Freestylegeek's squarenose conversion

[freestylegeek]

pics???????????????????????????????:bigeyes:

The pics on the post #19 and #20 are all I've done so far.
Tomorrow evening and this weekend I hope to cut the other side down, and possibly fill in the stock exhaust hole.
I may start glassing around my steering cable relocation area too.

This is a riot!
(although, not quite as fun as it will be when it's DONE!)

 

[waterfreak]

The steering nozzle will have even more clearance with the hull being shorter.

The shorter hull makes a huge difference for turning. :arms:

I will be using Either MarineTex or ITW Plexus for bonding adhesive.

On a side note, one of the nice things about buying a complete hull from XFT is the fact that he has equipment to bond the top and bottom with epoxy resin. Basically, it creates a 'monocoque' type design where the material is all one thing from top to bottom - no bond line.
It makes the structure lighter and stronger.

What is a "monocoque" ? Is that french? lol
I like to use expoxy thicken up with milled fibers to bond the hull and deck together. Once it's together, I lay the hull on it's side and then fill the bond line until their solid. SMC is very tricky to work with. Make sure to sand the surface with some very coarse sandpaper and clean thoughrouly afterwards with acetone.

 

[freestylegeek]

What is a "monocoque" ? Is that french? lol
I like to use expoxy thicken up with milled fibers to bond the hull and deck together. Once it's together, I lay the hull on it's side and then fill the bond line until their solid. SMC is very tricky to work with. Make sure to sand the surface with some very coarse sandpaper and clean thoughrouly afterwards with acetone.

I'm planning on hitting everything that will be bonded with 36 grit sandpaper and roughing the CRAP outta it! I don't want to take the slightest chance of this thing ever coming apart.

I would rather use epoxy and fibers, but in order to mix up enough stuff...I'd need a 5 gallon pail!:bigeyes:
Not to mention a pretty slow activating hardener.

and Monocoque is indeed a French word:
"Monocoque - French word (one shell) describing the single-unit construction"

au revoir! :biggrin:

 

[waterfreak]

I'm planning on hitting everything that will be bonded with 36 grit sandpaper and roughing the CRAP outta it! I don't want to take the slightest chance of this thing ever coming apart.

I would rather use epoxy and fibers, but in order to mix up enough stuff...I'd need a 5 gallon pail!:bigeyes:
Not to mention a pretty slow activating hardener.

and Monocoque is indeed a French word:
"Monocoque - French word (one shell) describing the single-unit construction"

au revoir! :biggrin:

Have you ever picked up a 5 gallon pail?? You ski would weigh a ton

I can do an entire ski (bonding ,re-inforcing ect...) with one gallon of epoxy . I use the 1:1 activator for bonding and the 1:2 activator for re-inforcing. Once you add the milled fibers, it almost doubles the quantity.

 

[freestylegeek]

Have you ever picked up a 5 gallon pail?? You ski would weigh a ton

I can do an entire ski (bonding ,re-inforcing ect...) with one gallon of epoxy . I use the 1:1 activator for bonding and the 1:2 activator for re-inforcing. Once you add the milled fibers, it almost doubles the quantity.

I was refering to the 5 gallon pail for a container to mix it in (and I was being a little sarcastic). My concern is mixing up enough epoxy in one batch in order to bond the whole ski. Are you saying that I could get a slower activator, then mix up a batch, and spread it 'till I was out, then make another batch?
If that's the case, I would MUCH rather do that.

 

[freestylegeek]

The XFT order is complete and will be shipping out today!!!
It's shipping by air, so it should be here fairly quickly.

It was about the same price it would be to ship a hull here from state to state.
Total frieght bill was $380.
Granted, that's about 2X what I budgeted, but if I don't put footholds and turf on the thing, I can afford it!:haha:

 

[crammit442]

I was refering to the 5 gallon pail for a container to mix it in (and I was being a little sarcastic). My concern is mixing up enough epoxy in one batch in order to bond the whole ski. Are you saying that I could get a slower activator, then mix up a batch, and spread it 'till I was out, then make another batch?
If that's the case, I would MUCH rather do that.

