# Beryllium 17.5



## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

After months of indecision and flip flopping on designs, I have finally started my Beryllium! This is the 2nd boat I've built and the first foam core one. I am by no means an expert and plan on making plenty of mistakes along the way. My hope is to take all I've learned on this forum and from some of it's members directly to create a build thread that may inspire somebody else to build their own skiff. Thanks to everyone who answered messages and comments while I was trying to get this going.

I'm using polyester resin, carbon core, 1.5oz mat and two layers of 10oz. Basalt on the outside. Still debating on a side console or center console. I have a 2018 Tohatsu 50 with a jack plate for power. This would have been more than enough for my original Conchfish plan but we'll see how it works out on the Beryllium. Mid 30's cruising speed is the goal.

It's taken a few weeks to get this far. I am hoping to start glassing next week after getting the hull shaped and filled this weekend.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)




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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

It took two sheets ripped at 3 1/4 and a few scraps from the chine and spray rails to do the planking.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Awesome! Good luck with the build.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Standard Gorilla glue for binding?


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Yes, probably more than I needed. It took a few days to get it off my hands.

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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Moving right along. Excited for you. The 50 will push it fine I bet.

PS: Stay off that unicycle.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Sublime said:


> Moving right along. Excited for you. The 50 will push it fine I bet.
> 
> PS: Stay off that unicycle.


Haha, believe it or not I can still ride it at age 49!


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

Mad respect for you guys who have the talent to do this. Really cool.


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

Are you in Jax? If so I would like to check it out! This is on my short list if possible!


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Following your progress. Looks like it's coming together quickly.


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## Mc_Fly (Dec 23, 2017)

So cool, looking forward to seeing this progress.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Looks great!


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

flyclimber said:


> Are you in Jax? If so I would like to check it out! This is on my short list if possible!


Yes, I am in S. Jax Beach. Feel free to stop on by.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Made a lot of progress this weekend. I rounded all the edges, filled all the seams and screw holes and put two coats of poly on. I am really happy with the overall shape. I have two little dips where the bottom chine ties into the curved hull but should be able to fair those out after glassing.

I learned a few things and would make a few adjustments regarding the filling and shaping. I filled the screw holes and seams with thickened resin using Q-Cells. This sanded relatively easily but the foam sands even easier. This caused a little pitting here and there. If I would have put a coat of resin on first, I feel it would have sanded more evenly and the filler would have spread easier too.

My plan is to get the fillets and flange installed this week and start laying glass next weekend.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Nice!

One benefit to the stay-at-home situation is a lot of project punch lists are getting checked off, from skiff-building to yard work to home improvements.


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## Charles Hadley (Jan 20, 2019)

Looks really clean, nice work


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## GaG8tor (Jul 8, 2019)

Nice work


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks great. You are making it look easy!


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## Omar_Guillen (Mar 14, 2009)

Really cool. Nice job.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

I feel like things are moving along at a good clip. I finished all the pre-glass prep work during the week. Got my fillets in for the glass, made some fiberglass inserts for the trim tabs and went back and touched up a few screw holes and dimples. Then I built a movable glass rack.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

On Saturday I finished building my flange using PVC trim, glued in my fiberglass plates and scuffed up the hull.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

"I love the smell of styrene in the morning!" On Sunday Travis and my neighbor came over to help with the glass. We got the entire boat covered in 1.5oz mat and two layers of 350 gram basalt cloth in just over 3 hours. I have very little glassing experience but the basalt laid down amazingly. I thought it was easier to work with than 10oz glass. The polyester held it perfect and loved the quick cure time. Enough so that we even put a coat of faring on.

I did not precut any glass. We just rolled the rack down and pulled what we needed as we went. My guess is we had less than a yard of waste.

Hopefully I can start doing some sanding this week and finish initial fairing this coming weekend.


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## Tautog166 (Jul 7, 2018)

Looking really really good!

That basalt cloth looks so good when it’s just put on. Too bad they don’t make black fairing compound. Then painted black. A black hull, that would hide any scratches.


