Ok turns out I had some time this evening. Here are before and after a shots:
To the untrained eye it may look like a pile of trash, but to me it looks like no more stringers!!!
Now cleanup and lotsssssssss and of grinding.
DUDE!!! YOU ARE A MACHINE!!!
But, seriously, great progress. Hard to keep motivated and aggressive on these kinds of projects. You’re very close to turning this from demolition to building.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
My girlfriend said I work too much on it… My response “Do you want a boat to ride on this summer???”
It was a win for me.
She let you think it was a win. It’ll be back around when she needs it. 
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
So I decided to do something fun today and priced out a new engine… expensive.
I still don’t know what I want to put on the back, used or new. I have had my eye on the Evinrude 250 G2s. I think they are slickkkkk! The dealer said they just tested a 250 HO on a 23’ Tidewater and it got up to 56mph with 3 people aboard. 56 mph would be incredible. Any way all said and done it would be over 26k with the rigging and installed.
A new engine will depreciate immediately, just like a new car, but I like the idea of a warranty and reliability. All that clearly comes at a cost.
On the other hand I can go used, but people are asking crazy prices for old engines with high hours. Unknown service history, etc.
No decisions will be made today as clearly I have plenty of work left to do. Just fun to think about.
So its time for an update.
All I have been doing on the boat is grinding. I have all the stringers out and I’m just working on grinding the seams. Honestly thats boring.
But!!! I have been some fun things too. I have decided I want to vacuum infuse the stingers and I might try the rest of the transom. I have read just about everything Google can find me on vacuum infusion so tonight was the first time I got to try it.
Earlier this week I built a catch pot for the resin. There was some scrap pipe at work so this worked out nicely. It was a little tricky to get the gauge and barbs to seal but nothing a little silicone couldn’t fix. By the way I got the pump on amazon. Cheap and fast shipping.
For my first test part I used a short piece of 2x6 and scrap glass I had laying around. I did 2 layers of CSM and then two layers of 1708. Then the peel ply, flow media and bag.
I learned a ton and this piece is still in the shed curing.
#1: I need to work on my sealing. I thought I had the bag “good enough”. This is not true. I chased all the leaks best I could but there must be the smallest of pin holes. I need to make sure the bag can hold a vacuum for more than 5 mins before moving on next time.
#2: I need better line clamps. Just for this experiment I was using my shop clamps. These don’t seal up the feed lines well at all.
#3: I got a little excited and made too much resin. I ended up pulling a ton of resin into the part. Just wasteful. For making smaller parts I will be able to make the resin a little “hot” so that it will cure faster.
#4: I need to place my spiral tubing feed lines in a little better location. Some of the CSM is not going to be wet out.
Here are some pictures. Any advice would be appreciated!
[img]http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/uploaded/pghill78/2018412203237
The first attempt of infusion didn’t have a perfect seal so I had to run the vacuum off and on to keep the bag tight. I ended up with a dry part. I was able to peel off the glass from the 2x6 with a flat crow bar. My second attempt worked quite well. I worked on sealing the bag better and was able to hold a full vacuum on the part without the pump. No leaks!
There is a little air bubble at the base where the bag bridged, but when I do the actual stringers I will have a big radius where the stringer connects to the boat so that should help. This is 3 layers of 1708. Its a little concerning that its so clear… but there is no way I can pull the glass off the wood this time. Its super solid.
I need some help with my stringer height. I haven’t started mocking anything up yet, but what is the easy way to get the correct height for the stringers?
This is my current idea:
1- Mock up the stringers with foam board (mainly to get the length and curve right)
2- Use the foam as a template and cut the bottom edge of the stringers (curved section)
3- Put the stringers in the boat and bed with resin
4- Build a little jig and scribe a line on the now standing stringers to match the bottom of the deck
5- Cut the strings with a skill saw
Any easier way to get the stringer height correct?
