Thanks for the tips Louis, it's rare to find an artist willing and patient enough to share the tricks of their craft. We're learning a lot and appreciate you letting us peek into the shop.
Happy to see you again. Don’t worry about the critics who worship instant gratification. LOL. I think that your extended build times and detailed explanations are necessary to explain the complexity of this technique you’ve come up with. One of the reasons my projects turn out 10 times better these days than in the past is that at 74 I’ve become more patient.
Absolutely perfect. I used to make composite fibre hovercrafts in the very early days of composite building all of your thoughts and techniques are mind-blowingly similar if not perfect absolute respect for working it all out for yourself. Much respect. Honestly even your material choice is beyond the thoughts of the norm.. In my day we used low stiffness Kevlar to mould and have flexibility strength and cabin and glass as riggitity strength but some materials like silicone and boron haven't been incorporated as much .. Awesome channel keep up the fantastic work..
Hi Loe, it's nice to see step by step how the boat will be completed and when you use different techniques than that of using traditional methods.we have to wait for the next video. See you soon. Greetings from Salo Finland
Lou, I love the knowledge and insight you give in every video. I especially love the question and answer videos! I've dreamed of building a boat since I was just a kid. I think with some help from your videos I may be able to get it done. It'll be like the work skiff in your first series but there is so much good information in all of these videos. I can't get enough! Thank you and keep up the great work!
This is so cool I have no words! Thank you for sharing this with the world Lou! I'll be 68 in a few days and for decades I've dreamed of building a boat. I purchased some boat plans but it's a basic build and I know already I won't be satisfied with the end product even if I do it perfectly. Your series has given me the information and confidence to built a boat that I know I'll love. I realize it won't turn out perfect but it will be a competent build thanks to you buddy! I just rented some shop space and the project begins pretty soon; thanks again my friend!
I loved to work and indeed is a great idea for construction. I would remember that less resin as possible gives strength , more resin , it gets brittle. so sometimes you don't have to cover all the cloth but bring the wet resin from the underside up, we have to work the resin out. almost like if there isn't enough resin there. that way the cloth will only be stronger for every new layer of cloth you apply . massiv work, to bring it out indeed, but because this idea od sandwiching and overlapping is so good I thought it would be worth mention it, mainlr because I do believe you would have a less harder time with the overlapping later on in the process, less material between the wood and the canbon layer. irt was a great video . thank you
Hi Louis....I love watching your videos, you impress me with your passion about what you do, I can see that you really enjoy it...you are really an excellent instructor...so from sunny Barbados Caribbean all the best
For whatever its worth and old trick in the model airplane world:1 - spray the cloth with cheap lacquer based hair spray which keeps the weave from moving around so much, 2- put some low tack tape like blue painters tape where you want your cut to be, 3 - draw your cut line on the tape with a sharpie and make your cut through the tape. I peel the rest of the tape off once the epoxy stars to harden. I bought some scissors made especially to cut kevlar. The hair spray seems to just go away when you start to wet out the cloth. I'm a big fan of your channel.
This layer, and those corners, seem like a great candidate for vacuum bagging. - if you do any amount of composite work, it can be a good investment to pick up some tools for that kind of thing.
Yes. This is my area. I see the surf board makers relying on simple wet layup methods, but ultimately, vacuum bagging is the way to go for low resin/high strength laminates.
Ole Anderson not hard at all if you use tape seam bagging. You just need a mostly air tight cover over the part you're doing, so it isn't unusual to tape a sheet over the part to draw vacuum under.
That would be pointless to bag. A lot of effort for very little gain. It's just too small and complex to make it worthwhile from a time standpoint. Would've easily doubled the time it took to do. You would also have to pre treat with resin and let it cure. If you tried to bag directly over untreated timber, I can guarantee you'd pull a lot of air out of the timber itself, and probably wick a lot of air in around the edges- it would be difficult to seal those boards at the edge. if I had to suggest anything, it would've maybe been to use peel ply, but again, it's such a small area, and Louis did such a good job with the trowel, that the gain would've been insignificant.
I worry that water entering the wood grain will cause it to expand and delaminate; especially salt water. It's an interesting experiment and worth a try. New methods of boat building are not easy to develop. Time and experience are the best teachers. By the time that you are done, you'll know exactly how to do it. Thanks for posting Lou.
You aren't aware of cold moulded construction, are you? It has been around for 50-60 years and has none of those issues. This is nothing new at all. Using it on a dory is new.
