Modern Materials for Stringer Rehab

Gneil wrote: Hey Pete, LVLs are not out of the question.

If you do go the LVL route, order them without the water resistant coating. Delivery will take longer since the coating is done at the mill and not at the distributor so plan ahead. If you do get them with the coating, a 36 grit belt in a belt sander will remove it in a hurry. Don't worry about removing material in the thickness since remember the LVL will be 1.75" thick compared to a 2X at 1.5".

Pete,
I've used west system products before and was very satisfied. Although, I have never priced out west products against others. I have heard it is the pricy option. Like you I have heard lots about total boat products and plan to do some local searches to see if there is something close by.

The topic of drawings for the gen2 SN hull seems to be rare bird and still hoping to find a set. Wish me luck.
Till then, Cheers!

Hey Pete,

Thank you!
LVLs are not out of the question.
Do you have any sources for CPES?
Alway good to do a through search in weighing out my options.

Hi Brian,
Thank you for the response. I must confess, again. I would like to use traditional materials. But......I would also not to ever have to worry again about the integrity of the hidden structure of the the boat. I am very capable with wood working and it's kind of a easy solution for me. Although, my time and effort significantly out weight the cost of materials. So, in my mind if I'm going to do the repair could I potentially improve the spec.s of the OEM by eliminating the rot of the material.

To reference your thread on the weight of the base material, Im just going along with published spec.s of material like coosa board. I don't have a sample of coosa yet but Ill have one in a few days.

I hope Ill know a bit more then.

With wood in mind, would you consider a baltic birch ply or would you use spruce?

I don't sleep at night and also have a sad life.

Hello Pete,
This is a fine tool. Ive seen them used quite often in videos an such but I've still not outfitted myself with all the gadgets quite yet. Looking forward to buying one or two of these. I would equate this roller with a hammer for carpentry I think.

Just feeling out the state-of-the-art with these threads prior to buying the toys and trying to figure out where ill fit in. This sort of boat repair is something I've never done before. Lots to think about.

Thanks so much for sharing. Trust me! Ill certainly keep all you guys in the loop as the project starts to take shape. I appreciate your motto, "keep it original" but I just want to tweek a few things so I don't have to deal with rot in the stringers. Any other benefits i can gain in the process all the better.

Always willing to listen and learn.
Im enjoying the process already. Lots of Fun!

Rodger,
Hats off to the Ballast tanks and stringer/floor job you linked me to. Wow!!! Quite the craftsman. Very impressive. I sincerely enjoy the poof of concept the images and description provides. Did you vacuum bag any of your parts or just lay-up and set? I would imagine if you are doing such a complex form vacuum bagging might complicate matters in the wrong way.

Brilliant Job!!!

does it matter what kind of lay-up you use depending on what type of water the boat will be floating in?

Blockchain technology = stronger core material

Gary S wrote: ... Either that or just do the glass build up with nice crisp 20's

Pete, any idea what the proper moisture content of US currency should be prior to layup??

Again, Thank you Joe!

Ill see what Rodger has to offer. I did realize that your boat is a 2001 hull and mine is a couple years older than that design. But its the concept and implementation that is so impressive to me.

I'm in the process of doing wood stringers and a Coosa floor. All with epoxy resin.

uk1979 might already have drawings of a factory 70-81 ski nautique structure. However, many of us have chosen to modify the factory design for many reasons.

following the water grind tread...

Tom,
The zip tie solution may work just great!
I Think Bosch makes grinder attachments that have several attachments similar to what you are talking about that are used for stone and concrete.

I've cut a lot of tile and related materials both wet and dry and you never really want to cut dry if you have the option.

could be a wet mess, but it might be better than a dry one.... Still planning.
Thank you for your insight! I love this tread thing... It's a first for me.   

Gneil wrote: Ok, here is another idea....(slightly off topic) Dust collection during the stringer demo and prep. Has anyone heard of grinding and sanding with water? I know this may sound obvious (gel coat wet sanding on the exterior) or even ironic, but the boat is a sort of bowl and the waste could be concentrated in a container for disposal with a simple filtering sys. also it might help with the itchy factor and clean-up could be managed on an ongoing basis. Any thoughts?

Cutting or grinding glass use pneumatics with a water spray, like at the dentist.
Aim and zip tie a small nozzle at the cutting wheel or whatever, just make a slurry, virtually no dust.

of course still don all ppe

Gneil wrote: Joe's coosa stringer build is a bar well placed. I wonder if the coosa would support an 440 turbo arrangement?

Close to 10 years in and I am confident my Coosa unibody boat would hold just about anything thrown at it, its been beaten savagely by waves regularly, been rained on, snowed in, set on fire, filled up with water over the floor numerous times, pulled enough skiers to bend the pylon, fed enough torque to twist off prop shafts, and trailered tens of thousands of miles. It still feels as solid as the day it was built.

Regarding the more expensive materials it becomes pretty hard to justify, most of the areas the glass layup is doing more than one thing, like providing impact resistance, sealing materials from water, or holding screws, and not just resisting tensile force. The build up needed for the other requirements ends up being more than adequate for the strength requirements so going with a higher strength to weight ration carbon or Kevlar isn’t worth the expense and increased difficulty of use. In general if you are hand laying up multiple layers of composite and not vacuum bagging it then you are using so much more resin weight than what is needed that it is kind of silly to think of saving a couple pounds with fabric.   -