- Location
- South Florida
Strong work. Btw, I have discovered that clear packing tape works awesome with epoxy resin. Nice smooth finish and peeled off easy as pie.
Making of the SNX Hull
- Thread starter Nate_D
- Start date
- Location
- Houston, TX
Thanks. I'll have to try the packing tape. The metallic tape works pretty well, but it breaks apart when you try to remove it. I used wax paper, but it actually didn't release all that well. It tears too easy and I end up sanding it off. Now I've used parchment paper before as a release to patch a hole and that came off easy. But the true "wax paper" hasn't worked out for me.
Thinking ahead... I'm trying to figure out the best method to form the tubbies. Mobile Chernobyl used some metal rods as a guide for his hot wire foam cutter on his 550 build, if I recall correctly. Seems like a lot of work to get the metal to the right shape just to be used as a guide. What other methods have been used besides cutting and sanding down to the shape wanted?
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Thinking ahead... I'm trying to figure out the best method to form the tubbies. Mobile Chernobyl used some metal rods as a guide for his hot wire foam cutter on his 550 build, if I recall correctly. Seems like a lot of work to get the metal to the right shape just to be used as a guide. What other methods have been used besides cutting and sanding down to the shape wanted?
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Interesting! I've been using wax paper a few times for making flat panels with biax, and it peels off super easy and doesn't stick whatsoever..
- Location
- South Florida
Wax paper didn't work well for me either. Had to sand it off.
- Location
- Houston, TX
Is it wax paper or parchment paper? Parchment paper, the stuff you use for baking, is referred to as wax paper but it's slightly different. Parchment worked decent on flat surfaces, but wax has completely failed me.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
Sanding, sanding, and more sanding... Will it ever end?!?
The recessed plate area is now at the correct height and angle. I originally guesstimated it at ~8, turns out is only ~2 degrees.
I'm feeling a lot more optimistic to have the rear finished by Friday.
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The recessed plate area is now at the correct height and angle. I originally guesstimated it at ~8, turns out is only ~2 degrees.
I'm feeling a lot more optimistic to have the rear finished by Friday.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
Ride plate area finally finished.
Started like this...
Did a lot of this...
Made one of these...
Somewhere in the process it was like...
Then after some...
It looked like this...
Almost a gallon of...
And finally over 70 hours later from where it first started...
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Started like this...
Did a lot of this...
Made one of these...
Somewhere in the process it was like...
Then after some...
It looked like this...
Almost a gallon of...
And finally over 70 hours later from where it first started...
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- Location
- clark lake, MI
Looks really good, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but body filler (Bond) is not meant to be built up that thick, its fine to buildup with but should get some layers of glass over it. It tends to shrink and crack if not.
- Location
- Houston, TX
The current plan is to pull a mold, so everything being done is with that in mind. All of the corners are soft 90s and all of the angles are made so it will release from the mold.
Before getting to the top deck I still need to:
Finish new pump tunnel
Cut another 2-3" from nose and reshape nose
Create Tubby plug and molds
Cut bond rail (1.75" in rear to .5" in front)
Finishing work on chines
Finishing work on rocker area
Resurface and sand bottom deck
Pulled the second foam mold off the first for the pump tunnel yesterday. Also cut the old tunnel out and got the mold lined up and some body filler in. Still need to finish the body filler, then pull it out and sand, primer, paint, wet sand, and wax/buff before its ready to go back in and lay glass over. I should have *most* of that done on Sunday. Here's a few pics of where it is at right now.
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Before getting to the top deck I still need to:
Finish new pump tunnel
Cut another 2-3" from nose and reshape nose
Create Tubby plug and molds
Cut bond rail (1.75" in rear to .5" in front)
Finishing work on chines
Finishing work on rocker area
Resurface and sand bottom deck
Pulled the second foam mold off the first for the pump tunnel yesterday. Also cut the old tunnel out and got the mold lined up and some body filler in. Still need to finish the body filler, then pull it out and sand, primer, paint, wet sand, and wax/buff before its ready to go back in and lay glass over. I should have *most* of that done on Sunday. Here's a few pics of where it is at right now.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
If I was going to build this out, I would have built up with an epoxy based body filler and used a few layers of glass on top. The bondo will probably be ok to pull a mold from though... ?
