Centerboard Trunk

[Beowolf]

Hey guys.

Sam Devlin mentions in his book the idea of glueing a layer of countertop laminate inside the trunk instead of fiberglassing it. It would cost about 4x more to go this route, but has anyone ever tried it? And if so, is it worth it?

Just Curious

Jeff.

[Tom Lathrop]

Knew a guy who covered the entire bottom of is 15 1/2ft racing sloop with thin Formica to stop the checks in the fir plywood. It was successful but added some weight. I epoxied Formica to the interior of an ice box recently and that is working out really well. No reason it would not work on centerboard trunks also.

You will have to take the added thickness into account in laying out the spacing of the trunk though. Try finding some scrap material at a cabinet shop. They usually have lots of varied colors laying around that they will like to get some use out of.

How about a genuine simulated marble trunk?

[RGM]

Don't you guys know, counter top plastic laminate is out. The in thing is Corian. You need to build your entire trunk out of solid Corian, that's the way to go. Hell, build your centerboard out of Corian. It's low maintenence, variety of contemporary designer colors, machines easy, bonds well with correct adhesives and you can sand out any scratches or blemishes. What more could you ask for?

[This message has been edited by RGM (edited 07-05-2001).]

[Will]

For about the same price ,if you value the time spent finding and applying the laminate ,you could build the case of MDO or HDO plywood ,then tell us how it worked out .

[Tom Lathrop]

Nah, Corian is out. Starboard is the thing in boat plastic now.

[Beowolf]

ROTFLMAOAKTC!

Thanks guys! Will...I had given some thought to MDO, as this is most definitely a lumberyard boat. There's a cabinet shop on the other side of town. I think I'll check them out.

Corion centerboard you say? In the words of Homer Simpson, "I find your views most intriguing and I would like to subscribe to your news letter."

Thanks again.

Jeff.

[Phil Young]

Kitchen laminate trunk lining is a standard building spec in the Hartley trailer sailers, which are very popular in NZ and Oz. It does seem to have pretty good abrasion resistance. But most of his designs are from the days when epoxy was pretty much in its infancy. Maybe kevlar is the way to go these days.

[Ross Faneuf]

Laminate is essentially a paper product - something like Kraft paper saturated with some kind of resin. It's certainly not as waterproof as epoxy - based on my extremely uncontrolled experiment of leaving pieces of laminate and expoxied ply lying around on the ground in my construction shed. The laminate eventually curled and partially disintegrated.

Actually, leaving the stuff lying about may not indicate its properties very well - the hard plastic surface certainly didn't change noticeably. The back side, unprotected and exposed, seemed to pick up moisture.

[This message has been edited by Ross Faneuf (edited 07-05-2001).]

[Ron Williamson]

I once epoxy-laminated formica onto a fir ply motorwell cover on a daysailer.After 6 years it shows no sign of any problems.The tricky part is how to hold it down without a vacuum bagging outfit.
R

[Dale Harvey]

Corian and Starboard are great stuff. Scraps make great thumb cleats, bullseyes, pully sheaves, ect. Way too pricey though with a 4x8x3/4 sheet of Starboard near $400. Now there is a 3/16-1/4 sheet of slick plastic marketed as a hog pen liner that may have possibilities, check your local farm supply.

[TomRobb]

Is the intent to make the inside of the trunk slick, or to eliminate having to paint the pretty much inaccessable interior of the thing?

[James Manning]

McMaster-Carr as well as Small Parts Inc. sell epoxy bondable (one side) teflon sheets in various thicknesses. I have then glued to a centerboard bracket (aluminum) and a fiberglass rudder. They have held up very well.

[Beowolf]

Tom,
It's pretty much the latter. I'm mooking for a way to create as permanent of a coating as possible to the inside of the trunk as I don't want to try to get up in there again.

Thanks.

Jeff.