Well I finished my first home depot board and it turned out ok. No delam or anything. But its my first board I built so i learned alot from it. It rides allright just needs more rocker…anywhoo
I'm planning on building a 5'6 stringerless homedepot eps fish. I can't decide on how thick I want to make it. The options I have to build from are .75"x4x8 or 2"x4x8. I could get 2 sheets or the .75" and sandwich 4(!!!) layers together, or sandwich 2 2" layers. Which would be a wiser choice? I'm leaning the 2" cause it would be alot easier, but then I am left with a 4" thick blank to make a board out of. I think this board should be around 3" thick. It will be used for slow somewhat mushy waves knee to waist high.
Also could I create the rocker and a “stringer” by using epoxy to sandwich the layers together and fiberglass tape down the middle of each layer? The layers would be bent using weight to create the rocker.
I’ve done the 2 sheets of 2" epoxed together along with strips of fiberglass down the center. The problem you’ll get is you’ll have a gap around the seams caused by the stringer thickness. Better to forget laming in stringer. Glue the 2 sheets together with your rocker in, then cut them down the center and lam in a fiberglass stringer the way traditional stringers are installed. BTW I put way too much rocker in my prototype. Take your time and measure. I acutally put the weigth in the center and raised the ends.
2X48X96 gives plenty of rocker off cuts (if you pre wire for volume distribution) which you can bag on the deck for chest float. Or you could just buy a 3/4X24X48 panel and bag it on as well. If you plan on doing balsa skinsyou can get it up to 2 3/8- with just a 2" core. Its too bad 2 1/2 isn’t a standard foam panel thickness or for that matter in 2#; that would be too easy. Stay clear of epoxy for the foam glue up…exotherm and later crusty to shape (forget wiring. I’ve PU glued just about every standard sheet foam size up for blanks 1.5 + 1.5, 1.5 + 1, 2 + 1 and 2 + .75. What works best is depends on your particular dimensions. A rocker template +1/8 -1/4 helps with a more precise panel layout. You dont want to buy too much foam, especially if you have to burn it or mow it off.
Well the problem with 1# eps is it requires more glass: 2x 6oz bottom and 3x 6oz deck. If you plan on using fin boxes or FCS plugs you also need a higher density foam insert or perpendicular box stringers to lessen the box’s leverage on the adjacent light foam. Carbon and kevlar are fairly expensive and the latter a pain to sand: if your bent on using them try to entomb or sandwich them in your lam sequence…avoiding them with the grinder. I’ve sequenced S glass this way: Bottom 6 oz E + 4 oz S on top-outer layer wraps onto deck. Then Deck 6 oz E + 4 oz S + 6 oz E. E is easier to sand and a better bond to the lighter foam since it flexes more than S which is prone to delam due to memory stiffness. The above is the lightest schedule I would use. The true benfits of using 1# is in a composite sandwich with higher density sheer skins of Div.cel. or balsa. What you save in foam $ you spend in cloth and resin $ strengthening the straight 1 # core.