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Balsa is about 6 lbs per cubic foot while common plywood is about 32 lbs for cubic foot Plywood exposes a lot of end grain in a hole drilled through it while the balsa is end stacked to stop this. Bonding an epoxy or other resin to the balsa will not be as potent as it would be with plywood...

Propane is dangerous if used improperly it is heavy and pools in low areas. Make sure any gas is stored so that it vents overboard if leaking. Cylinders can do that when getting bumped around

when I was doing the lowrance installs we used polyester not epoxy and only cabosil as a thickner as it is harder and less flexible than epoxy and gave a better picture. presume the stuff today is way way advanced. on the other side I had a customer who spent the second world war sailing a K...

are they still mounting transducers inside the boat. Used to do it for Lowrance back in the day

nice tear out article in this months Professional Boatbuilder dealing with fastening to cored materials

All good advice. The old saying in the boat shop when bonding something was if you had a choice between polyester or paint use paint. I use WEST Epoxy because it is highly reliable. Too many use it for the wrong reason. Only epoxy specific fabrics will work with it for example. Using gel...

lines ...... dock lines need to be elastic so as not to cause dynamic shock and absorb the load. 3 Strand, because of its construction is FAR FAR more elastic than Braid. Permanent lines you want to use 3 strand. I go undersized in my hostile environment and replace them when they become work...

bit of a nutter about bilge pump wiring notice the nice diagram from warthog has a float switch I have refused to install float switches for almost 40 years I believe in a brand of solid state switches after spending ten days at a boat show in the booth next to theirs Have found another brand...

LOOOOOOOOOOONG T me since I read the regs Level flotation is required for under 20? 21? or 6meters may have changed but is a recommendation number of boats have been recalled for failing remember from reading USCG boating safety circular no idea how the outboard brackets affect this but...

Looks like adhesive. Secret is naptha ( paint thinner ) dissolves the goo. Small amount will buff off but more than a bit here and there will require removal first. The oven cleaner will attack the gel coat if not used carefully. We used stuff like that to burn of old oxidation. On that...

Do not know if I am missing a thread but there could always be a discussion on battery care and maintenance. I store mine on trickle maintainers after fully charging and load testing. I run a couple of desulfate cycles through the fleet during the winter months. I keep a 1/2 x 9/16 open end...

love my harborfreight loadtester. Have eight boats that are used in a club/school setting and all kinds of lack of understanding from operators. Load tester gives me huge peace of mind. Battery shed is a 1/4 mile from water so helps bigly when I know I have a good battery

I saw a pair of Nicro/Fico (sp) Solar vents in a photo on this website on the large aft hatch Those things work. Installed a pile of them in my past life on heads. We also used to drill vent holes in keel stepped masts to dry out bilge stank need an inflo and an out flow. Nice thing with the...

Permits are the smart way to go but simpler is to take the trip by water if it is only 120 miles The trailer is street legal when empty. Bearings and tires are seriously important. You may be able to make the trip empty on the old rubber but I have loads of horror stories of losing trailers...

Earlier in his thread there are photos of solar vents?? Have you seen this before ? I have not seen it used to keep the voids dry I used to hustle Nicro/Fico solar vents from AUS for peoples heads loved them

Solar vents ??? Great Idea

Warthog - correct again !!! This is one of the best ways I have found to spread out the extraordinary loads of a pedestal much less a TALL pedestal. I was installing these 30 years ago

I use Aviation fuel which is already stabilized and run the engine after bleeding out tank fuel long enough to change fuel in VST If you cannot get AV GAS go to the big box store and but ethanol free gas. This should be in your engine from the filter on. This stops the corrosive behavior of...

The trick with gel coat and other paint repairs is trompe l'oeil. There are blending tricks you use with the Paint ( gel coat ) and the surface to make things look good Starting with a good close base is a great way to get a good job. Then surface cleanliness is next. Big secret in the prep is...