Hatch core repair

[Blue_Runner]

Way to go!

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by macojoe

It will last for as long as you will ever need!! The big problem with most boats Wellcraft included is the scrap wood they used in squares to make the covers. The 1 Solid will last a long time!

I use to think the same thing but they use those little squares throughout the entire boat except for the transom. Not sure why and no one has every been able to tell me why. If it was scrap wood its seem that the time to place each piece and then cut them to fit would take more time then the money they saved.

[Blue_Runner]

They did that so we would have to buy another boat 10 - 20 years later. They didn't think we'd be smart enough to fix it!

[THEFERMANATOR]

I know a few members here have shown pictures of there transom's cut apart and the little squares in there.

[bigshrimpin]

Wood Squares create a fiberglass grid between the blocks that improves adhesion of the skins and slows water intrusion as well as maximizes your core material. Overall Squares provide a stiffer laminate without sacrificing any strength . . . that's why you see them on every hatch made.

[reelapeelin]

Willy, Franco and I toured the Pursuit plant last year w/Franco's brother who DOES know what he's talkin' about, he said Pursuit uses the squares to conform to a curve in the design...which the top of the cuddy is; curved and made of squares...also the transom is curved...the gas-tank hatch lid isn't curved, but hey...they were on a roll by then...

I'd post some pics of it, but Franco's brother is well connected and "asked" us not to post any of our pics to the web

[bradford]

Good job Ferm!

[Franco]

Originally Posted by macojoe

It will last for as long as you will ever need!! The big problem with most boats Wellcraft included is the scrap wood they used in squares to make the covers. The 1 Solid will last a long time!

Wellcraft did that by design, it's not scrap wood. My brother worked for Wellcraft when they were making the V20's, he told me that the deck has a slight curve to it and the squares were able to take that shape better than 1 solid piece of plywood. When me, Willy and Oz went to the pursuit factory we saw a lot of the balsa core material was blocks on a backing type material.

[bigshrimpin]

You can talk to Don Herman www.hermco.net
His first job out of high school was to cut big sheets of plywood into 5" squares for seavee.

Seacraft hatches are the same and so are almost every other manufacturer . . . big sheets of core material are hard to lay into a mold and will almost always trap air . . . little squares don't bend and distort like large sheets of plywood and that resin grid makes one stiff laminate.