Cloth weight for sole
 

I'm planning to use 1 layer of 1208 for my sole. Is this cloth heavy enough and is 1 layer enough to do a good job? Thanks in advance, Bert

That's way too light. That deck is basically the top of an I-beam, where stiffness is proportional to the 4th power of thickness, i.e. 2X the thickness ='s 16 times more stiffness! I'd recommend matching the original thickness, which is about 1/8". Roughly 2 layers of 1808!

The reason a SeaCraft has a relatively light but very strong hull is because Moesly knew how to put the glass where it would do the most good!

Thanks, That's a great explanation.

Putting down the cloth
 

Should the 2 layers be put down wet on wet?

Wet to wet is always best but there is a green windows that is still considered a primary bond. May be 8 hrs to 3 days depending on your resin. A secondary bond is not as strong and you will need to ruff up what your bonding to give it some tooth. Secondary will work if done right but wet to wet is the best for bond strength.

For a composite sandwich sole (i dont think you mentions if your making a sandwich sole, or a plywood with glass for abrasion Resistance)......stiffness come from thickness of the core. With a proper core thickness, 1208 will support a huge amount of weight over a large span, but it woudl be relatively thin for the top skin for puncture resistance.

For a plywood sole (not composite sandwich), you only need a couple layer of woven cloth for abrasion resistance (and only on the top side). My sole is two layers of 10 oz woven cloth set in epoxy, its extremely tough. I have one layer of 10 oz on the bottom only in places where there is a hatch ( just epoxy encapsulated everywhere else)

Shine, I have one layer of 1708 on the bottom. The floor is plywood, it's well supported so I'm thinking one layer of 1808 should be plenty. Any thoughts? Should I put a layer of 10oz over that?

what thickness plywood? Where is it supported?

If you bed them down to the tops of the stringers (epoxy) and glass it to the sides, then one layer of 1808 is plenty. Use extra layer to tab it to sides.

My sole has two layer 12 ox biaxial tape tabbing to the sides (epoxy), and 2 layers 10 oz woven. I used 1/2" meranti plywood (9 solid veneers), it is also completely bonded to the stringer tops with epoxy glue, also its bonded to frames/bulkheads that span between stringers.

Shine, mine is very similar to yours,1/2" plywood epoxy on stringers and bulkheads. I followed your build on your 23'. Going to use 12" tape to tab to the sides. Thanks for all the input.