Hands On With The New Coring Material For The Bertram Project ~ Coosa

Coosa is a product that I have not worked with, so before taking it to the Bertram I wanted to get a better feel of how well it works with different resins and how it sands and shapes. Gotta say, very impressive!
Learn more about Coosa's products here: www.coosacomposites.com/
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Thanks for watching!

[@DhulstDirk]

To test the moisture absorption: since you cut both pieces to a known volume (cubic inches) it is actually easier and more precise to simply weigh the pieces before and after soaking in the water. The weight increase will be the water. If the pieces have different volume (I think your plywood was 3/4” so it’s 33% larger) simply divide the water weight by the volume of each piece and you’ve got it. (Grams of water absorbed per cubic of material)

[@albertbandarian8097]

i love to watch your videos , i am restoring 1971 Glastron boat i both not long ago and your videos are very helpful !!! thank you

[@garysouza2277]

Made my holding tank out of Coosa w/ 2 layers of 1708 and poly resin inside and out, then used Inter-protect 1000 barrier coat on the inside only. That was 7 years ago and it's been problem free the whole time. Big fan of Coosa.

[@thaneleukis]

11 years ago now. How's it still working and what thickness of Coosa was used. Tnx.

[@MrRoach-yo3mz]

Hey Andy, as i'm sure you already know, .... If you lay up 1 layer of 1708 at a time and let each layer dry, 2 layers can be as thick as 3 wet layers that were all laid up at once .... saves weight, saves 1708, saves resin and gains strength .... less resin = more strength .... That coosa brand is some high quality core material for sure, the real test of this stuff comes in from the linear direction, I bet it would test 2 times stronger than steel, regardless of resins.

[@BornAgainBoating]

Awesome Andy! We are currently going a transom on our channel right now and after doing a poll, you could probably guess it, over 60% of the community wants it done in Coosa! Thank you! This is perfect timing, we're about 3 weeks away from doing the glasswork, so getting to see your work with this is great information! Thank you for doing these videos :)

[@patmcdermott8547]

I was wondering about coosa for a transom, I'll head over to your channel and check it out!

[@rickborrettjr6810]

I watched it, good tutorial.

[@thomasharder9582]

Way to go Andy! Especially on buying a superior American made product. Plus, I sure from watching your last show, the Coosa Board is going to be amazing!!

[@travis.stevens]

Looking forward to see how you use the coosa. There aren't many consistent methods using the stuff on YT and you're a source we can trust!

[@jamescomeau1722]

Was hoping you’d be using Coosa when you asked us to guess what material you’d be replacing the bulkheads with.

[@dusanmelichar981]

Absolutely a great product when infusing with vinyl ester

[@rondellschuyler7074]

Thanks for the video and moisture test. I am sold on Coosa board. Do it right with Coosa and forget it.

[@crippledbeast_U-toob]

I am looking out my Bedroom window at the Beginning of the Coosa River in Downtowm Rome Ga. now. The company that made that board is also close to the Coosa river. Great video and great tests.

[@Krausmotorsports]

Just started with Coosa! Glad to see a video on it! Keep up the great work!

[@yepyep340]

"The least questions I have before going into a project the better I feel about it" THANK YOU for some answers. This absolutely has come out a real treat.

[@chrisbec3313]

Yay! Good material choice. Glad to see a quality build video using it.

[@danielfreixo179]

Congrats for the 100K! You deserve it, my friend. Could never have finished my classic bass boat restauration without your help.Cheers from all away across the Atlantic, all the best!

[@bravofighter]

My gosh, that really does outperform plywood for moisture. Just the fact that mold can’t build a mycelium on it makes my heart skip a beat. Could you imagine this material used to build a fishing boat in the southeastern US? My gosh!

[@4k_outdoors792]

Another great video, Thanks for taking the time and answer questions we will have about using Coosa.

[@rickreid8149]

Great review and comparison on the wet test Andy thanks looking forward to more on the Coosa

[@kevinhornbuckle]

This was informative. I look forward to seeing you work with this product.

