Making of the SNX Hull

[makejetskiinggreatagain]

I found time to do my taxes while laid up in bed. As if the urgent care running up my bill wasn't enough, god damn IRS tried to Jew me for every penny... QUOTE]

We need to abolish the IRS! Impose the sales tax only fair tax system! Several politicians are trying. They all get my vote. Rant over. Back to the awesomeness!

 

[Vumad]

You're telling me, it's been kicking my ass lol. There was a point yesterday where I was staring up at the trees spacing out while holding sand paper, thinking "What am I suppose to be doing right now?" That's when I realized it was time to wrap it up and head inside.

I took the day off today and hit up the local urgent care. They shot me up with some steroids and gave me an antibiotic. Feeling a lot better already.

What makes you think that has something to do with the fever? I usually lose track of what I am doing while I am working on hobbies, and end up sitting on my stool staring at the dog who is staring at the fence. It's not a job. That's the whole point of being out there I think.

Well Keg, the good news for you is I feel like a million bucks today (in comparison), so the excuses should cease and the over the top composite stuff back on track.

I do hate having to succumb to going to the hospital though. Always find a way to charge you out the ass for stuff. Who really needs a CT scan for a sore throat??? This will probably cost me more than a Solas mag pump by the time they are done billing me... The day wasn't a total waste. I found time to do my taxes while laid up in bed. As if the urgent care running up my bill wasn't enough, god damn IRS tried to Jew me for every penny... Anyway back on subject. Composites right?

I'm definitely not going to sacrifice quality to hit a deadline. Sleep might be sacrificed to hit deadlines though. I am happy with how the foothold wells came out structurally, but the clear coat over the strong print through of the blue twill leaves something to be desired. I doubt I will remake them, but I am debating just turfing over the blue twill. It's so minor and on the inside of the tray, I don't think it's going to make a big difference either way. We'll see how it looks once it's all together.


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You did it wrong. You drove to a walk in clinic. You're suppose to call 911 at 3 am, tell the medics you have had this problem for 3 days, have done nothing to fix it, have actively tried to make it worse, and you want to go to the hospital because it's faster by ambulance and that the tax payer will pick up the bill.

 

[Nate_D]

If I could like your post multiple times Vumad, I would. I'll keep that advice in mind next time lol

And Wet Dreams, I agree. I see so much wasted money just in my local city government. It's astonishing. I can't imagine a business surviving with such inefficient and wasteful policies, procedures, and practices. And this is from someone who isn't a crazy gun toting (I do have them, not huge on the toting aspect), tea party, extremist. I actually aligned more with the left in the past (more for social rights than economics). I guess at this point I just see the absurdity of it all.


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[Nate_D]

Got some work in today. Footholds sanded down and sprayed with Surfacing primer. For those following along taking notes and trying some of this out on their own, mixing Duratec high gloss at 1:5 with the surfacing primer makes a huge difference in how it lays down. Shot it with a 1.4 tip and had very little orange peel. Wet sanding from 320 to 3000. We'll see how the finish comes out.

Installed a 316 stainless steel 12 mesh wire cloth over the versa plug opening to stop any debri from sticking open the ball. Both the scupper and versa plug can be plugged easily. The idea is to allow different options for water removal.

Pic with the hood on

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[Nate_D]

Started with a pair of old boots. Wrapped them in metallic tape and laid tape over the plywood.

Covered the boots with body filler to form my shapes.

Covered the body filler with more tape and wax. Laid four layers of 8oz twill.

Cut a piece of XPS to plug one side and then poured two part into the other side.

Body filler.

Duratec surfacing primer + high gloss

Wet sanded 320/600/1000/2000/3000/compound

Gelcoat & reinforcements

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[DAG]

did you wax your foothold mold or not needed with gel coat?

 

[Nate_D]

For all of my molds to pull parts, I use frekote sealer and 770 semi perm. On the plugs I usually use wax and PVA because the PVA glosses out nicely. On one of the foothold plugs here I used frekote to test how my mold surface will come out. I would like to get away from wax and PVA on my plugs, but I need to get my surface prep down better. You really have to have a perfect finish with frekote, otherwise it shows every blemish and dull spot.