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## Taylor Cullen (Dec 26, 2019)

Man you are putting all of us other builders to shame. Really clean work at an insane pace. Love it!


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## silverg hog (Nov 17, 2018)

Looks great! Did you cut the stations or have someone do them on a CNC? If so, can you provide the contact?


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

,


silverg hog said:


> Looks great! Did you cut the stations or have someone do them on a CNC? If so, can you provide the contact?


I drew them out and cut them with a jig saw. I made two mistakes that I had to glue in an additional piece of wood. I looked into having them cut via CNC but the quotes were all crazy expensive. Might be able to get it done for less now though. It took me about two days to draw and cut them all. Now that the core is on and glassed I did find a flat spot on my spray rail that I'll need to do a little extra faring on. My guess is one of my frames was slightly off, that could be a cutting issue or possible alignment when I set them up on the strong back.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

I sanded down the first coat of fairing last week. Within the first minute of sanding I found an air pocket on the lower chine. As I moved along I found another and then another. I was totally crushed. These where all on the radiuses and corners. Fortunately they were relatively small. A few I probably could have gotten away with just filling and moving on but decided it would be best to do it right.

I sanded down all the spots to the underlying mat. Then I put in another layer of mat followed by a layer of basalt. It took me about the same amount of time as it did to glass the entire boat! I bought some peel ply for the initial glassing but only used a small piece mainly because I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I decided to give it a try more to hold down the small patches which it did well. To my surprise, when I pulled off the peel ply after my resin cured, the patches were completely smooth. I will be using it on the seams on the inside. Really cool stuff.

On Sunday I put on another coat of fairing. I wasted a good amount in the begining thinking I could get it spread before it started to kick. Once I got my amounts sorted out it went smoothly. Hopefully I can get some sanding done this week and be close to fair. I'm sure there will be a few spots I'll need to hit but I am liking the hull so far.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)




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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Get it man! You're making awesome progress.

Looks really good.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Chris Beutel said:


> I sanded down the first coat of fairing last week. Within the first minute of sanding I found an air pocket on the lower chine. As I moved along I found another and then another. I was totally crushed. These where all on the radiuses and corners. Fortunately they were relatively small. A few I probably could have gotten away with just filling and moving on but decided it would be best to do it right.


I had a total of 4 small bubbles on the outside like that. Not even enough to grind out, just fill. When I did the inside I had to grind out whole sections and reglass. I realized I used and electric mixer on the inside and I think as it kicked, it was releasing the air trapped in the resin which created the bubbles. Not doing that again.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Coming along very nicely, Chris.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

The second round of fairing is mostly done. It took about 4 hours to sand. There is a lot of surface area on this hull. I have a few spots that I had to touch up and a few low spots that I filled last night. I'll knock those down this afternoon and start building up the edges. My plan is to finish the fairing this weekend and hopefully get the lifting strakes and reverse strakes on. The pictures aren't real exciting but I guess fairing isn't either. Have a good weekend.


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## Nick Gencarelle (Aug 19, 2019)

LOVE IT! We make composites Rock--https://basalt-fabric.com


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Still making progress but the results are not overly exciting. Lots of fairing. I did get all the edges sharpened, the hull is 90% fair and the lifting and polling strakes are on. I'll get those faired in over the next two days and get a coat of primer on. After the primer I know there will be some more fairing to do. I'd love to get her flipped by Monday.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Nick Gencarelle said:


> LOVE IT! We make composites Rock--https://basalt-fabric.com


You gonna give us home builders a discount or something?


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## Nick Gencarelle (Aug 19, 2019)

Mike Haydon said:


> You gonna give us home builders a discount or something?


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## Nick Gencarelle (Aug 19, 2019)

For any volumes we offer great discounts. Yes.