To CLARIFY - the proper way to use the MIXING CUPS for MEASURING RESIN is Here - Using the 2:1 example - find the column for the 2:1 ratio - and you use the SAME number in both columns. So if he wants to go to 4 - he fills the resin using the left column to the 4 and then the hardener using the RIGHT column to the 4. use the same # in both columns. it's made to make your pouring and measuring easier. Thanks to Lou and Halsey for another great video.
it is mentioned you dont know how much resin to use, the typical way is to proportion it by weight. you weigh your cloth and you weigh your resin and use an appropriate ratio.
Another good man gone. A year from now you will be showing off your new autoclave. You will be an authority on the latest coring foams, your own favorite vacuum bagging techniques, ceramic enhanced cloth blends and 3D printed frames. Turn back while you still can
This is your opertunity to support and galvanise this in history this man is a genius all he needs is funding for his hard work. F me and my comments if we loose this knowledge then what NO make sure this man never is alone plz..
Just a side note, but that stitched edged is called the "selvage" and is the edge of the fabric as it's woven. I'm sure Lou knows that, but as a costume maker and tailor, if I can make a seam with the selvage at the seam, it cuts my finishing time in half. Good job!
But not in tailoring. It's a valuable edge. In this case, it seems Lou used it for a solid edge, as I would for a hem, and that makes a lot of sense to my tailoring mind. However, I would really like to know the facts about why the selvage is not used for these boat-building applications.
i dont know about boat building, I built things more akin to airplanes in terms of complexity, we removed the selvage because it is a different fiber and therefore behaves differently in the stress of the piece overall, whereas you want uniform consistency. For this application its not important really, but in general, in composites you remove it.
I think you do a great video and I am very much impressed by your knowledge of boats and boat building. Your years of experience show. I do have a question. I live in the south and its hard to find good oak lumber here and when I can it is priced out of my market. I would like to build a dory such as the sport dory but for lakes and rivers around my home since I live in a land locked state. Would pine or spruce work for lakes and rivers? Thanks in advance.
Wade, we are near Pensacola and you might look around for cypress, longleaf or southern yellow pine, think about what the locals would have used. Some places it is easy to find, there is a cypress mill in Milton Florida, Steve Cross' sawmill in Iron City Georgia and several lumber shippers in South Florida. There are always strength/weight/rot resistance/availability/price trade offs. Also the builder's decision of whether you want your dory materials, fasteners and coatings to build a 7 year dory or a 100 year dory. Maybe a road trip is in order to get the lumber you'd like! Grab a cup of coffee and look over this wood selection table by Sam Rabl, it will give you some ideas: smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com/2017/09/wood-selection-table-by-sam-rabl-27-sep.html
This is going to be a beautiful and durable boat Lou. Can’t wait to see it up close on the 14th. Maybe I can find another run that you left just for me like on the skiff......lmao
Electric scissors work wonderful, no unraveling, cut edges while epoxy is just past set and still rubbery with Auto body shop Bondo planes, you can get them Flat,concave and round, if already set hard, wood rasp works great.
Cutting Kevlar or carbon fiber in the Raw is easy to do if you use tin snips with the fine teeth cut in the blades. those little teeth will keep the cloth from sliding out of the cutters and it'll cut like butter
Hi Louis, why use Kevlar/ Carbon fibre combo rather than just carbon fibre? Your series is an absolute treat mate, hope to visit your part of the planet next year and convince you to go for a pint or six.
Kevlar's tensile strength is higher than steel for a given cross section. So, it also provides strength to the bottom. It has excellent impact strength, which is perfect for a small, beach launched boat.
Hmm. Won't water soon become trapped between the two waterproof layers, as the carbon/kevlar cloth wears out or gets scratched, and cause the boat to rot?
I know you are a mater at your craft. I’m not criticizing. Im wondering why you didnt do a couple saturation coats before you applied the first carbon fiber ? Hope you answer on you question and answer video
That seems like the perfect spot for vacuum bagging. You wouldn't have had to keep trying to smooth it down and would have kept the weight down by pulling off excess resin.
That Kevlar/carbon fibre cloth looks like a cow to work with, but you make it look like a doddle, Lou. Another great video! Oh, and that new shirt looks great on you :-)
If you use any of this stuff, wear a respirator. Total boat's stuff might not be harmful but I've used some real nasty stuff before. Wear gloves when you mix it and handle it.
hi Lou, great watch again, the time flies by as it is so absorbing,lm already wondering is there boat number three in the pipe line? l for one would love there to be your a natural entertainer and teacher all the best from Poole in south of England, look it up Lou !
A trick we use in aviation when mixing is to mix it in a cup like you did. Then transfer the batch to another cup and mix some more. This makes sure all is well mixed.
