Leaning Post Project

[zendora]

Thought I'd share my progress. I'm working on transforming a small seat box into a leaning post that will house a livewell, washdown hose and some drawers for storage. I've done some minor fiberglass repairs, fairing and topcoat work with gel coat and awlgrip, but this is my first attempt at using fiberglass in a mold, so any comments are much appreciated.

Heres how it started:


cut:



ground to bare glass:


mold pieces - cabinet grade plywood, painted with high build sandable spray primer, then coated with 4 layers of release agent:



framed:




layers of gel coat - I am going to sand, fair and paint the box once done, but I thought I would get a more uniform finish with a layer of gel coat (bc the existing box is gel coat) rather than trying to sand down bare epoxy/glass and the surrounding gel coat:


First layers of glass - I'll probably end up doing 5 or 6 with thick layers of epoxy and filler in between. Started with 9 oz cloth, then built up with a couple layers of chop strand (what a mess):



Got a lot done Sunday, and removed the mold Monday night:




I'm happy with the progress so far. Back to the garage this Sunday to get some more done!

[csurf]

Looks pretty dam good to me. Way to go on recycling something that would have been landfill otherwise.

[zendora]

It's been slow going - I've only been able to work on this thing on Sundays, but I'm making progress and the leaning post is now structurally sound (I think/hope!!)

Today my goal was to get her ready for final fairing and paint. I ground the seams and rough edges with a 50 grit disc:







I laid a few extra layers of glass in the inside of the back corners for some extra strength. Instead of using fairing material on the seams on the outside where the new glass meets the old, I ripped up some chop strand and globbed it in by hand.. messy, but it will add some strength on the outside and hopefully help me avoid cracks in the paint down the road.







I'll have a good deal of grinding to do once everything cures, but I'll sleep better knowing that all those seams will be rock solid inside and out.

Last week I also managed to cut my dash for my new electronics box - hope to have that finished in a few weeks.







Slowly but surely. I ordered a back rest and seat cushion for the leaning post from Bob @ Birdsall Marine - should be here this week, can't wait to see it!