casting platforms . options other than marine ply

[tobymcclure]

Hey guys, with winter nearly here, im looking to change the flooring arrangment in my boat , make it an little better, tweak it . My boat only has a small motor , so i was trying to reduce the weight it has to push. I Was wondering if there are any other products people use for casting floors otehr than marine ply.

The price isnt that muich of an issue, just want to make the floor alot better suited to my fishing, and in doing so ill use alot more ply. Hense wondering if there's lighter products on the market that work the same.


Many Thanks in advanse as always


toby

[boris]

sandwiched foam between firbeglass works and is boyant as well. There is a boat maker in taree that does this but i can't recall the company name...

[Thunderace]

this what I looked at, seem a excellent product but too rich for me

http://www.cowdroy.com.au/indexnema.htm

[ben k]

if you want light you would have to go some sort of fibre glass construction, the glass/foam thing mentioned above would be perfect.
carbon/kevlar would be the ultimate but i wouldnt like to see the price tag

[MODIFIED]

marine ply is the best option.

i have used mdf before as it comes in a few differant gauges rather than thick ply.

16mm is good with mdf (no more than a 400mm unsupported span)

if you seal it and paint it before installing marine carpet it will last 2 to 3 years no problems. longer if you look after it.
(this is for river breaming. if you are going to hit to open water mdf will not last long.)

other wise marine ply is the go.

there was a product i used on some skate ramps called dyma lite or dyma deck but was about 3 x the price of ply. it looked like a fibre glass composite.

the weight would be less that one extra person in the boat but its evenly spread out over the boat so shouldnt be much of a problem to push.

[Mandurah Marine]

BLA have a product called King Starboard. There is also King Starlite XL and King StarboardXL which I used in my boat deck to replace marine ply which I meticulously sealed with premium sealer and lasted 2 years (extreme conditions in my boat usually wet as floor is 1" from hull and a lot of flex). With this product I now have ZERO issues for many many years. No need to seal screw holes, can take flex without depletion etc. I glued my carpet to it with regular contact adhesive. From memory my supports are 600mm apart and I notice no flex walking the deck.
From memory the Starboard XL is about the same weight as ply of the same thickness. They come in 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" & 3/4". I used the 1/2". Super easy to work with using normal woodworking tools.

If money isn't the issue I suggest to get ally framework done to reduce weight and lay the decking.

[Daniel_Folley]

Allycore is another lighter Option

[Jack Mauger]

Theres a new type of marine ply that is i think 12kg lighter per sheet of it, we used it on the boat and its awesome, still is strong and sturdy as the old marine ply.

[stacer420]

Aluminium chequerplate?

[tobymcclure]

Originally Posted by lure addicted

Theres a new type of marine ply that is i think 12kg lighter per sheet of it, we used it on the boat and its awesome, still is strong and sturdy as the old marine ply.

Do you recall where you saw it mate ? bunnings ??

[tobymcclure]

Originally Posted by Mandurah Marine

BLA have a product called King Starboard. There is also King Starlite XL and King StarboardXL which I used in my boat deck to replace marine ply which I meticulously sealed with premium sealer and lasted 2 years (extreme conditions in my boat usually wet as floor is 1" from hull and a lot of flex). With this product I now have ZERO issues for many many years. No need to seal screw holes, can take flex without depletion etc. I glued my carpet to it with regular contact adhesive. From memory my supports are 600mm apart and I notice no flex walking the deck.
From memory the Starboard XL is about the same weight as ply of the same thickness. They come in 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" & 3/4". I used the 1/2". Super easy to work with using normal woodworking tools.

If money isn't the issue I suggest to get ally framework done to reduce weight and lay the decking.

What sort of prices were the sheets it came in ?

[Mandurah Marine]

go to www.bla.com.au and type in king starboard in the search box. (may need to try the other descriptions if complete list doesn't come up

cheers

[Mandurah Marine]

BTW they also have a cnc machine so you can have them cut anything any way you want (rod racks, shelves, doors etc)

[Thunderace]

Originally Posted by Thunderace

this what I looked at, seem a excellent product but too rich for me

http://www.cowdroy.com.au/indexnema.htm

The kingboard was even more pricey than this stuff, but would have been great to use, maybe next time, mind you I sealed the ply pretty well with norseal , so hopefully ok

[jonesy007]

I had mine made out of ally from the local boat builder, then put the carpet over the ally. Will post some pics if you want. It's light weight can get as wet as you like has pretty much nil flex and won't rot.