There is no saturated Kevlar fabric with resin. The resin will only encapsulate the Kevlar. That is what makes it so bad when exposed to Moister, it's soaks up water like a sponge. If the water freezes it'll fracture the piece of matrix allowing more water to get soaked up and eventually you'll end up with a bunch of mush with the Kevlar. This is not the case with your carbon fabric or glass.
eglass, then i think putty and sanding flat. I don't understand why he did this in 2 pieces. I used this stuff before, it's not that difficult to get it to cooperate. That first sealing coat is key though, it's helps it keep from floating up. Then you keep on eye on it while it cures out. I would do a part, throw it in a hotbox, then pull it out and go over the part with a spreader and stick it back in the box.
I posted this as a response to a comment below, in regards to people complaining about the content of this video series. I believe it needs to be stated clearly for all: If you feel so strongly about it, how about you step up and pay Lou to make the videos you want to see? You get content for FREE, so you have no say in what you see. What makes people like you so entitled? You do understand Lou makes these videos on the side, he has to make time (and money) from working actual paid jobs, don't you? I see an very experienced shipwrght who loves his work, freely sharing his enthusiasm and vast experience with the world for FREE. Did I mention FREE? Get over yourself.
Didn't see what happened to the front where there was extra kevlar. I won't be duplicating this technique but someone who wishes to probably needs to see that.
In my experiance Kevlar and water are a bad combination, small cracks in the resin matrix, pinholes or abrasions that expose the Kevlar propagate delamination of the Kevlar fibers, leaving you with a mess to repair. In my industry we routinely replace Kevlar cloth with fiberglass as a straight across equivalent.
170 comments, so I didn't read them all, but if anyone was to wonder, no, this would not be bullet-proof. Not enough layers of Kevlar and not Kevlar alone, but a hybrid weave. Six to seven more layers of pure Kevlar larered in, and a low powered shot at a shallower angle than say about 30°, and the shot might glance off only leaving a small scar or gouge. (Kind of like the Kevlar helmets the Army was issuing in Desert Storm in 199p-1991. Not bullet proof, but a glancing shot from a distance would "ricochet" off.)
You can use just regular cellophane tape on your cut lines to stop the carbon fiber from unraveling, as shown in this: th-cam.com/video/u7P3DYlLyns/w-d-xo.html video, starting at about 11:25. That way, you have minimal waste. In another video, he also uses something that he calls a bubble buster, which is like a spikey paint roller to press the carbon fiber into the resin.
So this boat is definitely not going to have any structural issues. You could probably put a few rounds in it ... without any any leakage.... using a M1 tank
So, I can understand why you used Kevlar on the bottom for abrasion resistance, but the carbon fiber is hardly better than S2 glass unless you are concerned about weight and it is one third the price.
Lou, rhetorical question, don't expect an answer but maybe viewers can help. Why didn't you just use a big slab of UHMW for the entire bottom, instead of that composite concoction. Since you went non-traditional to eliminate wear, shrinking, expanding why all the machinations with wood,carbon fiber resin layers and so on. Love your channel and work, maybe it's something I don't get.
I think UHMW is too flexible, the exact trait he's trying to eliminate. It is also not very abrasive resistant, dragging it across a beach or even bunk loading it would scratch it in a hurry.
Issues with making the bottom out of UHMW: 1. Where are you getting stock material in that size, and how much are you paying for it all? 2. How are you casting/pressing/machining it to final shape? 3. What is the engineering going into designing the shape/thicknesses with confidence that it will be durable enough without wasted materials? (The wood-fabric composite he is currently using is a very familiar process and materials for the most part, with fairly minimal 'newness' at play, and offers very low chance of any negative surprises for him I would imagine.)
Dories get all their strength from that bottom and first side plank. Their framing is very light, they have no keel structure or chine logs. So, Lou has built a very light, extremely stiff composite bottom to make the dory very rigid.
Only when it's not actually encapsulated. Production boats do this because they drill and then don't seal holes through the wood. The wood gets wet and stays wet.
In practice the wood cannot be truly encapsulated. Water vapor permeates through the laminate even if the laminate does not develop cracks. The whole concept is only good for racing boats or other craft where light weight and limited life is recognized as part of the design.
Lou, usually your techniques are great, but you are not using the graduations on that cup correctly. The right way to get a 2:1 ratio with that sort of cup is to find the column with the heading "2:1:1" at the top. Under the heading are three columns of numbers. If you want four units of mixed epoxy, you first fill the cup with epoxy up to the lowest "4" mark - in the left-hand column. Then add hardener up to the second "4" mark - in the next column to the right of the first one. The way you are doing it might work, but because of the taper of the cup, I don't think it gives the correct ratio.
