Hard Top Plans

[pelican]

Originally Posted by McGillicuddy

Pelican, I get where your coming from but, I think your point is more relevant to a cored hull than a hard top. I know you advocate sleeving for composites, and I'm sure the instructor does, too.

balsa coring is balsa coring - it's a hard top - antennas are gonna be mounted,along with anchor lights and the actual bolts securing the hard top to the frame - that's alot of holes...great lakes region too - freshwater rots wood,seawater tends to preserve it...

a good example of this process was a 21 parker i worked on - 1yr old hull - the owner had a complaint of "cracking around hand rails on cabin top" - end result was the entire top was soaked,and rotting balsa coring - due to the lack of proper sealing techniques - parker replaced the top,under warranty...

technology changes,with this being a class,you would think the instructor would be teaching the latest techniques,using composites - what's mostly used in the repair/fabrication process,versus basically a "stone age" product such as baltek...most people "in the biz",myself included,use composites versus wood.composites have proven themselves,in many applications - light weight,high strength,and the fact they will not rot...

if technology/techniques never changed,we'd still have wooden hull'd boats...

you've got one chance to make a product - why not use the best coring materials available ?