[@2112Adventures]

I just received a 1.5" thick piece of Coosa board to rebuild my main mast step/chain locker in my Wings 33 Cat Ketch. PERFECT TIMING!! thank you!! I've never done any fiberglass work, but watching your videos, especially this one has given me confidence to tackle my project.

[@Seafariireland]

Very educational and well presented!

[@evopwrmods]

I first used the Coosa Board back about 15 years ago when I built a transom out of it. It is a great product . Strength and lightweight.

[@keithjones9974]

Looking forward to see how the Coosa works. Considering it for redoing my deck.

[@fireturtle7530]

New here. So glad that I found this channel. I'm about to start doing some major modifications to a small fiberglass hull from the early 70's & I'll be building a transom from scratch. I was thinking about using something other than marine grade plywood.

[@tomharrell1954]

Great job Andy!!! I live in Cape Coral. Yesterday I laid glass in the garage. It was 98 degrees. Beautiful lay ups. Just got to go! I like it most of the time. Measure, mix, and lay it up. Couple of hours later grind it.

[@wujciak]

Good subject! I used Coosa Board in a deck core replacement project, much like your Trawler Upper Deck video. Although the Coosa was more expensive than marine plywood, it gained the advantage (In time savings) by not having to be pre-sealed with epoxy.

[@dongorsegner4607]

Andy you are the true scientific genius, thanks for answering some of my questions about Coosa. I plan on replacing my rotted out floor in my Invader, looked at a sample last year at the Seattle boat show......woo..... the price. Your moisture test along with layup tested it combined with your other video on bonding Coosa has me sold. Once I replace the deck and associated hatches, it will NEVER rot out Don in N.W. Washington

[@mikemalone2834]

Great presentation, i have a bit of cupping under my mast so ill replace the balsa with Coosa for the strength. I shouldn't have to worry about it every again

[@tedkearney4193]

I've used Coosa a few times for small projects and really like it. Nice to see you giving it a go and, so far, seem happy with it. I found that I could use simple hand tools to cut and shape it. Again, they were small projects. One thing to keep in mind is, Coosa won't hold a fastener very well so thru-bolting is a bit of a must.

[@downwash17]

Love the safety sandals in the workshop.

[@mwatkins2464]

Thanks Andy this was very helpful and informative. Iv learned a lot from your videos 👍👍🌹

[@richardcorcorran8965]

I used it to rebuild our deck on a Larson ski boat. We first used plywood and 2 years after it was junk. The coosa board has been in for three years w in th mo problems. Love it easy to work with.

[@kimyoung230]

Thanks Andy!

[@mikejustice1196]

Hello Andy Just an FYI A moisture meter is as worthless as a trolling motor on a ship would be. Moisture in materials is measured by weight. So if you soak that piece you demonstrated in water and do a daily weight measurement and keep a daily register of it, in a few days you’ll see how it’s drying out. A moisture meter only measures the surface of a material, not the center of it.😊 Great videos 😉

[@thedude284]

I'm rebuilt my tiderunner's stringers and transom with it. I used poly. Did a few shelves too. It has performed awesome and made my transom lighter. The best part is that it won't rot.

[@michaellancina667]

Andy - I've had trouble cutting 1708 with electric shears similar to yours. I switched to a rotary shear (SKIL Cordless Rotary Shears 2352), and it works so much better.

[@flyingdutchman6984]

I did an extensive refit in 1993 using encapsulated exterior grade fir plywood for all the interior work. In July 2019 I had the boat recycled because it was easier than trying to sell, and I made about the same money either way. After almost 26 years living in the boat full-time on the ocean there was not a single area of delamination or water ingress on any of the panels. All the fancy materials that are available nowadays are great, and the salesmen have glowing reviews, but I still believe a properly done plywood core should outlast the boat. My father built a large shop sink in 1976 using 3/8 cardboard as a core. The sink has been used every work day since in a busy boat yard, and looks like it will easily last another forty years. While I wouldn't recommend using cardboard as a core it does prove that proper encapsulation of the core is a lot more important than what core material is used, at least when it comes to water ingress. 😁

[@PCFithian]

Nice work! I plan on using 3/4" Coosa with a layer of 1708 biax on either side, vacuum bagged with epoxy for a small swim platform for our Tolman Jumbo, Made It.