Progress seems to have really slowed down this season. I appreciate that we are getting 100% of the details, so I dont want anything cut. But maybe episodes could be longer (more content per episode) or maybe you could condense them a bit?
Gabbos Ironfist I agree that this build is dragging on. I don't blame Lou. I blame the producer. The first build was much better to watch. Each segment was just the right amount of information. Whoever is producing these videos needs to learn to get moving. We don't need to see an hour of Lou trimming his nails before he begins to work.
Why people complain so much is beyond me. What are you, ob borrowed time or something? You're getting this stuff for free and still, yappity yap yap yap. Sheesh. You don't like it? There's a thing called a cursor, it comes from the mouse? Yes. And you use that to skip. Or better yet, watch TV, i'm sure they can condense it just fine for you to watch.
aserta I complain because I am a big fan of Lou and the show is going down hill. The possible result is fewer fans and the end of the show. Constructive criticism is a good thing. It's how we improve. It's not mean spirited. It's just meant to make the show better. The reason no one wants to watch your vacation is because it is uncut video. That means it has a lot of boring stuff that would be cut by a professional producer. An example would be American chopper. They shot over one hundred hours a week that would be trimmed down to about 47 minutes for the show. Whoever is producing this build, is not doing it well. Let's go back to the style of the first build which was pretty much spot on. You wouldn't want to watch 24 one hour videos of the epoxy curing would you?
Thanks for the tips Louis, it's rare to find an artist willing and patient enough to share the tricks of their craft. We're learning a lot and appreciate you letting us peek into the shop.
Your TV shows are the best. Don't ever stop. I look forward to the next episode.
Happy to see you again. Don’t worry about the critics who worship instant gratification. LOL. I think that your extended build times and detailed explanations are necessary to explain the complexity of this technique you’ve come up with. One of the reasons my projects turn out 10 times better these days than in the past is that at 74 I’ve become more patient.
Absolutely perfect. I used to make composite fibre hovercrafts in the very early days of composite building all of your thoughts and techniques are mind-blowingly similar if not perfect absolute respect for working it all out for yourself. Much respect. Honestly even your material choice is beyond the thoughts of the norm.. In my day we used low stiffness Kevlar to mould and have flexibility strength and cabin and glass as riggitity strength but some materials like silicone and boron haven't been incorporated as much .. Awesome channel keep up the fantastic work..
Hi Loe, it's nice to see step by step how the boat will be completed and when you use different techniques than that of using traditional methods.we have to wait for the next video. See you soon. Greetings from Salo Finland
Thanks Louis. It's a privilege to watch your videos.
Lou, I love the knowledge and insight you give in every video. I especially love the question and answer videos! I've dreamed of building a boat since I was just a kid. I think with some help from your videos I may be able to get it done. It'll be like the work skiff in your first series but there is so much good information in all of these videos. I can't get enough! Thank you and keep up the great work!
This is so cool I have no words! Thank you for sharing this with the world Lou! I'll be 68 in a few days and for decades I've dreamed of building a boat. I purchased some boat plans but it's a basic build and I know already I won't be satisfied with the end product even if I do it perfectly. Your series has given me the information and confidence to built a boat that I know I'll love. I realize it won't turn out perfect but it will be a competent build thanks to you buddy! I just rented some shop space and the project begins pretty soon; thanks again my friend!
Great video Lou. Such an honor to learn from you.
This really helps me as I flail around - complete rookie - with fiberglass tape on my little S&G fishing boat. Thanks Lou!
This one of the best videos I have seen to demonstrate laying up fabric and epoxy.
I loved to work and indeed is a great idea for construction. I would remember that less resin as possible gives strength , more resin , it gets brittle. so sometimes you don't have to cover all the cloth but bring the wet resin from the underside up, we have to work the resin out. almost like if there isn't enough resin there. that way the cloth will only be stronger for every new layer of cloth you apply . massiv work, to bring it out indeed, but because this idea od sandwiching and overlapping is so good I thought it would be worth mention it, mainlr because I do believe you would have a less harder time with the overlapping later on in the process, less material between the wood and the canbon layer. irt was a great video . thank you
I just found the series today and I'm just blowing through this. Great work and love the way its coming together
Hi Louis....I love watching your videos, you impress me with your passion about what you do, I can see that you really enjoy it...you are really an excellent instructor...so from sunny Barbados Caribbean all the best
For whatever its worth and old trick in the model airplane world:1 - spray the cloth with cheap lacquer based hair spray which keeps the weave from moving around so much, 2- put some low tack tape like blue painters tape where you want your cut to be, 3 - draw your cut line on the tape with a sharpie and make your cut through the tape. I peel the rest of the tape off once the epoxy stars to harden. I bought some scissors made especially to cut kevlar. The hair spray seems to just go away when you start to wet out the cloth. I'm a big fan of your channel.