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## Nick Gencarelle (Aug 19, 2019)

For any volumes we offer great discounts. Yes.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

I was able to finish the initial fairing and get three coats of primer on this weekend. I am happy with the initial results. It was getting hard to discern what needed more sanding and what didn't. Very few pin holes and the bottom of the hull is nice and consistent. I can see a few sanding dips on the upper chines and there are a handful of low spots that will need attention. My hope is to get the fairing finished up this week and get her flipped this weekend or early next week.


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## Water Bound (Dec 12, 2018)

Looking good man!


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Looking good Chris.


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## dldsm7 (May 7, 2019)

Goodness Chris, breakneck speed on that hull! Looks great, really excited to see another Beryllium build going on.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Thing looks incredible. I hope you finish it off with a car like finish. Please spray this thing? It looks like you have a serious dust collection so definitely could spray in the garage or even outside with one of those cheap plastic garage.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

I feel like I ended the weekend in almost the exact place I started. The good news, there are a whole lot less blemishes and low spots. Put on another coat of primer and found a few more pinholes and minor blemishes that need to be addressed. I'll get those taken care of this week and she'll be ready to be flipped.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

She's coming together really nicely! I'm sure all these hours will pay off.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

She is off the frames. Spent the last few days filling and sanding. The hull is just about done. There a few minor spots I'll address before paint but nothing major. She came off the frames pretty easily. I need to reconfigure my cradle a bit, it's a little to high and I need to make sure the hull is sitting square before I start the inside.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

I have been making steady progress. I glassed the inside this weekend solo. I started Saturday, it was in the mid 90's and I tried doing larger sections. The mat went down reasonably well but every time I leaned over the rub rail to lay the basalt I would stick to the mat and pull some loose. I was able to get the transom done Saturday and had to rethink my plan.

I got started Sunday morning around 9:00 a.m., and cut all my cloth and mat into sections which took about 2.5 hours. I had a total of 24 pieces. I decided not to go up and around the rub rail so I'd be able to lean into the boat and get all the glass down. It took me about 4.5 hours to lay the entire inside by myself. Yesterday I cleaned up around the upper rub rail, and prepped it for a glass. I did find a few bubbles all of them are on the inside radiuses. My guess is that as the resin drys it shrinks and pulls the cloth away from the mat. I made the radiuses pretty big but I think I will even go a little bigger for the bulkheads and stringers. The mat stayed in place. I cut out those spots last night and will fix them when I glass the rub rail.

Prepping the inside of the hull was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Since all the curves are concave, my sanders would not lay flat working on the curved sections. I ended up resorting to smaller hand sanding blocks and using a drywall pole sander. So most of it was manual labor reaching into the hull. I did not want to test the unglassed foam with my 240 lbs. 

The Beryllium is a big hull and I'm happy so far how it's turning out. Certainly learning along the way, and I'm hoping some of my mistakes will help out other guys building their boats.






































































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## Tim Wilson (Dec 22, 2016)

Man I am so impressed with you guys who have the skills and or the balls to do this. I have a couple of questions that may be stupid. When you are fitting the foam strips do you do bead and cove like one would do on a traditional
Cedar strip canoe? If not are the strips cut on an angle or how to you get them
to fit tight without big gaps


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## scissorhands (Apr 8, 2012)

Very Nice work!!!!


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

@Chris Beutel where did you buy your glass and basalt from? And why the 2 different colors in core material? The boat is looking great by the way and you are making progress at an amazing pace. Thanks, Michael


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Mike Haydon said:


> @Chris Beutel where did you buy your glass and basalt from? And why the 2 different colors in core material? The boat is looking great by the way and you are making progress at an amazing pace. Thanks, Michael


Thanks Mike. The core is the same with the exception that the top sheet was in the sun for a few weeks and faded. Once it was sanded it is back to green. I got my basalt from James at Sudaglass.com

James Streetman, Manager
[email protected]
Advanced Filament Technologies LLC
tel. 281-496-5427
cell 713 724-2626

www.sudaglass.com


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Chris Beutel said:


> Thanks Mike. The core is the same with the exception that the top sheet was in the sun for a few weeks and faded. Once it was sanded it is back to green. I got my basalt from James at Sudaglass.com
> 
> James Streetman, Manager
> [email protected]
> ...