[@krishammond8851]

Its good stuff, very strong, its been used as for decking on a project I'm working on.

[@eaore78]

I built my SeaCraft 23 with coosa in the transom. For the heck of it I left a cut off piece in the bed of my pickup for 6 months full weather exposure, snow, rain, wind. Zero water absorption only slightly discoloration (I'm assuming from UV) I was very impressed.

[@esurcylimaf4335]

Congrats on the 100,000 subs Andy,Cheers from Australia.

[@RenegadeADV]

Andy! Saw you bumped over 100k! Been with you since around the 10k mark! Congratulations man!

[@nunyabizness6734]

Really looking forward to seeing how things work out with the Coosa. Thanks for doing this! I have a 21ft Chris-Craft Scorpion with a bad transom I was going to start working on this fall and Coosa board is one of the options I'm looking at, but haven't found a lot of trustworthy sources on its performance. Until now. Thanks again!

[@stephenadams5293]

Congratulations on hitting 100 subs !!!

[@TheDecguy]

Since you mentioned bullet proof! If I remember correctly, during the 60’s Uniflite advertised that their hulls were bullet proof. I think that was a bit before your time. Great video.

[@pete0205]

I used this stuff to fix the cover over the fuel tank on my boat. It worked great. I cut it like drywall, scoring a line several times and then snapping it. Maybe that's why I was getting some terrible invisible splinters in my gloved fingers while fitting up this stuff.

[@LouiseAuger]

Congratulations on 100K! 🎉🍾

[@michaelwaegemans6802]

Well done!

[@ascott6804]

Congrats on the 100k!!

[@borismartinez6475]

When I did my transom I was going to use "coosa board", but, fortunately, a friend told me about "gator board", it is sold by poly-u-mac, is a company based in Hialeah, Miami. It is the same material, at half the cost. Have already used it in the boat of a friend, very good results every time.

[@regbale]

A bit long but first time to view a video and greatly informative.

[@Reese_Asher]

Congrats on 100k!! 🎉

[@daveoverton2095]

Re: the subscribe/notification bell.... Works fine for me. May not get a real timely notification but I put that down to the order in which I am notified. I always get an email that you have uploaded a new video....

[@ryanbertoldi8303]

Yeahh back on the Bertram...the suspense is killing me! ;)

[@paulczernotowycz2305]

Another great vid!

[@josh.kaptur]

been waiting to see you work with this material for a long time. 3 layers of 1708 per side is MUCH stronger than you need for non-structural items in my opinion. I'm currently replacing 8 structural bulkheads using 1" coosa bw 26. Coosa is so much easier to work with vs. ply... only cons I can mention are the price (which is worth it in my opinion) and ability to hold a screw (which is significantly improved after glassing.

[@cmonCraig]

It was so oddly satisfying watching the roller push out the extra resin and air pockets 😂

[@steveburton5825]

Congratulations! It looks like you hit 100K subs!

[@danieloliver20]

100k subs, Congrats!

[@stevefarmer6607]

Wow! This company is just 30 minutes up the highway from me. I was going to laminate some plywood for a 2x2 repair in the cabin floor of my Chris Craft. I wonder how well this will hold up to weight. Not much traffic will be on the center of it due to a set of steps being on the bulk. From what I just seen with the hammer, I think this is going to be the best stuff to use.

[@pennk4]

Hi Andy... thanks for the video! Any chance on a next video you could compare how well each of the two samples (wood, Coosa) takes a short wood screw... maybe a #10 or #12 by 1/2" long wood screw? Drill a small pilot hole then drive each screw until it strips out... not all the way through both sides but only through the first side and into the core. I know this is not scientific, but maybe you can get a feel and report your thoughts. Thank you!! -Dan

[@shantytownshipwright7334]

Cool I’ve done a lot of work with coosa

[@hippolytelures31]

Good video!