This layer, and those corners, seem like a great candidate for vacuum bagging. - if you do any amount of composite work, it can be a good investment to pick up some tools for that kind of thing.
Yes. This is my area. I see the surf board makers relying on simple wet layup methods, but ultimately, vacuum bagging is the way to go for low resin/high strength laminates.
Seems really difficult to bag such an odd, hollow shape as the boat. Paddle board would be easy.
Ole Anderson not hard at all if you use tape seam bagging. You just need a mostly air tight cover over the part you're doing, so it isn't unusual to tape a sheet over the part to draw vacuum under.
That would be pointless to bag. A lot of effort for very little gain. It's just too small and complex to make it worthwhile from a time standpoint. Would've easily doubled the time it took to do. You would also have to pre treat with resin and let it cure. If you tried to bag directly over untreated timber, I can guarantee you'd pull a lot of air out of the timber itself, and probably wick a lot of air in around the edges- it would be difficult to seal those boards at the edge.
if I had to suggest anything, it would've maybe been to use peel ply, but again, it's such a small area, and Louis did such a good job with the trowel, that the gain would've been insignificant.
That’s a big job for vacuum bagging.
It's looking beautiful, Lou.
Great video Lou.
This is like it was when I was a kid waiting each week for my favorite TV show, only this was educational as well as entertaining! Thanks.
....13
Hi Louis great job on the dorey nothings gonna break that bottom. Bill. UK
Moisture, trapped in the wood between the layers of fabric, will soon make this dory rot.
Very detailed description as to what is happening!! Great videos!!👍👍
I worry that water entering the wood grain will cause it to expand and delaminate; especially salt water. It's an interesting experiment and worth a try. New methods of boat building are not easy to develop. Time and experience are the best teachers. By the time that you are done, you'll know exactly how to do it. Thanks for posting Lou.
You aren't aware of cold moulded construction, are you? It has been around for 50-60 years and has none of those issues. This is nothing new at all. Using it on a dory is new.
Great job in working with the Kevlar Lou! I know from experience how difficult it can be especially around sharp corners.This is really looking great!
Pretty work !!
Thank you!
Fan freaking tastic job. Love this build series.
Another great job. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Keep up the great work.
at the rate this is going it might be 5 years from now!
To CLARIFY - the proper way to use the MIXING CUPS for MEASURING RESIN is Here - Using the 2:1 example - find the column for the 2:1 ratio - and you use the SAME number in both columns. So if he wants to go to 4 - he fills the resin using the left column to the 4 and then the hardener using the RIGHT column to the 4. use the same # in both columns. it's made to make your pouring and measuring easier. Thanks to Lou and Halsey for another great video.
it is mentioned you dont know how much resin to use, the typical way is to proportion it by weight. you weigh your cloth and you weigh your resin and use an appropriate ratio.
Thank you for clarifying the way he was using the cup was driving me nuts.
I like the part where you use the spreader to get the wrinkles out. Again a great informative video. Thank you for making and sharing it.
How to connect phone to hotspot
Working out nicely Louis ;)
Thanks for sharing!
Looks great Lou!
Another good man gone. A year from now you will be showing off your new autoclave. You will be an authority on the latest coring foams, your own favorite vacuum bagging techniques, ceramic enhanced cloth blends and 3D printed frames. Turn back while you still can
This is your opertunity to support and galvanise this in history this man is a genius all he needs is funding for his hard work. F me and my comments if we loose this knowledge then what NO make sure this man never is alone plz..
Your not wrong so lets make this man a god of the boat building world
Well done Lou .Tom from Canada
Nice work Lou.
Just a side note, but that stitched edged is called the "selvage" and is the edge of the fabric as it's woven. I'm sure Lou knows that, but as a costume maker and tailor, if I can make a seam with the selvage at the seam, it cuts my finishing time in half. Good job!
typically in composites manufacture you discard the selvage and never use it.
