Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

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Slingshot
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Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by Slingshot »

Has anyone worked with this type of pourable foam? I've been looking into it, possibly building a micro skiff out of it. Just build a form for the boat, and pour it full. Then just remove it from the mold, and fiberglass it. Now I understand that you would have to put in some sort of heavier duty transom, but I think that this could work. If you make the form durable enough, you could get multiple boats out of the same form. They also have different density too. 2 pound, 4 pound, and 8 pound.

http://www.aeromarineproducts.com/boat-foam.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Shamrock kid
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Re: Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by Shamrock kid »

I used the 2lb on the technical poling skiff I'm building. Easy to work with.
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richg99
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Re: Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by richg99 »

Wonder why the adv says "not to be used for flotation"? rich

p.s. Or, maybe it isn't to be used for flotation? Q&A says it is 95% closed cell????..??

p.p.s. Upon further reading, only the 8 lb stuff is "not for flotation" ?????
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Re: Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by jimithing »

you need to look at shear strength of the foam. pourable foam i believe lacks it. hence why manufacturers use it for flotation in between the layers on the floor to make it unsinkable/less sinkable if theres a puncture in the fiberglass layers itself. i would think that for the boat to be strong, it would have to be pretty thick as i couldn't see the foam, even at a couple inches thick and with layers of fiberglass being strong enough. plus this foam would soak up water pretty bad and cause everything around it to rot and as your primary core, this wouldn't be the stuff to use. id just save up and make a boat out of divinycell, or if you can spring for it, core cell. these foams are purposed for hull structure. pourable foam i think would be a bad idea. i would rather direct you towards using the hard insulation foam at hd or lowes before id suggest pourable. and even insulation foam i believe lacks that shear strength. why not try one of the skiffs like the fs18 from bateau?
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AyJay
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Re: Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by AyJay »

The issue with the two part closed cell foam is density. The higher the density, the stronger it is structurally, as there is a higher resin content. This also means lower gas content so it is heavier and floats less well. Sufficiently dense foam might not do anything for floation, though it will be very solid and hard. 2-4lb foam is good for filling voids for floation and will provide structural rigidity IF it is encased in structural surfaces that distribute loads along a large surface area, say, for example under a seat top or the sole of a boat.
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AyJay
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Re: Pourable Foam for a micro skiff.

Post by AyJay »

US composites sells marine grade two part mix pourable closed cell foam. I used it in the constructino of my skiff, and even the 2lb stuff is very solid once you put it inside plywood and glass to distribute the load across its entire surfaces. I had to use an orbital sander with coarse paper to smooth the poured surfaces down under my boat's sole before I put the plywood and glass sole down. I think my skiff has about 800lbs bouyancy added, plus the bouyancy of the wood core hull.
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