[@1951Roy]

Congratulations on making 100k subscribers.

[@garlandgarrett6332]

Congrats on the 100K

[@tomharrell1954]

Great vid! It would be nice to see how much those pieces of Coosa will hold in weight either vertically or horizontally

[@shadowbrookmedia]

Hi Andy. Good video. Be interesting to see some deflection testing. I'm using a similar product from Spacetec (Fargo ND) to repair a section of deck. It's great stuff but pricey. Spacetec was selling "seconds" very reasonably - when they have it.

[@ericdishington428]

Every Coosa board replacing plywood equates to more horsepower!

[@conradealie9304]

Great info Andy. It will be interesting to get your input on cutting and shaping of the coosa. I have a 3/4 inch deck plate that needs replacing, wondering if the coosa would be better material for this than plywood.

[@victorremick9721]

I AM RESERVING MY COMETS. BUT A NICE COMPARISON . I LIKE IT

[@w8stral]

No delamination even with a lousy layup job. Excellent test.

[@MrZachalewel]

Fixin boats!

[@M3rVsT4H]

Oh this is definitely a click the bell channel.. The coosa looks great, looking forward to seeing some go on the boat. Can we safely assume it's a fair bit lighter than equivalent ply?

[@DesmoProfundis]

So glad I'm a patreon supporter right now. 9mm & 5.56x45 vrs Totalboat 2:1 please. Lol!

[@thugueletgmail]

Hey Andy, Great video as always. Who are these thumbs down clowns? One thing I’d love to see on this channel is you out on the water at least once. Summer’s short in Wisconsin my friend.

[@jakefromstatefarm9721]

I'd be interested in seeing a similar comparison of marine plywood against big box store exterior grade plywood.

[@GATEKEEPERpVVq347]

Andy I really like watching you do your craft. Do you have any recommendations for cutting out a soft spot in my own Grady white floor

[@WreckDiver99]

Congrats on the 100K Andy! Well Deserved!!!! This material look amazing...what's the cost per sheet...even the difference in cost per sheet?

[@mazdarx7887]

Now do the same test with outdoor plywood. Outdoor ply at a fraction of the cost of marine is only about 10 to maybe 15$ less resilient than marine ply. And, your going to cover it with glass anyway. Therefor in most cases, glassed outdoor ply gives you much more bang for the buck than glassed marine ply

[@nathanbutler8240]

Another interesting thing would of been to check the thickness and length of that plywood before then soak in water seeing how the moisture levels doubled would be interesting to see if the thickness or length changed if the plywood swelled up

[@GrantSR]

20:43 As long as your face is still visible, most cameras will keep the focus on your face. You have to either hold up the object so it blocks your face, or move your face out of the scene. Or just film your closes separately then edit them in.

[@scooter1391]

Coosa board is the best been using it for years now, never rots and does not pick up water stronger than plywood and lighter saves weight. cutting it sucks wear complete coverage

[@shoresharp8349]

Great video coosa is a awesome product. Andy is there any way you could weigh the coosa vs plywood??

[@ELCADAROSA]

Andy, yes, the “Notification” bell does work. The quick turnaround between the upload and views/posts ascribe to that. How does the Coosa handle heat in the 90° to 100° range? Any bending, warping or delaminating of the layers, with or without the fiberglass attached?

[@boatworkstoday]

At this point I really don't know. Given it's foam based I'm guessing it's going to be very stable

[@kevinfisher1345]

Coosa has been used sandwiched between for decks of boats for many many years. As many boats cruise in areas that external temp alone can reach 90 to 100 degrees, not counting the deck backing in the Sun, so it likely is a lot hotter. Never heard of any issues with a deck that has coosa core just from temp. Without fibreglass I really would not know, but again I would be highly surprised if it did warp or delaminate under such heat. Just considering what it is made of, and more importantly I do now know of any structure material that would under those temps. Even basic plywood (not marine) will not have any issues. It actually adds better thermal insulation too than marine-ply resin decks.