But not in tailoring. It's a valuable edge. In this case, it seems Lou used it for a solid edge, as I would for a hem, and that makes a lot of sense to my tailoring mind. However, I would really like to know the facts about why the selvage is not used for these boat-building applications.
i dont know about boat building, I built things more akin to airplanes in terms of complexity, we removed the selvage because it is a different fiber and therefore behaves differently in the stress of the piece overall, whereas you want uniform consistency. For this application its not important really, but in general, in composites you remove it.
Thanks Louis, looking forward to seeing the next instalment.
Sy SK dng ragam pembuatan perahu SMG sukses bung
Great video. Very hi-tech. I hear NASA and SpaceX are watching these videos, to see how it's done. New horizons in traditional boat-building.
Bullet proof, I like it. I know they make kayaks out of Kevlar and they take a beating.
What a great job!!👏
Wish I could meet you at the tent sale! Great videos, thanks Lou.
That looks great and should really make the bottom strong and watertight.
I'm new to working to carbon fiber. Wondering if you could create a vacuum bag to suck the carbon/kevlar down tight.
I think you do a great video and I am very much impressed by your knowledge of boats and boat building. Your years of experience show. I do have a question. I live in the south and its hard to find good oak lumber here and when I can it is priced out of my market. I would like to build a dory such as the sport dory but for lakes and rivers around my home since I live in a land locked state. Would pine or spruce work for lakes and rivers? Thanks in advance.
+wade titcomb Forget spruce. It has to be the fastest rotting wood that is commonly used.
Thank you.
Wade, we are near Pensacola and you might look around for cypress, longleaf or southern yellow pine, think about what the locals would have used. Some places it is easy to find, there is a cypress mill in Milton Florida, Steve Cross' sawmill in Iron City Georgia and several lumber shippers in South Florida. There are always strength/weight/rot resistance/availability/price trade offs. Also the builder's decision of whether you want your dory materials, fasteners and coatings to build a 7 year dory or a 100 year dory. Maybe a road trip is in order to get the lumber you'd like! Grab a cup of coffee and look over this wood selection table by Sam Rabl, it will give you some ideas: smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com/2017/09/wood-selection-table-by-sam-rabl-27-sep.html
Thanks. I will check that out.
This is going to be a beautiful and durable boat Lou. Can’t wait to see it up close on the 14th. Maybe I can find another run that you left just for me like on the skiff......lmao
Electric scissors work wonderful, no unraveling, cut edges while epoxy is just past set and still rubbery with Auto body shop Bondo planes, you can get them Flat,concave and round, if already set hard, wood rasp works great.
Love the lopped off index finger Lou. No boatbuilder worth his salt has all of them intact.
To keep it from floating, it's best to use either vacuum infusing, or lay it up as you are, then vacuum bag it.
It is coming along nice!
maybe by next year it will be done!
You know if you use peel ply there is less sending at the end. Great job I learn a lot from you.
Great work, well explained.
Cutting Kevlar or carbon fiber in the Raw is easy to do if you use tin snips with the fine teeth cut in the blades. those little teeth will keep the cloth from sliding out of the cutters and it'll cut like butter
Steve Gem: Have you actually used tin snips to cut Kevlar? I would love to see some examples of your work.
🇦🇺. So interesting Lou what a great project
Hi Louis, why use Kevlar/ Carbon fibre combo rather than just carbon fibre? Your series is an absolute treat mate, hope to visit your part of the planet next year and convince you to go for a pint or six.
Nice info, thx for sharing
Did you consider using monell staples to hold the cloth down?
Kevlar is great for low strength, but high abrasion resistance.
Kevlar's tensile strength is higher than steel for a given cross section. So, it also provides strength to the bottom. It has excellent impact strength, which is perfect for a small, beach launched boat.
Hmm. Won't water soon become trapped between the two waterproof layers, as the carbon/kevlar cloth wears out or gets scratched, and cause the boat to rot?
I think you need to add some heat tiles from the Space Shuttle to the bottom ....
How does moisture, trapped in the wood between the layers of fabric, escape?
woooo I love your work!!
I know you are a mater at your craft. I’m not criticizing. Im wondering why you didnt do a couple saturation coats before you applied the first carbon fiber ? Hope you answer on you question and answer video
That seems like the perfect spot for vacuum bagging. You wouldn't have had to keep trying to smooth it down and would have kept the weight down by pulling off excess resin.
His laminate looks to me to have the perfect amount of resin in it- it's hardly oversaturated.
Keep it up great stuff🤘
That Kevlar/carbon fibre cloth looks like a cow to work with, but you make it look like a doddle, Lou. Another great video! Oh, and that new shirt looks great on you :-)
Laying it like a boss
Good work! What about 100% carbon boat or carbon batwing for electroglide?
