On Jul 1, 1:20*pm, HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
What we need is a better boat building material than marine ply/epoxy
and glass. *I have no problem with epoxy and glass and the combo with
marine ply yields a far better boat than one can buy in a production
boat but I am not happy with marine ply.
Basically, marine ply is really not much better than standard ply.
The only major diff is that there are fewer voids and even that is
questionable. *Some of it I have seen simply has the voids (knots)
filled with some sort of non-structural resin that does not add
strength.
I'd like to see a true high tech wood composite. *Maybe bamboo
alternating with carbon fiber/ epoxy and then bamboo running at right
angles to the first. *This would be lighter and stronger than marine
ply. *On the outsides it would be skinned with a lighter glass than we
use for boats now like my Tolman.

"I have no problem with epoxy and glass and the combo with
* marine ply yields a far better boat than one can buy in a production
* boat..."

Care to qualify that a bit, because taken at face value, it's just plain
bizarre. What's wrong with all-glass, or for above the waterline, a foam
sandwich covered by glass that's vacuum bagged?

And for a superior boat building material? Welded plate aluminum.

Now, if you are talking strictly smaller homebrew boats without much in
the way of compound curves, glass over ply is just fine. Bamboo? Carbon
fiber?

As an alleged mechanical engineer, what inherent problems do you see
with using carbon fiber? How can these problems be solved?