fund razor
Founding Member
Is my local West Marine gonna have anything of any decent size? Is there a mail order source that is fast?
Where do you buy yours?
Thanks!
Where do you buy yours?
Thanks!
Headlines
Coosa or Starboard, where to buy?
- Thread starter fund razor
- Start date
Trim'd Up
New member
I got mine from Advanced Plastics. Prices are good and they are good to deal with. They have a location close to me so it saved me the shipping costs too. They carry EVERYTHING! Coosa, Starboard, Divyncell etc. I sure as hell wouldn't buy it from West Marine. That stuff was high enough without their 3 million percent markup. Are you wanting coosa or starboard? They are very different materials. What are you doing with it?
www.advanced-plastics.com
www.advanced-plastics.com
fund razor
Founding Member
I am replacing and reinforcing a portion of a bulkhead in one case, and covering some wood that isn't rotten yet in another. I was thinking starboard for the covering, but maybe I will jusy epoxy it.
I have the room to install a reinforcing panel behind the repaired bulkhead to replace any lost stiffening. I figured I should use Coosa for that. It is a section between stringers, 30 inches wide total. 30 by 16 with a V bottom shape.
Although... I have been pretty dam tempted to epoxy a piece of 5/8 inch plywood and move on.
Maybe I can swing up to Eastpointe or Rockwood for Coosa. Rockwood is only 20 minutes from work.
fund razor
Founding Member
Gotcha.
Trim'd Up
New member
I think you would be much better off just coating the wood in epoxy ILO satarboard. For the bulkhead look into Divyncell. It is much cheaper than coosa, although not as strong. Throw a couple of layers of glass over it and it is strong as hell. I used it for all of my bulkheads in my boat. It was about $80 for a 4'x7' sheet of 1/2" and $120 for a sheet of 3/4".
fund razor
Founding Member
No luck at Al's.
Eastpointe Fiberglass has foam core and balsa core. No Coosa.
Michigan Fiberglass sells balsa core but not coosa.
Anybody online with Coosa is selling full sheets.
I need about a 24 inch square of 3/4 inch and a quarter sheet (2 x 4) of 1/2.
Epoxy over plywood is starting to look good.
Eastpointe Fiberglass has foam core and balsa core. No Coosa.
Michigan Fiberglass sells balsa core but not coosa.
Anybody online with Coosa is selling full sheets.
I need about a 24 inch square of 3/4 inch and a quarter sheet (2 x 4) of 1/2.
Epoxy over plywood is starting to look good.
fund razor
Founding Member
Would what these places are calling "foam core" be "structural?"
fund razor
Founding Member
Oh man... decisions decisions.... there is a place a few miles from my house that will sell Douglas Fir Marine grade plywood for pretty cheap (4 x 8 half inch 56 bucks, 4 x 8 three quarter inch 78 bucks) and they will sell partial sheets for a 20% upcharge.
This means that I could get my 2 x 2 section for $11.70 and my 2 x 4 section of half inch for $14.00.
Hmmmm.
This means that I could get my 2 x 2 section for $11.70 and my 2 x 4 section of half inch for $14.00.
Hmmmm.
fund razor
Founding Member
Heck, I could upgrade the half inch backer that I was adding behind my repair area to 3/4 inch for a few bucks more.
That ought to replace the lost stiffening.
That ought to replace the lost stiffening.
fund razor
Founding Member
Seriously... if I use marine grade plywood and then epoxy over it, haven't I gone one farther than they did down in Miami in 1988. They left the wood bare.
It just feels dumb to patch a section of coosa into a wood bulkhead and then cover it with coosa. The underneath would be wood still, the outside will be fiberglass and nobody will ever see either side. It would end up more than an inch and a half thick and the patched part is only 14 inches square. The tank side would be epoxy'd, which is a step up from factory.
It just feels dumb to patch a section of coosa into a wood bulkhead and then cover it with coosa. The underneath would be wood still, the outside will be fiberglass and nobody will ever see either side. It would end up more than an inch and a half thick and the patched part is only 14 inches square. The tank side would be epoxy'd, which is a step up from factory.
Trim'd Up
New member
If I was you I would just use plywood for such a small area your not going to save much weight and the plywood will last basically forever if it is sealed in glass. The only wood left in my boat is the transom and the engine stringers, and if I was doing it again I would use plywood just for the cost savings. I have a bunch of money and TIME tied up in an old Baja that ain't worth chit and isn't really what I want anyway, but hey I probably have the most high tech 240 sport out there. 
BradB
New member
If I was you I would just use plywood for such a small area your not going to save much weight and the plywood will last basically forever if it is sealed in glass. The only wood left in my boat is the transom and the engine stringers, and if I was doing it again I would use plywood just for the cost savings. I have a bunch of money and TIME tied up in an old Baja that ain't worth chit and isn't really what I want anyway, but hey I probably have the most high tech 240 sport out there.
thats kinda my theory. wood and polyester ws what was used to build the boat if its done correctly it will last a long time. Unless the boat was built in epoxy I would would just stick with polyester resin. The only down side to Epoxy is its so expensive and cure times.
insanity
New member
Toledo Plywood? Sounds close to their prices.
Anyhow as BradB mentioned, the Luan (sp?) is about the same thing and actually seems a little better than the marine ply I bought. And half the price. If the rest of the boat is plywood and has held up this long, that little piece you put in there should last as long/longer than you have the boat.
fund razor
Founding Member
That's what I did. This would be different if I were starting with a new boat. A plywood patch in a plywood structure is ok with me. But I am still going across the back of my repair with an additional sheet of "1/2." That I will tab into the corners and then brush west system over it. Maybe a glass mat.
I may be wrong with my terminology "epoxy."
I am using west system. Because it is a two-part, I called it epoxy.
I may be wrong with my terminology "epoxy."
I am using west system. Because it is a two-part, I called it epoxy.
glassdave
Founding Member / Competitor
no mat with epoxy only binderless stiched glass will work. Not sure a repair like this warrants Coosa. Its fantastic stuff without a doubt but if your just patching something you've cut out of plywood and not replacing the entire piece i'm not sure it worth the effort and cost to get you hands on a sheet of Coosa. If anything get a sheet of scored high density foam core if not that marine ply will be fine.
Actually the correct glass to use in an epoxy system would be something like a 1800 or 1200 laminate (or any XX zero zero bi ax) without the chop mat stitched to it. Mat really has no place with epoxy
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fund razor
Founding Member
Yeah, epoxy was right. Mat was wrong.
It's a "patch," but it's a whole section from stringer to stringer. It is not the entire bulkhead all the way to the top. Still think wood is the way the more that I think about it.
It's a "patch," but it's a whole section from stringer to stringer. It is not the entire bulkhead all the way to the top. Still think wood is the way the more that I think about it.
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