Thanks, and that makes since about the sun. I'm getting ready to purchase materials is why I ask. Did you get a good deal on resin anywhere?


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Still making progress and I have finished glassing the inside. Bulkheads are in and started on the motor well. I glassed in the bulkheads with two layers of 1.5oz CSM. All my interior parts are laminated with 1.5oz CSM and 1708. Definitely overkill and added weight but I have a roll of 1708 so I figured I would go ahead and use it. Takes a lot of time to glass in those parts. Much faster just laying a full sheet than having to cut and paste in all these pieces.


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Mike Haydon said:


> Thanks, and that makes since about the sun. I'm getting ready to purchase materials is why I ask. Did you get a good deal on resin anywhere?


My neighbor works for a company that blends chemicals to make coatings. He was able to get me a drum if laminating resin for a good price so I did not look much further.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Chris Beutel said:


> My neighbor works for a company that blends chemicals to make coatings. He was able to get me a drum if laminating resin for a good price so I did not look much further.


That must be awesome! And I wondered why you showed a pick of a 55 gallon drum. Lol


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Still grinding away. Stringers are glassed in along with the motor well. Now I need to decide the rest of my layout. Going with a center console with a built-in live well, cooler seat. Debating on doing three hatches in the rear or just one. One would certainly be easier but I like the thought of having sperate compartments.


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## CKEAT (Aug 26, 2015)

This is looking good, some great work!


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Any update Chris?


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

It has been a while since I updated my thread. Making lots of progress, none of it is as fast as I had hoped. The sole is in, the front compartment is primed and painted, rod tubes in the front are done, decided on my rear hatch layout, and started the fairing process of the inside. My hope is to get my cap laid out and started by the end of the month. I did build my console and so far I'm pretty happy with it but there already a few things I might have done different. I feel like I'm on the home stretch and I'm hopeful I'll be on the water by spring. I've been making regular updates on Instagram @Beryllium32250.


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

IG is easy to update. Following you there. Thanks man!


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## hillcharl (Feb 7, 2011)

Man it looks good. I would be going crazy at this point. You can almost sit behind the console!


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Well, I guess it's time for an update. I'm definitely on the home stretch with all the major fiberglassing done. There are a few little things I need to finish up on the interior of the hull and then I'll be ready to bond and glass on the cap. I hit a period of frustration because the process was taking so long. Thankfully I am past that and now and once again enjoying the build. With a little luck I'll be on the water in another month or two.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

I've been following on IG. Looking good. You've giving me some ideas about dealing with the rod tube holder in the rear hatch.


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## JDRProductions (Apr 9, 2017)

Super cool!


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## Gatorbig (Jan 15, 2021)

Looks so good. 
That console is going to be sweet!


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

It's been a while since I posted any updates here and they are long overdue. I am 98% finished and have had the boat out on the water several times. She floats skinny, rides smooth and catches fish. I need to decide what I want to do about a poling platform and clean up some of the wiring. Little odds and ends like the organization of the storage space will be fixed the more I get out and use her. I really enjoyed the building process even though there were days I wanted nothing do with more sanding. Overall I'm delighted with how she turned out. I documented the entire build on my Instagram @beryllium32250 but here a few pictures of the finished boat.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Looks great. I've been following along on IG. What size Lowrance is that?


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## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Sublime said:


> Looks great. I've been following along on IG. What size Lowrance is that?


 I went with a 12". In hindsight I would have made the cooler seat a little smaller and added a few inches to the top of the console. Ended up using a RAM mount to make it all work.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Congrats man, great job! Thanks for sharing some photos, hope you get to fish her a bunch this year.


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## Tarpon2023 (8 mo ago)

Amazing!


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## BDann (Apr 3, 2017)

Nice work, your skiff looks fantastic!


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## GoGataGo52__20 (Jun 26, 2016)

Dude such a pretty boat, so nice man, congrats


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