"Glenn Ashmore" writes:
Please pardon a short rant:
I have been participating in this news group for 7 years and in that time
have seen people espousing everything from antifreeze to aspirin to cure rot
and curtain liner to wheat flour to save a few pennies on GRP lay-ups. It
irritates me no end to hear people insisting on short cuts and off the wall
ways to save a few bucks and screw up a job.


Well, not every boat has to be built better than a Swan or Hinckley, but
in general I agree.

In a discussion with a local hobby boatbuilder recently, I suggested
using foam core instead of plywood w/ fiberglass skins, since it would
be much much lighter and not prone to rot; and only slightly more
expensive. I think the "slightly more expensive" is in the eye of the
beholder, but he acted as though my suggestion were both a personal
insult and a blasphemy against his religion.

The trick is to show that while aspirin/wheat flour/shower curtain boats
can float, and be fun, they're not really strong enough for many
applications; and let people make their own decisions.




William R. Watt wrote:
Could you please elaborate on the use of asprin for boat repair, assuming
it is being applied to the boat and not the boatbuilder? That's a new one
on me.

By curtain liner do you mean the polyester fabric? I've tried the
ployester drapery moulding, the stuff they use to stiffen the top where
they put in the hooks.

For what, peel ply?

... It's okay for some places but not as flexible to
apply as fibreglass tape. There is a mix of the drapery tape and
fibreglass cloth imbedded in the polyester resin on my 12 foot, 25 pound
plywood Delta boat. Neither fibre has given any trouble so far.


What about just using Wal-Mart bed sheets for laminating?

I've never actually built a carboard boat but if you could somehow get
hold of waterproof cardboard I bet it would make a great boatbuilding
material for lightweight canoes and kayaks.


Where ya been? There was a thread on a cardboard boat building contest
here just a little while ago. Pictures, too.

By way of a reminder, we are not all building 50 foot offshore cruisers
costing more than the average family residence to pass on to our
granchildren as artifacts of consicuous consumption. Or making our living
off people who do.


Even with a smiley, that's a little over the top. Glenn is a nice guy,
undeniably a top craftsman, and he's gone out of his way to help people
around here.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King