Quote:
Originally Posted by strick
For building parts such as the bracket better off using poly or vinyl ester there is no need to make it out of epoxy...waste of money...for bonding to existing fiberglass on the hull then epoxy is better...I like vinyester as it is easier to work with and wets out what ever fiberglass you decide to use without worrying about binders not being compatible with the epoxy
...Tim and I made several molds melamine seems to work best...sprayed with duratec and then the first two layers should be heavy matt... after that 1708 till you get the desired thickness...1/2" thick around the corners and 3/8" thick around the sides and bottom is kinda what we did. It's been a long time...dont forget to glass the swim platform to the tub as I've had to come back and glass the seam when I just bonded the two parts with potter putty...it would be a small hairline crack that looked unsightly.
strick
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I agree with the above^. He really knows his stuff so take his advice to heart. I Use vinyl-ester or polly on molded parts also. It dose work much better. Epoxy is king for bonding or secondary bonds to old glass. Molding parts is different.
The brackets Ive built I seamed the platform on the front bottom side vs the top rear of the ear if that makes since. It takes more finish work and sanding but luckily I haven't seen no cracks yet like the hermco or the 2 piece ones get. I used thicken resin with cabosil and fiber glass pellets where the swim platform bonds to the outboard mounting ear with several layers of glass on top of that to prevent the cracking. Knock on wood I haven't got any cracks on my bracket yet. I build mine a little different than they do. Instead of over lapping the outboard tab with the swim platform ear skin I glass the front of the mount ear separate and finish it out after bonding the two pieces together. I think the problems can be solved by grinding down the seems, feathering them back and then using glass to make the seem solid. Ive only built three outboard brackets before and one was aluminum and the other has never been in the water yet so I don't know much as some but do be careful on how you bond the pieces together and finish them if you do the 2 piece approach to prevent cracking at those points.
Also like mentioned, most raise the floor in the 20' hulls but the 23' really don't need it unless it is rear heavy with a standard brackets and heavy twins maybe.
I get the 6'6" thing. Im only 5'8" but my dad was 6'7". Growing up all the tables in the workshop were taller and everything had extra head clearance. When you raise the console since your mentioned doing it from the bottom possibly (think you mentioned that) I would add the height you need then turn the flange inwards instead of outwards. It just looks cleaner to me that way. You could seem a 2" piece in if you cut it but with the slant on the sides it would not fit up right. I would cut the factory flange off then add what you want at the same angles as the original console sides then mold a new flange on the extension you add.
Scupper holes height, if you raise the deck you should be able to keep them above the water easily. If you decide not to raised it you may want to be more carful. But you mention taking the bracket on and off but if you want to really do a custom bracket and keep it close to the water you will need to float the hull with weight in it to figure out that height before even building the bracket so you know the dims to build it by. I know when I did my bracket I made the swim platform lower than most so my kids and Australian Shepard's could get in the boat easily. A lot of them are too high. You will need to know the water line to adjust the height of the swim platform or at least know how it sits to get the angle of the swim platform right. Mine is not parallel with the hull bottom. It has a slight angle built into it so water will run off it. Mine sits up in the front a bit so the way the hull sits will effect those dims. I didn't float mine but had a good guess where the water line would be. I also made the flotation chamber as low as I could and wide as I could to get max bouncy at rest. Lots of figuring to build a custom bracket.
One last thing the lip on my bracket swim platforms are 2" instead of 3" as most are. With a good lay up they will not flex as I stand on mine all the time fishing. Shoot, I even hit the dock with the back corner of it going fairly fast and it held up well. It dose have core cell on the bottom but not a full piece all the way to the lips. it stops 2" from the edges. This was mainly to give room to bolt it on. My bottom outboard bolts fall right below the swim platform. The more lip the stronger though. Ive seen some with no lip at all but I would do a lip of strength.
Like said you got a lot of info there and sounds like you got the right idea but this is just my 2 cents on what I could remember after reading your post.