Layup schedule, balsa core rebuild???

[stylemismatch]

I'm rebuilding a bass boat which originally had 3/8" plywood as a core material in the hull. Every last bit of that was rotten, I'm replacing it with 3/8" end-grain balsa. I couldn't tell for sure how much glass was used over the core, I think it looked like just one ply of 1708 or something similar. Is that going to be enough, or should I go to 2 plies, or maybe 3 plies of 10 oz e-glass (which I have a lot of)?

Thanks

 

[Cat Cruiser]

I'm rebuilding a bass boat which originally had 3/8" plywood as a core material in the hull. Every last bit of that was rotten, I'm replacing it with 3/8" end-grain balsa. I couldn't tell for sure how much glass was used over the core, I think it looked like just one ply of 1708 or something similar. Is that going to be enough, or should I go to 2 plies, or maybe 3 plies of 10 oz e-glass (which I have a lot of)?

Thanks

First you must make sure everything is ground down smooth--and the surface where you are putting new core is ground clean with a thoroughly scratched up surface. , If the balsa is fixed onto a cloth backing, you first lay a layer of 1.5 oz mat down , wetting out with a paint roller and roll out all the air QUICKLY with a bubble roller so it dosent go off on you. then QUICKLY wet the glass backing out and lay in place - and have a bunch of bricks ready to lay on top of to weigh down making sure it has full adhering pressure everywhere, (you could try gravel in some sort of bags). After sticking the balsa down correctly you wet out the surface letting resin fill the cuts imbetween the grids--it will absorb quite a bit, then go over it again with more resin-- failing to do so will end up sucking resin out of what you layup over the balsa with.the layup would just be a layer of 1.5 oz mat and a layer of regular boat roving - like you peeled off the wood , you get an industrial squeege and use it to squeege the air out and also a brush to work the air out of around the edges of the core (this takes experience), It would probably be a good idea to get an experienced ex boat builder -one that did this type of boat-- its nothing like whats the norm here on this forum) to ramrod this if you have never done this stuff, because timing it is critical ---firing the resin so the rebuilder has time to finish the task takes experience. DO NOT use crap resin from the autoparts store--its junk, Period.

 

[stylemismatch]

I won't have any issues doing the work, this is my 3rd boat rebuild plus I have a plans built fiberglass airplane under my belt. I just want to make sure I've got the correct amount of glass over the core, as I couldn't tell for sure exactly what was there when I deconstructed the boat.