# No Wood Flats Stalker 18



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Sign on to the bateau forum and ask. Although when others have asked about similar boats they were told it wasn't worth it, but Jacques the designer will explain more there.


----------



## kamakuras (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks.


----------



## Gramps (Nov 1, 2007)

Cost and weight penalties using foam. Plywood has inherent strength and puncture resistance. The amount of glass required to achieve the same properties over foam is prohibitively expensive and heavy.

I want to do the same thing! But alas, in small boats - plywood is king.


----------



## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

> Cost and weight penalties using foam. Plywood has inherent strength and puncture resistance.  The amount of glass required to achieve the same properties over foam is prohibitively expensive and heavy.
> 
> I want to do the same thing! But alas, in small boats - plywood is king.


correct !
pound for pound stronger than steel.
quieter / lighter
and just better.
but more maintenance.
personally i would never build with anything but wooood.


----------



## Bob (Feb 2, 2007)

There was a thread over in the Bragging section from a guy in Texas that built his own composite one-off that was similar to a FlatsStalker/Gladeskiff, maybe a little bigger. It was a great thread, but for the life of me i can't find it. There's nothing wrong with wood encapsulated in glass & epoxy & some designs are even lighter than comparable all glass hulls. but to each his own.


----------



## kamakuras (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks for the input. Maybe it would be best to just order the wood.


----------



## gillz (May 20, 2007)

Before I bought my fs18 which was already in progress I was contemplating building my hull twith foam.I think that it can be possible to build it too light aside from the obvious durability and [smiley=carcrash.gif] hitaoysterabedandnotsinkability advantage of wood. With an extremely light hull you and your passengers act like sails and will make you more susceptible to the wind, especially if you keep the planned freeboard. I'm of the opinion that there is a threshold min draft and saving 50lbs might get you 1/2" shallower,  but at a unreasonable cost imo. That being said I am building my decks and sole from nidacore and chose to give up some longterm durability on the topside to save a little wieght. Just my $0.02.


----------



## Snookdaddy (Jan 5, 2008)

> There was a thread over in the Bragging section from a guy in Texas that built his own composite one-off that was similar to a FlatsStalker/Gladeskiff, maybe a little bigger.  It was a great thread, but for the life of me i can't find it.  There's nothing wrong with wood encapsulated in glass & epoxy & some designs are even lighter than comparable all glass hulls. but to each his own.


I believe this is the thread you're looking for:

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1345433649/0


----------



## Bob (Feb 2, 2007)

> > There was a thread over in the Bragging section from a guy in Texas that built his own composite one-off that was similar to a FlatsStalker/Gladeskiff, maybe a little bigger.  It was a great thread, but for the life of me i can't find it.  There's nothing wrong with wood encapsulated in glass & epoxy & some designs are even lighter than comparable all glass hulls. but to each his own.
> 
> 
> I believe this is the thread you're looking for:
> ...


Yep - Thanks!

To the original poster- this process is what I would follow if I didn't have a mold and wanted to build a one-off, all composite skiff.


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

another great link to an 18 build>

http://wetconcepts.com/FS18.htm

I thought along the same lines on this boat and figured that it would be better to build the hull w/ ply and do the transom in something else and do everything else in nida core---- as long as it was a flat surface.
The cost would be high and it would be cool if Bateau could CNC the nidacore or other composite??????????

need to call on that

One other thing, I saw a crashed sailboat hull made of composite honeycomb and it looked like paper mache' after a 2yoa got to it!


----------



## Gramps (Nov 1, 2007)

TopNative - That is Bob's website, poster above you. That is still one of, if not the, the best reference files for an FS18 out there!

I'd bet Bateau could cut the materials. They may have to adjust the program a little but surely they would for a nominal fee.


----------



## kamakuras (Feb 23, 2012)

That is definitely the way I was thinking of building it. I hope to get this build started in the next couple months. Not too worried about the extra costs of building composite. Not knowing boat building though I may still go with wood. Not sure yet. Was mostly wondering not knowing much about the process what materials would be used and where.


----------



## Bob (Feb 2, 2007)

Jacques at Bateau.com has a decent building guide on using composites for a hull.  I'm not sure if he distributes it freely or whether it's only included in plans, but it's a good start to understanding the process & materials if you decide to go that direction.  If you buy one of his plans, ask if he can include that guide.  The copy I received isn't specific to one boat but more on the technique.  It may be available somewhere on his site.  

Found it on the tutorial section on bateau.com...
http://www.bateau2.com/howto/foam1.php

Good luck.


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

In my opinion, if you want to go the "no wood" route, you should build a mold, but don't do it because "'no wood' construction is lighter".  Do it because you have a 55 gallon drum of polyester resin that you acquired for free. 

If you want a very light boat, I'd consider an okume ply hull with composite decks.  The composites do well as decks because the risk of puncture is decreased.  This allows more modest lamination schedules because you don't have to armor the foam to withstand oysters at planing speed. 

If you are really enthusiastic about foam construction, take notes from shalla wata rida's thread in the Bragging Spot. It is near the top. His project is scary sexy.

Since this is your first hull, I recommend not getting too experimental.  Buy the ply FS18 plans if you like the lines and build the hard chine version out of meranti to the specs as listed.  The result will be very serviceable and reasonably light.  You need to learn to make good laminations before you attempt truly lightweight construction.  This will allow you to refine your technique and to get a feel for the strength of the materials and methods.  Many new builders get the overbuild bug and start making a 16' skiff out of 3/4" ply framed with dimensional lumber and sheathed with a double layer of 18 oz biax cloth on the bottom just in case they ever need to use it as an ice breaker on the Hudson Bay.  Duck hunters are the worst about this.

Nate


----------



## kamakuras (Feb 23, 2012)

Great help Nate, thank you.


----------

