Glassing timber sailboat foils for smoothness and accuracy
Make excellent and accurate foils (centreboard, leeboard, keel or rudder blade) adding way more performance for not much effort and no cost – series
FAQ Fibreglass for Boats
How to Lightweight – Balsa Canoe strip planked 12lbs (5.5Kg)
A 12lb canoe. The idea was to build a Rushton Wee Lassie in balsa strip with very light glass. The boat ended up being fairly durable despite not being interested in durability. As far as I was concerned I was going to be happy if it lasted a couple of years before being chucked into a dumpster somewhere. But five years later it was still beautiful despite good use.
FAQ – Building a strip canoe or kayak that can handle some impact in the surf or with rocks. Cedar Paulownia
IMPACT! How hard is your boat going to hit something. For most of us it won’t be very hard at all. So it is better to save weight. For expeditioners they may require a lot more from their boats. What are the strategies one can think about?
FAQ – Materials for strip planked boat or canoe in Australia – for lightness and beauty.
Ultralight strip planked boats using Paulownia, Balsa and Western Red Cedar. Superlight Eureka Canoe and Goat Island Skiff and the amazing 12lb balsa canoe
How much fiberglass will prevent most damage to my ply or timber canoe or sailing dinghy?
How much fibreglass is really necessary to prevent damage to a plywood boat for most users?
For a long time I’ve been suspicious that both designers and builders are in a never ending spiral of more and more heavier fibreglass.
I argue, with data from the Turner designed Jarcat, that the weights of glass are clearly excessive for most uses and users of small boats.
Fibreglassing 3, Doing bigger areas on boats and boat components
This is a basic section on the stages of fibreglassing areas on a plywood boat, canoe or SUP. Many problems can be avoided by being methodical and setting up each stage carefully rather than rushing in.
Q&A Fibreglassing method 2, Double bias tape for curved boat surfaces
Where a seam or boat chine is fibreglassed and the glass bubbles and will not sit flat or go around the corner – a simple trick for boatbuilding. This article shows how to make your own double bias tape.
Q&A Fibreglassing method 1 – small areas on boats.
This is the normal method for fibreglassing small areas for home boatbuilders – typically using fibreglass tape to hull seams, very common on stitch and glue and plywood boats