Dunno about magic or art but it certainly can be messy!
To be honest, it's just a bit about knowing what needs to happen chemically and the rest is just practice (preferably on someone else's dime !!)
As long as you can keep the final shape in your mind, you can shape it out of whatever you have at hand and slap some glass over it to make it permanent. Kinda like the mashed potato mountain from Close Encounters, I guess (snicker).
I really enjoy doing layup - there's something about being able to form anything one's mind can come up with and to be able to make it structurally robust using a combination of materials that, on their own, are essentially useless.
That lifeboat is exactly the kind of thing I'm into. I would probably either restore it or put put in something like a one-lunger 10hp shaft drive and a center console. Maybe give it a bimini and call it a captain's gig...
For its age it looks like it's in REALLY good shape. I could see either restoring it to original or adding a skeg and a 10hp one-lunger shaft drive in a center console. Old lifeboats make great rough-water fishing skiffs and, so long as you keep the weight down, they'll bob like a cork instead of stuffing into waves. It's a rough motion sometimes but the skipper will give up long before the boat ever does!
Were I nearby, I probably would make you an offer, but not until I got some of these other projects cleared out !
I picked up that rowboat so I could get some exercise after knee surgery and set some prawn and crab traps at the same time. Fresh prawns are a great incentive to get out and row every evening. Truth be told, fresh prawns are an incentive to get me to do pretty much anything, lol.
Fresh prawns, oh yeah, I'm aboard for that!
I think you're one of those guys, Lefty, that is beyond good at glassing. The chemical nature of things you mentioned is where I see the "art" and "magic" of the process.
A single lunger 10 hp. would be a grand idea for an offshore rig but I was leaning more to an electric setup for lakes and rivers close by. I live between two excellent lakes (1/4-1/2 mi. in either direction) or can choose from any of the other 9,998 we're supposed to have in this State. A guy stopped by last week, wishing to look at the lifeboat, seems he has a bit of boat building and repair experience. He mentioned that I could buy the whole electric propulsion unit for $5K from Electric Boat Co.. That is about $4K more than I'd like to spend, lol. I was thinking more along the lines of a slavaged golf cart drive train and some batteries.
Thx for the kind words westend. I can't complain - glassing has made me a living doing something I enjoy. To me, that's what 'wealth' means.
Funny you mention electric drive...I have a few old outboards I bought specifically with that in mind. My thought was to cut through the lower right at the cav plate and mount that to the underside of a purpose-built hull. The shaft would be cut down and turned to accept a double pulley. One could simply make a coupler and mount the motor right on top of the shaft, but the gear reduction would likely see the prop turning too slow. Pulleys and belts would let you play with the ratio till you get it right.
Most of the golf cart motors I've seen use the differential as a faceplate, so you'd have to fab one (probably out of aluminum plate) to support the bearing.
This power arrangement will tuck completely under a standard 16" high seatbox as well.
Too many projects, not enough time !
I did get the rear panel hung back on the trailer to keep the rain out, but that's it for the build for a while. The weight seemed to be about double with the glass on.
With the shell on hold for the time being, its time to turn my focus to other parts of the build. I won't be installing an air conditioner, except maybe one of the portable units if I'm going to have shore power available. I will be using the trailer when temps get into the 30s (high 80s) so it would be nice to have a way to get some airflow going, given that I'm building a giant insulated beer cooler
I have a roof exhaust vent going in on a curb to minimize the chance for leaks (still needs to be etched and painted):
For the air intake, I have a two speed squirrel cage fan salvaged from a projection TV I was scrapping out. It's rated for 10V and moves a lot of CFMs.
I'll connect it to a rheostat in the cabin to control the speed and duct cool air into it from under the trailer (wheel well) via 3" ABS. I formed a diffuser out of foam and glassed it. It needs a vane inside to divert the air down to the end and it will get some sort of grille (varnished cherry lovers maybe ?) to finish it off. The whole works will be concealed in the cabinetry with the outlet grille just below the counter top. Conversely, if I install it on the curb side instead of the street side, it will go into the dinette seat box and dump out just below the seat cushion. Either way it's concealed and provides plenty of air circulation.
