Hull Bottom and use of 12mm ply

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jhippe
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Posts: 118
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:45 am

Hull Bottom and use of 12mm ply

Post by jhippe »

As I inventoried my available stock of plywood, I find that I will most likely be short in panel of 9mm. I have some 12mm and 6mm in stock and so am contemplating using some 12mm in place of the 9mm. Several options come to mind.

One would be to use 12 mm for the bottom panel of the cockpit floor and then top it with 6mm. This would give the same combined thickness and weight but would have a smaller gully for water collection. The benefit is that there would be no additional weight to the boat.

The second option is to use the 12mm for the bottom. This would add about 11 pounds to the boat (very rough calculation). The benefit would be a stouter bottom. I sail on Lake Superior with lots of rocks (some of them sharp) and I have a propensity for finding said rocks. One set, Ollies Dogs, off Isle Royale probably still have some of my hull paint on them.

The third option is to suck it up and go purchase another panel of 9mm which would cost about $100 (cost of panel and renting trailer).

Thanks, John.
Brent65
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Posts: 292
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:03 pm

Re: Hull Bottom and use of 12mm ply

Post by Brent65 »

John,

All good ideas. My vote would be to suck in up and buy a sheet of 9 mm plywood. Also, with a properly glassed bottom, you're boat should be sufficiently strong for all sailing adventures, hence, I don't see a major benefit of the extra material. On the downside, it may by very difficult to obtain the proper shape on the hull using the 12 mm. Finally, the additional cost of building to spec will hardly even show up over the long haul of the building process. You're working really hard to get things right, why risk the "one off" approach.

Just my 2 cents
Brent Butikofer

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