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| I have attended alot of trade-shows shopping for a new boat.......Many fiberglass boat manufactures stress they have an all composite stringer system and transom.....Could somebody give me the real definition of a composite stinger and transom.....Is it foam, fiberglass, a fiberglass extrusion.....what the hell is it.....It seems most sales people can't explain the process.....I look forward to your responses...... |
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Member
Posts: 42
Location: Fergus Falls, MN | Typically when a manufacturer refers to using a composite they are meaning that they use their standard material composited with another to make it stronger.
In the case of fishing rods, a composite refers to a fiberglass/graphite mix. Even though the graphite used to make fishing rods is already technically a composite, the use of the two different types of rod materials gets deemed a composite.
In the case of fiberglass boats it is much the same. An additional fiber has been added to the standard fiberglass to add certain attributes that are an improvement on the standard fiberglass that the hull is made of. Higher MOE (modulus of elasticity), higher MOR (modulus of rupture), higher rigidity, better screw retention... A composite is generally an intermixing of the two (or more) materials. When materials are stacked in distinct layers they generally get referred to as a lamination. |
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Member
Posts: 279
Location: Rockford MN | Most of the better boats out there now have taken the wood out and replaced it with soild materials! Wood Transoms are a thing of the past these days. No more glassing over a plywood plate. Composites are formed to the shape of the tramsom then attached and glassed in. NO more rotting and wharping. Solid glass boats with composite constuction to make them solid. 3"s of solid tramson is better than 1/2" on both sides of a sheet of wood and the same goes for the stringers. If you ever get a chance you should go to a factory and see how well boats are being put together these days, it will open you're eyes up to what it takes to build a boat to stand up to the punishment we give them! |
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| Composites is a word that has a very broad definition. Composites are two or more materials combined to make one. Like the adobe house . Cement and Straw. Lets hope we don't have that in our boats.
Most stringers and bulk heads will be produced either by a fiberglass stringer system made in a mold then tabed in with fiberglass or using a Methalmethacylate adhesive to bond the fiberglass stringer to the hull. These stringers are sometimes filled with urethane foam. Another stringer system could be produced using PVC core. This core does does not allow water to penetrate the core even if punctured.
Wood stringer and bulk heads carry more weight and of course can rot.
Rick Hess
Composites One |
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Composite Transoms.......