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Wood-Epoxy
Strip Plank Boat Construction |
Strip-Planked Wood and Epoxy
Boat Construction
is a method of using timber saturated and sheathed in epoxy using a
blend of traditional woodworking craftsmanship and modern materials to
build one-off custom or semi-production boats in strip or
double-diagonal planking. The timber is impregnated with epoxy resin
during the construction process, preserving and bonding the hull
components. The outside of the hull is sheathed with epoxy saturated
bidirectional cloth. This sheathing not only seals the timber and
provides good abrasion resistance, but also adds tremendous rigidity
and strength to the hull together with high impact resistance. These
construction methods produce a mirror-smooth finish and the end result is a very strong
and reasonably priced hull that should last indefinitely.
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Epoxy/Strip Plank construction with an
epoxy glass sheathing, produces a strong build that is low
maintenance and guaranteed to be osmosis free.
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Epoxy resin is far stronger and has better
adhesion than the polyester resins used for the majority of GRP
production boats and as a result, problems with osmosis
are almost unheard of. A pure cloth laminate makes for a very
strong and efficient sheathing, especially when combined with
epoxy resin. The use of glass cloth and epoxy resin sheathing
provides abrasion resistance and results in greater tensile
strength and impact resistance than a standard polyester
laminate of the same weight and thickness.
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By having a timber core (strip planks on
laminated frames), boats of this construction are naturally
insulated and do not suffer from the condensation problems that
can plague the interior of an uninsulated solid fiberglass hull
so rendering a more comfortable accommodation space. The timber
core also offers higher impact resistance compared to some
conventional composite lay-ups.
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Top quality core timber is not so crucial
as it is totally sealed within the epoxy, as such, cheaper
varieties of timber can be used for the hull construction,
provided that it has a low moisture content. In this instance we are not looking for ultra
light weight construction, rather to build to the design weight
to achieve the original handling and sea keeping characteristics.
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Epoxy resin, especially when coated with a
barrier coat paint, does a better job of resisting osmosis and
water vapour transmission than polyester resins, reducing or
eliminating the absorption of moisture in the timber core.
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Epoxy is also used on the interior and in the
bilges as well as over a plywood deck, where
this is used. Since the interior of the boat is particularly
susceptible to condensation absorption, the inner surfaces of the hull
are sealed with epoxy. The two or three layers of hull sheathing to
the outside of the boat, good natural ventilation below decks, and
three coats of epoxy resin as a sealer will do a good job helping to
maintain a low and stable moisture content within the timber core thereby
reducing the likelihood of rot infestation and osmosis to almost nil.
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