Glen-L.com

Hello everyone

I'm new to this site. And just wanted to share with everyone my New Project.

Its an old Rogers Dragstar Jet Boat.
I purchased the mold and plan on Laying up a few boats in the next few months.
I'm really glad to see such good informantion on this site.
Here are some pics of my NEW mold.

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Thank you
www.arsmarine.com

How many pieces are there to that mold? I cannot see the parting lines and it looks as if it has a barrel back transom area, so I am trying to visualize how to spring the boat from the mold

Steve

Steve there are two half's.
A top half and a bottom half.
In the picture that was How I transported it from Lake Havasu,AZ To Chicago,Illinois.

Yes the Barrel on the back!!! lol

It got me thinking to but, All ya do is pull it out of the mold Pulling foward.

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Thank you
www.arsmarine.com

WOW, good luck getting that little sucker outa there...many wedges and alot of yanking !!!

Steve

PS>>And a wicked good mold release agent !

A few strategically placed holes in the mould and with a high pressure airline you can blow it out.

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Graham in Shepperton, England

Good, Quick, Cheap, pick any two.

I like that idea. I have thought of doing that myself, Just didnt want to go drilling into the mold just yet.

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Thank you
www.arsmarine.com

Hey George thats a sweet looking mold. I have a small 3 meter boat mold aswell that looks similar to that just alot smaller. My uncle found it in a shed of a farm he bought and gave it to me .
Can you or somebody please enlighten me on how to make a mold out of this mold.
I kinda need to know what to use to release the mold, what layers of glass to use?
I think i am ment to:
1. Wax or prepare the mold for release somehow. (how do i do this)?
2. spray in some gel coat
3. then lay in some Chopped strand mat
4. then maybe a layer of woven roving then another
5. the some more chopped strand mat
6. and finish with another layer of woven roving?

Does this sound ok?
Also how heavy fibreglass should i use?
Its just a sporty looking 3.2 meter mold that kinda looks like the tnt with a more modern deck.

Ive also been trying to figure out what kind of Fibreglass to use?
Ive heard there are 2 types which are:
1. E-Glass
2. C-Glass
Which Come in Chopped strand mat and woven roving

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

Rob-

The very first thing that I would do would be to make extra sure that the mold you have is capable of producing a sea worthy craft. FRP molds are only good for so many boats before they need attention or replacement. So take lots of measurements and eyeball everything to see if it's all fair. Repair imperfections with epoxy. It would be a shame to put all that effort into producing a hull only to find that it was wracked or warped.

I believe that paste wax is usually used as a mold release agent. Just make sure you have good coverage.

Spraying gelcoat takes some pretty specialized spray gear but you CAN apply it by hand with a bondo spreader. If you pop the hull out of the mold and THEN find problems with the gelcoat, you can repair those bad places by hand applying more gelcoat. As long as the color match is good, you're good to go. However, it is very hard and can be a bear to sand and smooth. So hunker down and get mentally prepared for some serious elbow grease. When working on a hull after it's been removed from the mold, the gelcoat really does work just like bondo only harder. (yeah, just like that only different!)

Chopped strand is also designed to be applied with a spray gun designed specifically for this application. Instead, you should use fiberglass cloth.... the same type that we use for epoxying wood hulls. Lay it in, work out the wrinkles and then wet it out with your polyester resin. Apply a second coat before the first completely cures so that you can build up to the required thickness while insuring you have some "tooth" for each coat to adhere. Continue this proceedure until you have full wet out and coverage.

Hand lay up has always been considered to be of a much higher quality than chop gun. I'm sure that there are chop gun guys that will argue with that but top of the line FRP boats almost always use hand lay up. The trade-off is the time and labor required. Isn't that always the way.

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

I can't help but to post a tempting image.

It's a 74/75 rogers (I hate the pump! should be a AT, but no accounting for taste)



454 with twin banks chargers

Hey Dave thanks for your help with this. I looked it over and measured it all to make sure it is still fair. It looks pretty solid to me. The mold is still smooth as, i think it was well stored. If i cant spray the gel coat on and have to roll it, will it still look ok?
I was thinking of chopped strand mat, not chopped strand which goes through the chopper gun. Do you think that is what i should use? Also do you or anybody know what weight of fibreglass should be used and what thickness should be layed on a boat of 3 meters in a mold?

Thanks

Rob

Rob, you're asking me to stretch the very limit of my knowledge on this subject. But it IS a subject I definately want to learn more about.

I really believe that if you're going to have to lay the mat out by hand anyway, I'd definately go with woven roving designed especially for this application - hand lay up. You'll just get more consistent results and end up with a better job.

Also, I do believe that you can appy the gelcoat by hand but if I'm wrong, I'll certainly concede to a more knowledgable expert. This much I do know. Gelcoat, applied by hand, mixes up like bondo with a resin and catylist. It applies the same way .... with a spreader. It sets up WAY harder than bondo ever thought of and this is why I stated earlier to be prepared for a lot of elbow grease. That's because, once the boat is out of the mold, you'll have to smooth the gelcoat (hopefully the mold will have taken care of the majority of this) wet sand it with 600 - 1200 grit and then buff it to a high gloss.

I'm really interested in seeing how you do.

BTW, where are you located?

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

A el-cheapo gel gun will be 150$ or so. They have an external catalyst mix. You can use any automotive HP gun with a 2.5mm orifice. Naturally the gel-coat specific guns ware easier to use, and clean. Check out "fibre glast" for some info.

Hand laid would be stronger, but that hull was originally all chopper-gun on the bottom, the stringers were DF and set into the chop, then covered with roving. Later versions had a ply sole between the stringers, against the bottom. The stringers to the chines were covered with 3/8" ply, and filled with foam. The foam was horrible, and leaks in the glass would soak the foam, rotting the stringers, and sole. (that nasty roving on the stringers around the engine cradle was the usual culprit) Most were jet-specific hulls, and had 1/4" ply for a transom and no eyes, others were adaptable to V drive, and had a 3/4" transom with eyes. Never really understood the logic there, one would think the V would not put any more load on the transom. maybe they thought someone would put an I/O on one? (UGH! how ugly would that be?)

The top was mostly chop, with cloth along the gunwale. They had 2" or so strips of foam set into the mat on the bottom, and covered with more chop. Originals had ALLOT of flotation foam... more of it, in long strips were lining the hull between the chines and gunwale.

I may have a few interior images of a partially restored Rogers somewhere, if you could use them. A great vintage hull! a little heavy, but rock solid, and tough.

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For some reason my boat was much faster before GPS came about

Hello Guys,

Thanks for the information that ive read,
Its a nice speed Boat i like the red one ,
Thanks Guys for sharing that pics. to me,
Ive learned lot of ideas about this topic,,,,
God Bless.



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