37' Express EJS build thread

[billschwabe]

Here' a few shots of the jig setup with the stringers, knuckle and sheer clamp in. All are laminated Douglas fir. Hull is 37' LOA, 12' beam, 16 degrees deadrise at transom. Hull will be getting two layers 1/2 AB fir plywood on bottom, two layers 1/4" Okoume on sides (which will have 3/4" Divinycell bagged on the inside then another layer of 1/4" ply and glass after she's flipped). Transom is 3 layers 1/2" AB fir.

[billschwabe]

Finished with the planking, now adding reverse chine forward where it is external to the planking. The rest of our reverse chine is built in not external like most Carolina builders. Spray rails and all the bumpers are made out of Coosa Bluewater 26 high-density foam. We've been using this and other high density foams for a while now and it makes for a very tough and durable bumper.

[billschwabe]

Now adding the Kevlar and e-glass skins. We put down a layer of Kevlar/e-glass hybrid (1200), followed by a layer of 1700 biax e-glass then peel ply over it all in one step. We use CPD resin with a slow hardener to give us plenty of time to do all three layers. The peel ply yields a much smoother surface and we figure it saves two sanding steps later by filling the weave and not having to sand before starting fairing, just peel and shoot.

Keel also gets an additional 5 layers and chine 2 to give more protection for hauling/blocking.

[billschwabe]

Rolled on the first four coats of Superbuild primer to fill pin holes. Dust it all with air boards, fill anything that jumped out and ready to shoot fairing compound this afternoon.Decided to add lifting strakes (foam) and glassing them in too. Also cutting recesses for QL tabs.

[nabeelah]

Billschwabe,
Nice progress,is this the twin set up one?

[billschwabe]

Yes, was planning on a pair of the new CAT 6.4's but it's not cast in stone yet.

[scattered_grass]

gonna be a pretty one!

[Avenger]

Good looking hull. Thanks for the thread. It makes me want to build someting.

[clt_capt]

Nice looking hull. What weight/weave Kevlar is that

Great thought on the peel ply - magic stuff

Thanks for sharing

[billschwabe]

Nice looking hull. What weight/weave Kevlar is that

Great thought on the peel ply - magic stuff

Thanks for sharing

Thanks! We just stretched and widened our 32 jig to make a big sister. The Kevlar is a hybrid with e-glass and kevlar woven together in a 1200 (12oz) 0/90 biax, no mat. We only use epoxy which doesn't require the use of chopped mat, saving 1/2 the thickness and weight. We then put a +/-45 1700 on top of the kevlar with offset seams. I like that layup much better than a single layer with mat, you always have an overlap or butt joint which is a potential stress concentration and a bump you have to fair later.

We started using peel ply over a decade ago when we were bagging decks and bulkheads. It left such a smooth surface we tried it with wet layup and found we got the same smooth finish that saved one or two sanding steps. Way more than pays for itself in labor savings!