Just thinking out loud…
Having built a few rolled edge boats which were what we called ‘stick built’ keels and stringers ( versus a molded part), I’ll tell you how we did it and why. In different boats I’ve used everything from regular 2x4s (glassed both sides and edges) to Airex light foam cored panels to Coosa. They all worked.
When you rebuild the sole (floor), you’ll lay a bead of thickened resin down the top edges of your stringers, lay in the panel that is the new sole, and place weights to press it into place down the length of the stringers. If the top edges of your stringers are nice and straight (or nice fair curves), your sole panel will press down to a nice flat shape (or fair curve). You can depend on the top faces of your stringers to provide that shape.
If the top edges of your stringers are not nicely shaped (either straight or an appropriate fair curve), then when you place and weight the panel, you’ll have to try to control the resulting shape by carefully placing/managing the placement of weight. The putty/thickened resin will squish out off of the tops of the stringers and you’ll end up with a wavy sole/floor.
Getting a straight top edge or fair curve to the top edge of the stringer will be difficult once it is glassed in. Unless you’re a lot better with a circular saw or sawzall than I am. You may well be. 
When we built them, we created relatively accurate templates with the 3/4" insulation foam board in all respects. The foam board is not horribly expensive so you can go through a few sheets. Cuts relatively easily with a utility knife. Use a straight edge to match the tops of the templates to the lower faces of the remaining edges of original sole.
When you bed the stringers, have straight edges handy. Prep inside of hull and stringers. Butter bottom of stringers with a generous amount of putty/thickened resin. Set stringer both stringers in place with light bracing. Using straight edges and a small but heavy hammer, gently pound stringers down into
now that my friends is a pro tip
www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.bombislandboats.com
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING
See this is why I love this forum compared to others that I’m on. It’s a smaller crowd and there is less BS to sort through. Thanks for the thought out response. Its appreciated. I got similar advice to this. I plan to mock it up with foam and snap a line with my chalk box. I pulled two strings yesterday helping me get the height based off the original sole. I will pull a bunch more bunch more perpendicular to the stringers to get the slope. After I thought about it more, I don’t know if I can easily cut them in the boat with a skill saw. I have a Dewalt worm gear and honestly its huge. I would rather get it close as I can with the foam and go from there. I am going to build little glassed over gusset brackets that are longer then the little nubs of sole I have left to hold the edges on the new sole up you said. I plan to bed then straight to the underside of the existing sole. I think an inch or so will be enough to catch the new sole. I have a little grinding left to do this weekend, hopefully I will have enough time to start mocking it up. If you haven’t noticed I am putting off glassing in the rest of the transom… I need to finish that up but the do the stringers.
As for the infusion, it doesn’t seem to be the norm in the rebuilding world but I am looking forward to trying it. It should leave me with a nice product if I can get it to work. I will be mocking up a larger section of stringer to test this weekend. I will post progress on that.
This is a picture of the lines I pulled. They are tough to see in the picture. I am going to leave that last little bit of stringer in there as long as I can so I can use it for string line.
man you’re going all in! If you’re going to vacuum bag it makes sense to take the extra step and infuse it, really allows you to get all the advantages of vacuum bagging. I would like to try infusing some parts, but after all my experimenting decided that it just wasn’t worth it for me. I’ve gotten pretty handy with a hot dog roller and peel ply LOL…
I spent countless hours tweaking and trimming my stringer cores to get them right, and then somehow despite my best efforts one is a little too low, so unless I build it up deck will slope ever so slightly to starboard. Figured out it’s because I referenced the factory deck height when I was measuring for stringer height, but didn’t think to check that the original deck was level first - turns out I perfectly replicated the 1/2" difference in height between the port/starboard sides… doh!
