think they use it in showers? but it is very inexpensive and you will know it when you see it. I buy a 4x8 sheet and cut it to make a nice surface for presaturating fiberglass materials. Lay your matt out on this...mix up some resin/epoxy, paint the transom with the resin, then immediately wet out the matt. I pour it on the matt and use a plastic putty knife to spread it around. When it is wet out good use the putty knife to squeegee the excess resin from the matt. Too much resin weakens the final laminate.(Dont reuse this resin it has too many bubbles!) You dont want dry areas but you dont want excess either. quickly put the matt on the wettened transom. you can use a putty knife again (wide one) to press it in place. If you have coated but havent been excessive it should stick in place perfectly. (If there were any notches or uneven spots it will cause real problems...surface should be flat. use thickened epoxy to level out any changes int the suface beforehand if needed) Now mix up two batches of resin/epoxy. One you will thicken to a mayonaise consistancy, the other will be unthickened. Paint the plywwod with unthickened then spread an even layer of thickened over the top of it. immediately put the wood in place. Put pressure on the wood to hold it their and let it cure. I have used thin strips of wood cut off a 2x4 with a table saw a little thicker than a yardstick. you can use them if you have something forward of the transom such as a bulkhead or a backseat. They need to be a little longer than the space so you bend them to make them fit and that puts them under pressure to hold the wood in place. Some people use screws to squeeze the wood to the glass(remove them later and fill) I dont like to because it creates more potential problems. Find a way to put pressure on the wwod while it cures...nuff said. After this cures for 24 hours the hard part is done. Go back with a thickened resin mix and fill around the edges and any gaps. Apply resin to the surface of the wood as before then presaturated matt as before if you saved the skins when you cut into the transom. Apply the matt, let it start to harden a little then apply a layer of resin to the skins followed by a layer of thickened epoxy. Put the skins in place then apply pressure again and allow to cure. if you need to build up a new surface...I would buy some 1708 from us composites. It is a biderectional glass material already stitched to matt. After filling the gaps as above, Wet the plywood, wet out the 1708 on your white board and squeegee excess just like you did with the matt. Stick it in place and spread it with the putty knife as before. Build up layers to desired thickness. Hope this helps. Like glassdave said, The plywood is mostly a mute issue, the quality of the rest of the installation is the factor.

[glassdave]

great info go'in on in here

regal your transom should be just two layers of 3/4. Are you sure there an extra 1/2 n there? I have never seen anything like that before on a 250.

you should be fine with he araucoply, i believe thats what my friend used.

Hey Okie, i just got your old 36 Skater in my shop last week.

[Audiofn]

Put the thing in there with duct tape and bubble gum you will be fine. If you look around for my stringer project you will get some pictures and info on that thread. I used Okume but I am trying to make my boat as light as possible and cost was not the driving factor. Take your time, keep asking questions and enjoy the itch.

[regalman4925]

lol, no kidding on the itch! duct tape sounds good also! the transom was for sure a layer of 3/4". a layer of mat, a layer of 1/2" another layer of mat and then 3/4" and then fiberglass cloth over that. i am going to try to post pictures sometime this week or maybe put a link to a build thread, i just made a pretty nice dash panel that i kinda want to show off a little! lol

[stevekyp]

I just picked up a sheet of structual plywood at the lunber yard.
6 ply fir,and the diference in structual ply is the way they lay the plys together.
this stuf is nailed at 24 on center instead of 16 on center in construction.
Strong stuff,and the best part is its only 29.00 a sheet.

[OkieTunnel]

Originally Posted by glassdave

Hey Okie, i just got your old 36 Skater in my shop last week.

If you have any questions on what was done call me anytime. The good work i did. The bad work was done by others I am curious how you are going to tackle underneath the deck on the starbird side.
405-733-3388 day
495-359-9793 eve

Its gonna be a great boat for David.

[regalman4925]

ok guys now that the wood is figured out. i am useing polyester resin, i am thinking that i will order all of my stuff from uscomposites.com, i need to know which resin, mat and cloth to order for this? i am also replaceing stringers and bulkheads next so if i can order that stuff right now also it could save me some time and money. thanks for the help guys!

[Audiofn]

Maybe your transom has been replaced prior to this? Maybe it only lasted a couple years........ because they used crappy wood

Seriously it sounds like this is the second time that the transom is getting replaced to me. You really only need the 2 layers of 3/4 IMO. Others may/can comment as well.

Jon