DeadeyeLefty wrote: With the shell on hold for the time being, its time to turn my focus to other parts of the build. I won't be installing an air conditioner, except maybe one of the portable units if I'm going to have shore power available. I will be using the trailer when temps get into the 30s (high 80s) so it would be nice to have a way to get some airflow going, given that I'm building a giant insulated beer cooler
I have a roof exhaust vent going in on a curb to minimize the chance for leaks (still needs to be etched and painted):
For the air intake, I have a two speed squirrel cage fan salvaged from a projection TV I was scrapping out. It's rated for 10V and moves a lot of CFMs.
I'll connect it to a rheostat in the cabin to control the speed and duct cool air into it from under the trailer (wheel well) via 3" ABS. I formed a diffuser out of foam and glassed it. It needs a vane inside to divert the air down to the end and it will get some sort of grille (varnished cherry lovers maybe ?) to finish it off. The whole works will be concealed in the cabinetry with the outlet grille just below the counter top. Conversely, if I install it on the curb side instead of the street side, it will go into the dinette seat box and dump out just below the seat cushion. Either way it's concealed and provides plenty of air circulation.
interesting idea for air flow thru your camper got me to thinking about cold air inlet for my furance...i have to decide on that soon about ready to glass outside of it and not real sure of my skills in that area
recycler wrote: interesting idea for air flow thru your camper got me to thinking about cold air inlet for my furance...i have to decide on that soon about ready to glass outside of it and not real sure of my skills in that area
Most RV furnaces pull their combustion air from outside around the furnace exhaust vent. Even the old 70's era truck camper furnace I put in my Sunline draws it's combustion air from outside.
recycler wrote: interesting idea for air flow thru your camper got me to thinking about cold air inlet for my furance...i have to decide on that soon about ready to glass outside of it and not real sure of my skills in that area
Most RV furnaces pull their combustion air from outside around the furnace exhaust vent. Even the old 70's era truck camper furnace I put in my Sunline draws it's combustion air from outside.
i have a newer atwood furnance so it has the forced air from outside... the cold air inlet is more for fresh air for me my lungs aren't what they used to be
The idea for pulling air from under the trailer came as a result of seeing where the dog likes to hang out when we're in camp & it's away from any smoke, exhaust, etc.
I've seen people box and duct window air conditioners so that they can have a supply and a return duct while keeping the box (and its noise) outside the trailer. With a bit of ingenuity, I'll bet one could duct or baffle the furnace to draw from wherever you wanted.
UP, that's quite a project you took on. I've got a similar 'donor' trailer rotting in a field, waiting until I have the truck to move it and the place to rebuild it:
The tin is good, the frame looks good, the appliances are all there and don't look damaged. Kids have partied in it so the interior's trashed and the windows are busted out. If the stars align and I take that on, I'll probably go with foam and glass again. I would probably go with Klegecell or Divinycell for the foam and a conventional (styrene based) composite layup and prefab a bunch of flat panels.
I picked up another 125 yds of cloth last week, so the Glacier is advancing again.
I cut out another 38" wide slice, this time 19"X19" of the corner.
Cloth laid out and cut:
And glassed:
The scraps get cut into tape:
Today's task is to flip it over, filet the inside corners and lay up the glass on the inside. Then cut another 'slice' off the trailer. Rinse & repeat all the way around...
One of the little things about epoxy layups: because the stuff is a bit pricy, it's best to have a side project on the go where you can use up small amounts of leftover resin. As you squeegee the cloth after wetting it out, you'll always pull out excess resin to keep you layup from being too resin-rich. I built a 9' punt that way that's perfect for fly fishing. The current side project is putting a sail rig into a 14' rowboat. The dagger board and slat seatbenches are next.
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