If you have access to Plexus, it'll be vastly superior. Epoxy/milled fiber is good, but Plexus is made for this kind of application and is tough to beat.

Charles

 

[freestylegeek]

If you have access to Plexus, it'll be vastly superior. Epoxy/milled fiber is good, but Plexus is made for this kind of application and is tough to beat.

Charles

I'm working on the 'access to Plexus' thing...
Hopefully I can get my hands on some.

Not to mention the fact that it would be a lot easier to spread an adhesive in a gun, rather than mixing up a bunch of epoxy.

 

[freestylegeek]

The exhaust side has now been cut, and I've included some shots of the steering relocation hole.
That's gonna be a fun one to glass.

 

[Big Kahuna]

you need to make the rear cap angled like steve did, looks really good.........

 

[RMBC Freeride]

No way BK :27: :27: :27: , that's for my project hull...

http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/7977

Besides, Geeks hull was a square so it has to have square corners! :nana: :biggrin:

 

[freestylegeek]

you need to make the rear cap angled...

Well now that YOU suggested it, there's NO WAY I'll do it! :biggrin:

 

[freestylegeek]

...Geeks hull was a square so it has to have square corners! :nana: :biggrin:

Bingo! :haha:

 

[waterfreak]

I was refering to the 5 gallon pail for a container to mix it in (and I was being a little sarcastic). My concern is mixing up enough epoxy in one batch in order to bond the whole ski. Are you saying that I could get a slower activator, then mix up a batch, and spread it 'till I was out, then make another batch?
If that's the case, I would MUCH rather do that.

The bond line isn't really wide so the amount used is not that much. It should take about 48 oz of epoxy and milled fibers to fill the bond line with about a 30 minute window (all depending on the activator used)

 

[WaveDemon]

hey steve, I bought some 3:1 hardener with my epoxy. it sets a little fast. can I use less or do I need to buy a diferent hardener?

 

[waterfreak]

you should not use less than reccommended. Instead, get a slower activator. I know west systems offers this with thier epoxies

Temparatures outside very often affects the cure time. I know some people that will actually put the epoxy in the refrigerator in order to lower the temperature and prolong cure time

 

[Freestyleriverrat]

What is the scoop on the rest of the build? What plate are you running, footholds and what color(s) scheme do you plan on doing on it?

 

[freestylegeek]

What is the scoop on the rest of the build? What plate are you running, footholds and what color(s) scheme do you plan on doing on it?

Well, for now the plate will be a cut stocker.
Footholds will either be WCF or Rickters.
And I have NO CLUE what I will do for a color scheme...:banghead: :dunno:

 

[Freestyleriverrat]

I would look into a x-metal box, that may save you some weight there. Also if you make a small tray out of fiberglass you can install a sealed battery in bulk head much like the WD designs. That will also remove some weight from the nose of the ski. Much to my dismay I found those gas tanks like the one I got from XFT for $40 :banghead: Some are critical about them but I feel it helps to balance the ski and I can feel a difference in how the ski responds compared normal tank. I can ride for almost a hour on 2.5 gal with my lamey and 48's

 

[freestylegeek]

I would look into a x-metal box, that may save you some weight there. Also if you make a small tray out of fiberglass you can install a sealed battery in bulk head much like the WD designs. That will also remove some weight from the nose of the ski. Much to my dismay I found those gas tanks like the one I got from XFT for $40 :banghead: Some are critical about them but I feel it helps to balance the ski and I can feel a difference in how the ski responds compared normal tank. I can ride for almost a hour on 2.5 gal with my lamey and 48's

Now here is something I REALLY struggle with.
All this time I have been trying to get farther forward - shorter pole, footholds farther forward, x-metal straight bars and short turnplate, etc...
The LAST thing I want to do is throw all that away and make my nose lighter! :scared:
I know that Maros played around with lead in the nose of his ski in order to figure out positioning with his H2O-X hood kit.

The jury is still WAY out on the 'light nose' debate.
There are a bunch of people I want to talk to about it.