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The bondo is more than strong enough for your purposes. I did the same with the rear section of my ski.
By the way that rear bondline is killer. Have you thought about widening the pump cavity as long as you're widening the pump tunnel? I didn't and kinda wish I had...
- Location
- Houston, TX
I'm debating it. The stock 155 I have fits in the cavity, but it's tight. There's no room for a scupper in there and that's something I want to be able to do. Once I glass the new tunnel I'll take another look at it with the pump in place and see if I want to take the time to widen the cavity too.
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- Location
- clark lake, MI
Keep up the good work, I see you have the dedication!
- Location
- Houston, TX
Thanks! The build thread and the positive comments keep me focused on this project. It's a lot more work than I had anticipated, but it's going to be worth it to have something I built myself.
For the first time in this build I am at a loss on how to accomplish something. I am reworking the nose while the paint on the pump tunnel mold dries.
I tried 4 different ideas to get the nose to where I want it and I am still not all that happy with it. I settled on cutting out the nose and then a ~6" section. Put the nose back on with duct tape and set some milled fiber/cabo/epoxy and two layers of 1708 to hold it in place. Once it cures I'll have to come back and cut the sides of the nose and do a lot of foam work, bondo, and sanding.
I'm pretty disappointed in this. I'm sure I can get it all worked out, but it's going to take some time. I should have waited and came up with a real plan for the nose instead of trying to wing it while waiting on the pump tunnel.
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For the first time in this build I am at a loss on how to accomplish something. I am reworking the nose while the paint on the pump tunnel mold dries.
I tried 4 different ideas to get the nose to where I want it and I am still not all that happy with it. I settled on cutting out the nose and then a ~6" section. Put the nose back on with duct tape and set some milled fiber/cabo/epoxy and two layers of 1708 to hold it in place. Once it cures I'll have to come back and cut the sides of the nose and do a lot of foam work, bondo, and sanding.
I'm pretty disappointed in this. I'm sure I can get it all worked out, but it's going to take some time. I should have waited and came up with a real plan for the nose instead of trying to wing it while waiting on the pump tunnel.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
I can already tell that it's going to turn out to be one. Interesting that you can type bitch on this forum but not poop...
Anyway, I should have made a box and foam molded the old nose. I could have sanded and cut it down from there. I suppose I could still make a foam block out of XPS and sand/cut that down if the nose doesn't work out like I want.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
Well 35 hours later, over twice what I had estimated, the pump tunnel is finally finished.
Started by taking a foam mold from the existing tunnel.
Sanded out the inside to widen the tunnel.
Created another box, lined it with 2mil drop plastic and sprayed a healthy coating of PVA for good measure. Wrapped the foam mold in the same plastic and coated in PVA.
Two part poly urethane in and lid placed on top.
Trimmed and sanded.
Cut the existing pump tunnel with a 3" cut off and sawzall. No turning back now...
Layered on some body filler.
Sanding, primer, paint, wax and PVA.
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Started by taking a foam mold from the existing tunnel.
Sanded out the inside to widen the tunnel.
Created another box, lined it with 2mil drop plastic and sprayed a healthy coating of PVA for good measure. Wrapped the foam mold in the same plastic and coated in PVA.
Two part poly urethane in and lid placed on top.
Trimmed and sanded.
Cut the existing pump tunnel with a 3" cut off and sawzall. No turning back now...
Layered on some body filler.
Sanding, primer, paint, wax and PVA.
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- Location
- Houston, TX
Set mold back into hull and laid glass. 8.6oz then 2 layers of 1708 with 8.6oz 6" tape alternating.
I was hoping I would be able to reuse the mold, however the epoxy leaked into the foam and ruined that plan. After 30 minutes of gently prying and cutting, frustration set in and the mallet and crowbar came out.
Lowered the pump cavity where the pump shoe sets. Did this so the jet dynamic 155 shoes would fit without a lot of grinding.
A lot of body filler on the inside and out and hours of sanding later...
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I was hoping I would be able to reuse the mold, however the epoxy leaked into the foam and ruined that plan. After 30 minutes of gently prying and cutting, frustration set in and the mallet and crowbar came out.
Lowered the pump cavity where the pump shoe sets. Did this so the jet dynamic 155 shoes would fit without a lot of grinding.
A lot of body filler on the inside and out and hours of sanding later...
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