[@MRKUE]

Neil Newhall good question, I live in so.fl. And surface temps can get way up there

[@freeswimmin]

I replaced a 12' X 20' cockpit sole in SoFla with Coosa. Not cheap, but damn good, solid, light, and it does not "delaminate" as it is a homogenous product with embedded fiber. I utilized 1" Coosa, merely "hot coated" the underside to prevent any possible moisture intrusion, and topped with MC-17, bedded and topped heavy. Faired, AllGrip, and done!😎 So far, no issues or problems, even in our summer heat and blasting sun.😉

[@1951Roy]

Thanks for the review. What size sheets did your order and how much. You said it was much more than marine ply. Thanks again. Would have liked to use this product on floor of RV.

[@augustfillmore1371]

Careful with the dust. Like all urethane foams it is abrasive as heck. Particularly easy to get in the eyes.

[@howardday5449]

Itchiest stuff this side of the green polyester that Hatteras and Bertram used. But what you can make with it is unlimited

[@AR1G3]

Just a quick tip, it would have been more accurate to weigh the coosa and ply test pieces dry and wet, and compare the weight.

[@jkg6211]

You're 100% right - a weight comparison, before and after, would have been a little more relevant with many applications. A water soaked materials weight difference (wood, coosa, or whatever) would have been very informative... especially in regards to Flats boats, where draft is super critical. Still, a good experiment and video overall.

[@tamaralee4108]

Really interesting to see a good evaluation of Coosa. Given that the laminated pieces passed your hammer test with no delamination, would there be any reason not to reduce the three deep layup per side to two layers, assuming 3/4" thickness was not essential? Greg

[@andrewsherriff1702]

hi andy looks like a great product question would you think this would be any good for a transom replacement

[@CobrasArt]

Can you laminate/Layer up coosa? If so what would you bond it with? Really interesting and a product I knew nothing about, many thanks Andy

[@robmitchell3633]

Check out boat builder central. They are in Florida. Have good prices on epoxy FYI. I’ve been using marinepoxy with good results. Cost less than totalboat. And no blush.

[@todmills]

I'd love to see you shape the Coosa. I have an application where I would be building up things (such as toerails/bulwarks), shaping them in place, and then glassing over them. Things like running a handheld planer over it, using a router to roundover corners, etc. Also, with your layups, you could drill a hole, cut out a little coring, fill with thickened epoxy, and re-drill, comparing that procedure with the same with a wood core. (is it hard to cut out the coring compared to plywood or balsa core or even unreinforced foam core like Divinycell. Also, is Coosa available scored with scrim backing for conforming to curved surfaces? Another thing I'm also looking at doing is buying some plate glass and using it (waxed, pva'd, or maybe even wrapped in plastic sheeting) to get a flat finish on the surface on both sides of a bulkhead (a double-sided layup like the sample you smacked).

[@josh.kaptur]

Coosa is incredibly easy to shape with standard woodworking tools. Be careful... it sands TOO easily for most tools.

[@davidaustin1875]

bell works

[@CTCLures]

I have been waiting for this video.

[@aaronwood3540]

It's wetter than it was after you soaked. 25-53- now 55. Coosa was 6-9 and the 4. So 2% less than before you soaked. I believe the coosa one this competition hands down.

[@christianpurdy9210]

you should send out some samples to project farm and see if he'll test epoxy vs poly. he does a good job doing fair testing on products.

[@TylerLL2112]

That dude is awesome M

[@ricemadd]

Great video, tks! How good is coosa for taking screws? And does it bend to be used for cold molding a boat?

[@jamespalmer4727]

What is the weight difference between plywood and the cost board? Great videos, and I don't even have a boat.

[@backcountrylifemagazine6912]

Great vid! Does Coosa scarf well? Could one stitch and glue the 1/4” coosa effectively ?

[@112doc]

Polyester-neurotoxicity, epoxy-hepatotoxic, silica-silicosis of lung; use respirator, nitrile gloves, safety glasses. Otherwise excellent videos! Been tabbing, repairing holes and upgrading an old sailboat for years. Thanks for sharing.