cost of fabricating plastic holding tanks
 

Gordon Wedman wrote:

What do you think of the idea of fabricating a holding tank from plywood, FG
cloth and epoxy as suggested by AMPowers? A friend is thinking of doing
this and I might consider it as well.

It's a lot of work that doesn't save enough money--if any--to be worth
the time and effort (the $500 AM said he spent is more than even a good
quality custom welded tank of only 15 gals should cost you)...it's a lot
of extra weight compared to plastic...and the plywood will rot/tank will
leak if ANY liquid gets to it, which will eventually happen if the epoxy
develops hairline cracks. Because any problems will be on the inside of
the tank, you won't know about 'em till they become serious enough to be
obvious from the outside of the tank.

Btw...you can save a lot in shipping charges on things you buy from a US
source--and get 'em a LOT faster--if you live close enough to the border
for it to make sense to rent a "Mailboxes Etc" or similar address in the
US. You wouldn't save any duty owed, but you would only have to pay
domestic shipping charges and eliminate charges like the "customs
brokerage fees" that UPS charges. We had quite a few Canadian customers
who went together with dockmates on a US address and took turns driving
across to pick up the stuff they bought from us and other US retailers.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

cost of fabricating plastic holding tanks
 

Gordon Wedman wrote:

What do you think of the idea of fabricating a holding tank from plywood,
FG cloth and epoxy as suggested by AMPowers? A friend is thinking of
doing this and I might consider it as well.

Peggie Hall wrote:

It's a lot of work that doesn't save enough money--if any--to be worth the
time and effort (the $500 AM said he spent is more than even a good
quality custom welded tank of only 15 gals should cost you)...it's a lot
of extra weight compared to plastic...and the plywood will rot/tank will
leak if ANY liquid gets to it, which will eventually happen if the epoxy
develops hairline cracks. Because any problems will be on the inside of
the tank, you won't know about 'em till they become serious enough to be
obvious from the outside of the tank.

Btw...you can save a lot in shipping charges on things you buy from a US
source--and get 'em a LOT faster--if you live close enough to the border
for it to make sense to rent a "Mailboxes Etc" or similar address in the
US. You wouldn't save any duty owed, but you would only have to pay
domestic shipping charges and eliminate charges like the "customs
brokerage fees" that UPS charges. We had quite a few Canadian customers
who went together with dockmates on a US address and took turns driving
across to pick up the stuff they bought from us and other US retailers.

Thanks again for the reply. I agree that you wouldn't know you had a
problem until it was too late to do anything about it. If I can get a
plastic tank for less than $500 I would be happier.

As for the shipping issue, I've been onto that one for several years.
Fortunately I've lived close to the US border for the last 15 years and
consequently it has been easy to drive across to pick up items. Living in
Nanaimo its not quite so convenient as it once was but I drop into Blaine,
Washington, to pick up items when I visit my brothers on the mainland. I
really hate to pay a Customs Broker $25 to clear something that is worth
$15. For anyone interested, I use Mail Boxes Plus in Blaine, 360-332-1816.
I once had 350 pounds of chain delivered to them.

cost of fabricating plastic holding tanks
 

Gordon Wedman wrote:
What do you think of the idea of fabricating a holding tank from plywood, FG
cloth and epoxy as suggested by AMPowers?

Um, I never suggested using plywood, that is what failed in the first
place, prompting us to build a new one. I built mine from cloth & epoxy
resin. Looking at current prices, my guess is it would be much less
than that to build the size tank you described. My original point was
that we used the project as an excuse to teach ourselves how to work
with the material. If you want to learn how to as well, then this
approach might work, otherwise I'd suggest you pay someone on a fixed bid.

cost of fabricating plastic holding tanks
 

Gordon weird wrote:
What do you think of the idea of fabricating a holding tank from
plywood, FG cloth and epoxy as suggested by AMPowers?

I think it sucks.

I built a 65 gallon holding tank using epoxy and and double bias
knitted glass.

You won't save any money.

You will reclaim space since you can custom build a tank shape to
utilize every cubic inch of weird shaped space using the "lost foam"
process.

Reclaiming what would otherwise lost space on a boat, has a value that
is tough to estimate.

The smaller the boat, the more valuable the usable space on a cubic
inch basis.

Lew