JEM Watercraft

Matt (and the rest of the collected wise folk)

Has anybody ever tried building one of these boats with something like marine urethane foam as the "core"?
for example:
https://www.generalplastics.com/products/fr-4500

SWMBO has decided its on my priority list to build a couple boats, so this topic came up.

It's been tried by a few folks. I'm not sure about High Density Tooling Foam Board. But other non-marine construction foams, such as insulation foam, do not have the sheer strength required for composite sandwich boat building. The fiberglass will stick to the foam but eventually the foam sheers and the composite sandwich delaminates and breaks apart.

Now the foam you linked to has a marine version (scroll to bottom right) and you can order sample kits. Might be worth the investment to play with... see if it bends.

And of course cost is a big factor.

You are breaking new ground with this foam board ( High Density Tooling Foam Board ). It will be interesting to see which way and what you decide to do.

Chuck.

I was hoping the cost was lower than marine ply, but apparently not. I was seeing prices approximately 3x what 4mm hydrotek goes for through a local distributor... So I appreciate the input but seems I'll stick with better worn paths!

Thanks!