Is this composite waterproof or will it be gelled or painted?
After all the reinforcements this boat will be strong enough for re entry.
Does this resin smell? It should smell, so how do you deal with that?
Epoxy resin has negligible smell. Polyester resin has more of a smell.
If you use any of this stuff, wear a respirator. Total boat's stuff might not be harmful but I've used some real nasty stuff before. Wear gloves when you mix it and handle it.
hi Lou, great watch again, the time flies by as it is so absorbing,lm already wondering is there boat number three in the pipe line? l for one would love there to be your a natural entertainer and teacher all the best from Poole in south of England, look it up Lou !
I wanna to order n learn about used meterial u used..plz tell me
A trick we use in aviation when mixing is to mix it in a cup like you did. Then transfer the batch to another cup and mix some more. This makes sure all is well mixed.
Does the epoxy and different fabrics cost less than fifty thousand dollars?
I would love to see cost of materials
Nice work man, thanks :)
The store isn't working for me. Anyone else experiencing the same?
New Shirt!!
Cheers from Tokyo!
There is no saturated Kevlar fabric with resin. The resin will only encapsulate the Kevlar. That is what makes it so bad when exposed to Moister, it's soaks up water like a sponge. If the water freezes it'll fracture the piece of matrix allowing more water to get soaked up and eventually you'll end up with a bunch of mush with the Kevlar. This is not the case with your carbon fabric or glass.
Lou, you said one time what goes over the kevlar??
eglass, then i think putty and sanding flat. I don't understand why he did this in 2 pieces. I used this stuff before, it's not that difficult to get it to cooperate. That first sealing coat is key though, it's helps it keep from floating up. Then you keep on eye on it while it cures out. I would do a part, throw it in a hotbox, then pull it out and go over the part with a spreader and stick it back in the box.
Why 2 pieces rather than a single sheet?
Is that UHMW polypropylene?
I posted this as a response to a comment below, in regards to people complaining about the content of this video series. I believe it needs to be stated clearly for all:
If you feel so strongly about it, how about you step up and pay Lou to make the videos you want to see?
You get content for FREE, so you have no say in what you see. What makes people like you so entitled?
You do understand Lou makes these videos on the side, he has to make time (and money) from working actual paid jobs, don't you?
I see an very experienced shipwrght who loves his work, freely sharing his enthusiasm and vast experience with the world for FREE. Did I mention FREE? Get over yourself.
Didn't see what happened to the front where there was extra kevlar. I won't be duplicating this technique but someone who wishes to probably needs to see that.
In my experiance Kevlar and water are a bad combination, small cracks in the resin matrix, pinholes or abrasions that expose the Kevlar propagate delamination of the Kevlar fibers, leaving you with a mess to repair. In my industry we routinely replace Kevlar cloth with fiberglass as a straight across equivalent.
What do you call the plastic you used for the ribs? Where is it available?
I think it was HDPE, like milk jugs.
Google - the font of all knowledge - HD-PE ..As explained by some guy named Louis Sauzedde - .th-cam.com/video/UcBdvChtQkU/w-d-xo.html
what is the pot life?
Your not using the graduations on the cup correctly, it was a ounce and a half heavy on the hardened in the video
Interesting. Seems like it kicked off just fine, and he's been doing it that way forever, so must've been OK....
170 comments, so I didn't read them all, but if anyone was to wonder, no, this would not be bullet-proof. Not enough layers of Kevlar and not Kevlar alone, but a hybrid weave. Six to seven more layers of pure Kevlar larered in, and a low powered shot at a shallower angle than say about 30°, and the shot might glance off only leaving a small scar or gouge. (Kind of like the Kevlar helmets the Army was issuing in Desert Storm in 199p-1991. Not bullet proof, but a glancing shot from a distance would "ricochet" off.)
You can use just regular cellophane tape on your cut lines to stop the carbon fiber from unraveling, as shown in this: th-cam.com/video/u7P3DYlLyns/w-d-xo.html video, starting at about 11:25. That way, you have minimal waste. In another video, he also uses something that he calls a bubble buster, which is like a spikey paint roller to press the carbon fiber into the resin.
So this boat is definitely not going to have any structural issues. You could probably put a few rounds in it ... without any any leakage.... using a M1 tank
Peel ply or vacuum bag. Trim edge when almost set with new razor
Came out very well the way you did it tho
You obviously haven't tried to cut Kevlar with a razor. It's nothing like glass or carbon. Miserable stuff to cut.
We dont get that fancy stuff in the third world
Couldn’t a sailmaker have made a one piece of the Kevlar carbon cloth with sewn sides?
