G''day,

Spoke to the Polycore guy. It is not available in the USA, so will
have to ship from either here or China. If you get resin and glass as
well, then putting it all together from here makes best sense. I am
waiting for shipping prices, will let you know.

The tow can be used for lengthwise stiffening, in place of 3 x
100mm/4" wide strips of 400 gsm/12 oz uni along the gunwhales and
keel, and for wrapping round the mast bearings and beam sockets but it
is too much like hard work for general laminating. Another option
is to use basalt fibre, which looks like carbon, is almost as strong,
but not as stiff. The Polycore guys also sell this, so it may be
worth getting the basalt and the Polycore direct from China, the resin
locally. Should have a price for the basalt next week.

Building is a variation on KSS. The full length panels are g;lassed
on the table from gunwhale to waterline inside and out. They are then
joined along the keel and the gunwhales lifted, which forms a U
section hull. The ends are then pinched together which forces some
negative rocker into the hull. Try this with a piece of paper to see
the effect. Weights are then rested on the gunwhales which force
the unglassed core to conform to the underwater shape, and removes the
negative rocker. The inside is glassed, then the outside, bulkheads
and mast step go in, then the deck goes on. The hull sides and decks
have matching radii (radiuses) on their edges so the deck join is very
simple and requires very little fairing.

regards,

Rob

On Mon, May 26, 2008 at 11:29 PM, Raps callion
<captian_rapscallion @yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Rob ,
>
> Can the hulls also use the carbon fiber tow? I don't know much about the
> KSS method, so I'm not sure how it all works out. Perhaps use the tow first
> and reinforce with biaxial where required?
>
> The cheapest NidaCore I found is from Noah Marine. (19.88 sq meter) But,
> nida isn't as strong as polycore.
> http://www.noahsboa tbuilding. com/noahsusa/ items.asp? CartId={186E3F6C-883E- 4DEVEREST1B- 8168-21D2AC2BBBC 8}&Cc=NIDA& iTpStatus= 0&Tp=&Bc=
> The best epoxy price is from Aero marine. (about 40US a gallon) There is a
> link to Aero Marine in the boat design forum directory
> The carbon tow from texas is the best for that stuff.
> The biax you have better prices on too.
>
>
>