I made templates and then cut the cores out of the boat. Did the same thing with string and measured down to hull at 1’ intervals to get the rough shape. I snapped a chalkline and trimmed the top edge so they are perfectly straight. I built some temporary frames out of 2x4 to hold the stringers parallel while bedding, and then adjusted both together. Worked pretty well, stringers are perfectly plumb/square/parallel, just should have shifted both to the starboard side a tiny bit and they would be perfect. kind of hard to explain, I think there are probably some pics in my rebuild thread. Really wasn’t too bad.
In hindsight I would do it the same way except I would have a straight edge across the stringers while I bedded them, and measured up from the chine on both sides and adjusted them side to side (which moves one side up/other down due to until straight edge fell at the same height on both sides rather than trusting prior measurements. Still, they came out close enough. I will be building up one stringer a little to compensate and make the new deck level, but it probably wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone but me.
don’t forget to account for the deadri
Jonesin’ for boat porn…
pghill78, you doing OK? I realize life gets in the way of our best planning. But, 'hope the boat is coming along.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
quote:
Originally posted by PalmerScottJonesin’ for boat porn…
pghill78, you doing OK? I realize life gets in the way of our best planning. But, 'hope the boat is coming along.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
Well I was sent to Virginia for two weeks eating up two weekends for work. I got back last Friday night. I was working on the boat on Saturday cleaning up the last bit of major grinding. I switched to a wire cup brush to clean up some foam residue for a little while. I ended up slipping in boat and taking the wire brush to the leg at 11,000 rpms… A bit of a scare but my leg is still there, just with a good strawberry.
I am fighting an infection now and limping around. I’m hoping to be back working on the boat this weekend. Hope that answers the question ha!
No one ever said boat building was easy or safe!
(**() sorry.to hear. Keep an eye on the infection. Had one put me.in the hospital for a week in their infectious disease unit. Snuck up on me. Not bad for a few days then, next day in the hospital and nearly in ICU. If it doesn’t clear up, see a doc, soon.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
quote:
Originally posted by PalmerScott(**() sorry.to hear. Keep an eye on the infection. Had one put me.in the hospital for a week in their infectious disease unit. Snuck up on me. Not bad for a few days then, next day in the hospital and nearly in ICU. If it doesn’t clear up, see a doc, soon.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
Oh this isn’t my rodeo unfortunately. I went to doctor and got something for it.
I am sorry to disappoint you though. I want this boat to be done as much as you enjoy seeing progress. It will get done.
No disappointment, here. More just try to egg you on. Keep the momentum going. I’ve built boats from scratch. But these rebuilds amaze me. Much harder than building from a mold.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
quote:
Originally posted by pghill78quote:
Originally posted by PalmerScott(**() sorry.to hear. Keep an eye on the infection. Had one put me.in the hospital for a week in their infectious disease unit. Snuck up on me. Not bad for a few days then, next day in the hospital and nearly in ICU. If it doesn’t clear up, see a doc, soon.
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
Oh this isn’t my rodeo unfortunately. I went to doctor and got something for it.
I am sorry to disappoint you though. I want this boat to be done as much as you enjoy seeing progress. It will get done.
Not if you keep grinding on your self instead of the boat!
The itch from the fiberglass ain’t enough???
I like the vacuum bagging…not so much the infusing. I like laying the glass with my hands and eyes.
I’m going to try it on a mold and see how it works.
Stay well and get your itch on.
Not much done today, but I should be able to get more done tomorrow if the weather holds. I was nervous about getting the curve right in the bow, but it really wasn’t bad. If you haven’t noticed I like using the paint stirrers… cheap and easy!
Mocked up the foam to check the curve, its pretty darn close. I don’t have to be as perfect as I originally thought. I will have some forgiveness with the resin. I will continue the foam to the stern tomorrow and work on getting the height set. My fingers are crossed that this piece fits as nice on the other side.
Granted the foam is about half the width of the wooden stringer, but this shouldn’t be a big deal.
Got one complete template made today in between going to the office and cleaning out the shed. Then out came the pressure washer. The hull is going to need a couple more washes before anything else new goes into the boat… all the grinding makes such a mess.
