Building a Custom Casting Platform [[Carolina Skiff Build Part 16]]

[@70455gto]

Man, glad to see you “rolling with the punches”, learning as you go. Good to know I’m not the only person struggling through similar projects. I’m motivated now to get on my fiberglass work - thanks for the motivation -Thanks for being real! -Fellow diverse wrencher from Upstate SC.

[@MattHorne-fy2wj]

Appreciate the video. Working on a J16 in Florida for flats fishing and the deck built by previous owner needs replacing. Was going to mount flush but it IS too much for beauty’s sake 😅

[@conradjohnson3886]

How do I thicken the epoxy? The epoxy I mix is the consistency of syrup or honey. I know this might have gotten missed because of the video issues, but did you glue in the "trusses"? Or did you screw through the fiberglass into the wood? (or both?) Is there a reason you used laminating plywood for trusses as opposed to just your basic green-treated 2x4?

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

To thicken epoxy I used fumed silica. You can get it anywhere that sells epoxy. I got a lot of mine off Amazon. Milled glass also will thicken it a little. I added it anywhere I wanted strength. I epoxied the trusses in. Using epoxy thickened with silica and milled glass. Then tabbed them in to the hull. Well all the ones I could get to. Treated 2x4s would have to be screwed in and couldn’t be covered with fiberglass. Which is what my original deck was. The moisture content is way to high to epoxy over. Marine ply is strong and dry. Plus I had a bunch from another project. Hope this helps. Thank you for watching!

[@conradjohnson3886]

@@FishHuntCookTinker Sorry to be such an idiot but when you say you " tabbed them in to the hull" do you mean that you built supports around the trusses so that the trusses were sitting on supports (as opposed to just being held by epoxy)? My plan is to not have the deck sitting completely on top of the gunnels but rather sitting on the inside lip so that it is held in place by the gunnels and a small amount of weight will be displaced to the gunnels. The vast majority of the weight will be supported by the "trusses". (PS Thanks for the tip on the moisture content of the treated wood. I hadn't thought of that.)

[@iamjustbill]

Thank you for taking the time to share this video. Did you use polyester or epoxy resin with your glasswork? I am using epoxy for my skiff deck and assume I will have to use epoxy based paint instead of gel coat.

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

It was my pleasure. Thank you for watching! I used Marine Epoxy slow non-blush epoxy. Then washed it well with dawn dish soap before gelcoat. I had a few other areas I ran out of the slow non-blush hardener and had to use medium or fast. There the gelcoat didn’t want to cure, but I also completely forgot to wash it.

[@jeremywycoff781]

I need to redo my seat and front deck, I took everything off so I can give it a fresh gel coat as well. Did you remove the braces that you added to hold the floor up? Keep them coming very helpful 👌

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

I tabbed the braces in on the underside with 12 oz biaxial tape. Then covered the top and bottom with 17 oz biaxial. I hate I lost that footage. Good luck with your project! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@mikehawkins4445]

How are you using gelcoat on epoxy?