So, I can understand why you used Kevlar on the bottom for abrasion resistance, but the carbon fiber is hardly better than S2 glass unless you are concerned about weight and it is one third the price.
Lou, rhetorical question, don't expect an answer but maybe viewers can help. Why didn't you just use a big slab of UHMW for the entire bottom, instead of that composite concoction. Since you went non-traditional to eliminate wear, shrinking, expanding why all the machinations with wood,carbon fiber resin layers and so on. Love your channel and work, maybe it's something I don't get.
I think that he wants the wooden bottom for ease of repair and appearance.
I think UHMW is too flexible, the exact trait he's trying to eliminate. It is also not very abrasive resistant, dragging it across a beach or even bunk loading it would scratch it in a hurry.
His wooden composite bottom will likely be much lighter and stiffer than a UHMW bottom would be.
Issues with making the bottom out of UHMW:
1. Where are you getting stock material in that size, and how much are you paying for it all?
2. How are you casting/pressing/machining it to final shape?
3. What is the engineering going into designing the shape/thicknesses with confidence that it will be durable enough without wasted materials? (The wood-fabric composite he is currently using is a very familiar process and materials for the most part, with fairly minimal 'newness' at play, and offers very low chance of any negative surprises for him I would imagine.)
Dories get all their strength from that bottom and first side plank. Their framing is very light, they have no keel structure or chine logs. So, Lou has built a very light, extremely stiff composite bottom to make the dory very rigid.
"Ironbottom" - Nickname for the Dory?
or "THE 20 YEAR BOAT BUILD"!
Nah, Lou will do it right and in the right time.
The tank dory- built like a tank!
I have a queston,i have a old tri hull and the back end is out , rotton, with a fibreglass exterior,what is the best way to fix this ,can u tell me.?
+Emil Holz Now you know what happens when glass covers or encapsulates wood. The wood rots under the glass.
Only when it's not actually encapsulated. Production boats do this because they drill and then don't seal holes through the wood. The wood gets wet and stays wet.
In practice the wood cannot be truly encapsulated. Water vapor permeates through the laminate even if the laminate does not develop cracks. The whole concept is only good for racing boats or other craft where light weight and limited life is recognized as part of the design.
Lou, usually your techniques are great, but you are not using the graduations on that cup correctly. The right way to get a 2:1 ratio with that sort of cup is to find the column with the heading "2:1:1" at the top. Under the heading are three columns of numbers. If you want four units of mixed epoxy, you first fill the cup with epoxy up to the lowest "4" mark - in the left-hand column. Then add hardener up to the second "4" mark - in the next column to the right of the first one. The way you are doing it might work, but because of the taper of the cup, I don't think it gives the correct ratio.
And yet, he has been doing it that way forever, and it sure looks like the resin kicked off just fine......
He put in 4oz of hardener and 6oz of resin. 10oz total. Should have been 12oz total to get 2:1. It kicked off fine but he's wasting hardener.
How is it "wasting" if it achieved the desired result?
nice
Progress seems to have really slowed down this season. I appreciate that we are getting 100% of the details, so I dont want anything cut. But maybe episodes could be longer (more content per episode) or maybe you could condense them a bit?
Gabbos Ironfist I agree that this build is dragging on. I don't blame Lou. I blame the producer. The first build was much better to watch. Each segment was just the right amount of information. Whoever is producing these videos needs to learn to get moving. We don't need to see an hour of Lou trimming his nails before he begins to work.
Why people complain so much is beyond me. What are you, ob borrowed time or something? You're getting this stuff for free and still, yappity yap yap yap. Sheesh. You don't like it? There's a thing called a cursor, it comes from the mouse? Yes. And you use that to skip. Or better yet, watch TV, i'm sure they can condense it just fine for you to watch.
The cursor doesn't come from the mouse dummy.
Totally agree this is like watching paint dry.... What the F..k is happening ??/Nothing
aserta I complain because I am a big fan of Lou and the show is going down hill. The possible result is fewer fans and the end of the show. Constructive criticism is a good thing. It's how we improve. It's not mean spirited. It's just meant to make the show better. The reason no one wants to watch your vacation is because it is uncut video. That means it has a lot of boring stuff that would be cut by a professional producer. An example would be American chopper. They shot over one hundred hours a week that would be trimmed down to about 47 minutes for the show. Whoever is producing this build, is not doing it well. Let's go back to the style of the first build which was pretty much spot on. You wouldn't want to watch 24 one hour videos of the epoxy curing would you?
yes