I've built a couple of boats using ply, glass/epoxy and i'd never attempt vacuum bagging at home on my own, or even with the wife helping. Maybe on something like a very small rowing dinghy of 8 foot.It's always looked to me to be a pro builders job, or at least a job with a few people who know a bit about it taking part. That said I gotta respect that you had a go, we wouldn't have evolved far as a specie if people didn't take chances and risks
I'd say on most plywood/glass/epoxy homebuilds that vacuum bagging is overkill. I did it on Jezebel for a couple reasons... mostly because I intend for her to live in my slip, not on a trailer (unlike most boats her size), and so any air spaces in her hull or in the fiber on her exterior could become problematic and reduce her hull lifespan. (Although the fact that she's solid wood instead of plywood would still help immensely there). I think you could get a really solid epoxy barrier by doing quality hand lay-ups if you do multiple layers, but that'd increase weight and Jezebel was very much engineered for lightness. As far as the vacuum technique, I'd had a lot of experience with different kinds of extreme vacuum and pressure casting for making dive electronics in the past. Compared to that stuff, vacuum processing the hull was a simple process but done at a much, much larger scale than I was used to--hence the need for a do-over the first time! Compared to hand lay-up, there's a little bit of extra expense for the expendable components and the pump, but if you know how to do good hand lay-ups then starting to vacuum process isn't too hard. My advice would be to start small on flat components (like 2' x 2' on a board or something) so you can test your system and get familiar with the process, and also spend the little bit of extra coin on real expendables at least when starting instead of going pennywise-pound-foolish by using hardware store plastic drop cloths etc. There's lots of videos and stuff online nowadays. Most of my fiber and expendables I bought from fiberglasssupply.com. This article along with the chapter in the Gougeon book was one of the most helpful to me: explorecomposites.com/articles/lamination/basics-vacuum-bagging/
@@LyndonKurtDemeray Fake carbon fiber is used on many cars and motorcycle plastic parts because consumers think it looks cool, since real carbon fiber is very expensive, requires professional workmanship, and is used in aerospace and high end racing applications where strength to weight ration is worth the overhead. For this boat, it was used on the hull to encapsulate and stiffen the wood and for that application saves only a small amount of weight. It's not shown these timelapses yet but I used it extensively on certain interior/secondary parts like the helm, cowling, hatch covers, radar tower, etc which I wanted to be very low profile and very light and strong. There it allowed me to save quite a bit of weight and still achieve design characteristics I wanted.
@@johnwildwest1 it's a semi-displacement hull design instead of--for boats this size--a more common planing hull. So it'll ride smoother in rough water, be better in a following sea (common for socal), not exhibit stern squat at a low speed which helps the pilot see over the bow for divers/swimmers, and it'll be fast. Downside is it's not a dry ride and you have to understand how to pilot it in a heavy beam sea but it's for people in wetsuits.
Craftsmanship! Killing it, broski.
Dope to see this timelapse!
I've built a couple of boats using ply, glass/epoxy and i'd never attempt vacuum bagging at home on my own, or even with the wife helping. Maybe on something like a very small rowing dinghy of 8 foot.It's always looked to me to be a pro builders job, or at least a job with a few people who know a bit about it taking part. That said I gotta respect that you had a go, we wouldn't have evolved far as a specie if people didn't take chances and risks
I'd say on most plywood/glass/epoxy homebuilds that vacuum bagging is overkill. I did it on Jezebel for a couple reasons... mostly because I intend for her to live in my slip, not on a trailer (unlike most boats her size), and so any air spaces in her hull or in the fiber on her exterior could become problematic and reduce her hull lifespan. (Although the fact that she's solid wood instead of plywood would still help immensely there). I think you could get a really solid epoxy barrier by doing quality hand lay-ups if you do multiple layers, but that'd increase weight and Jezebel was very much engineered for lightness. As far as the vacuum technique, I'd had a lot of experience with different kinds of extreme vacuum and pressure casting for making dive electronics in the past. Compared to that stuff, vacuum processing the hull was a simple process but done at a much, much larger scale than I was used to--hence the need for a do-over the first time! Compared to hand lay-up, there's a little bit of extra expense for the expendable components and the pump, but if you know how to do good hand lay-ups then starting to vacuum process isn't too hard. My advice would be to start small on flat components (like 2' x 2' on a board or something) so you can test your system and get familiar with the process, and also spend the little bit of extra coin on real expendables at least when starting instead of going pennywise-pound-foolish by using hardware store plastic drop cloths etc. There's lots of videos and stuff online nowadays. Most of my fiber and expendables I bought from fiberglasssupply.com. This article along with the chapter in the Gougeon book was one of the most helpful to me: explorecomposites.com/articles/lamination/basics-vacuum-bagging/
Whats the name of that black cloth sir you got ang awesome work
The black cloth you see going on the boat is the actual carbon fiber. Most of what you see in this video is 5.6 oz twill weave from Fiberglass Supply.
@@SoCalSpearIt i though thzt cloth is for cars and motorcycle only modifird plactic accesories thnaks bro
@@LyndonKurtDemeray Fake carbon fiber is used on many cars and motorcycle plastic parts because consumers think it looks cool, since real carbon fiber is very expensive, requires professional workmanship, and is used in aerospace and high end racing applications where strength to weight ration is worth the overhead. For this boat, it was used on the hull to encapsulate and stiffen the wood and for that application saves only a small amount of weight. It's not shown these timelapses yet but I used it extensively on certain interior/secondary parts like the helm, cowling, hatch covers, radar tower, etc which I wanted to be very low profile and very light and strong. There it allowed me to save quite a bit of weight and still achieve design characteristics I wanted.
Why is it so narrow?
@@johnwildwest1 it's a semi-displacement hull design instead of--for boats this size--a more common planing hull. So it'll ride smoother in rough water, be better in a following sea (common for socal), not exhibit stern squat at a low speed which helps the pilot see over the bow for divers/swimmers, and it'll be fast. Downside is it's not a dry ride and you have to understand how to pilot it in a heavy beam sea but it's for people in wetsuits.