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[Nate_D]

Here is an example of the difference in finish using PVA vs frekote on the plug.

Mold on the left was created with wax/PVA. One on the right was frekote. Both plugs were wet sanded and compounded exactly the same. This tells me that even though my plugs looked glossy, what I am doing to prep them isn't enough to be able to use frekote. This is an area I need to work on and probably find some better compound and polishes. It's difficult to see in the picture, but the mold on the left has minor surface imperfections where the PVA picked up dust while setting. This is the main reason I want to get away from PVA. In the end, both molds will get finessed and the finish shined up. It just comes down to how much time is spent getting there and what step that time is spent on (on the plug or on the mold).


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[Mud-Nut]

Cool update and thanks for posting the difference between the wax/PVA and frekote. You sure don't waste time! I wish I could make this much progress in that amount time on my projects!

 

[bobob729]

build is looking excellent cant wait to see it in person.

 

[Nate_D]

Didn't get the hood liner plug done. This is where it's at

First foothold is infused and curing. Sprayed one mold with Duratec sunshield and the other with GAC polyurethane. Going to see which IMC comes out looking better and holds up better. As for spraying, GAC is easier to lay down and work with in general (also smells better). Pot life on the sunshield is 10-15min, GAC is 45+ and can be mixed with a fresh batch after that. When over sprayed, the GAC gets hazy. Sunshield can build higher per pass,. but fisheyes easier on high slip surfaces if sprayed too fast. Sunshield is about 1/4th the price.

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[SkiDiggity]

Wow, the work you do blows my mind!

 

[Nate_D]

First foothold out. This is the one with the sunshield. Immediately notice the slight Amber hue to it. Doesn't look bad at all. The pictures of the visual Rickters I have seen have the same light hue.

This is also from the mold that was made with frekote. The mold glossed out very nice after being hit with 3000 and then compound.

Speaking of, I stopped by my auto paint/refinishing retailer and got some tips and post compound products to get the plugs to the next level. We will see how it works out on the hood liner plug.


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[DAG]

I'm pretty sure everyone here would be more than happy with how that turned out and here you are trying to make it better. I can't help but to admire your dedication for perfection

 

[Nate_D]

Thanks Dag. Don't get me wrong though, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I actually like the way the sunshield looks. I think my parts are getting better and better each time.

I want my plugs to be flawless though so I can pull a mold, slap some frekote on it, and then get to making parts. But honestly, if I can pull molds that only need to be wet sanded at 3000 and then compounded by hand, I am happy with that. I think that's on a professional level. Having a 100% flawless mold right off the plug though, that's just next level stuff.


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[makejetskiinggreatagain]

Wow, those turned out amazing.

 

[simofx-1]

i have no idea how those foot holds are going on your ski...its over my head and i cant wait to (see)find out

 

[iangdesign]

i have no idea how those foot holds are going on your ski...its over my head and i cant wait to (see)find out

He molded adjustable rails into some panels on the previous page. I assume these will clip into the walls of the tray.

 

[Nate_D]

Yes. I'll try to get the parts all trimmed out today and the hardware purchased. The footholds will mount to the rail by 5/16th carriage bolts and stainless cam locks. The foothold "well" with the rail will get glued into the gunwales. To move the position of the foothold you will simply pull down the two cam levers, move to the desired position, then push the cam levers back.

I am at the lake half of the time and at the beach the other. The goal with a lot of this build is to be able to change the setup from flatwater to surf with as few bolts and part swaps as possible. So far I have the full width ride plate to adjust the length and adjustable foot holds. I really want to design an easily adjustable carbon pole. I have this idea in my head involving cam locks where with the flip of two cams you could adjust the pole from a very short comp length to a more surf/cruising friendly length. Getting that to a finished part that functions as I want it to is going to be a huge challenge and probably require at least 4 molds.


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[Nate_D]

GAC Polyurethane

Sunshield

GAC

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