Thursday, September 20, 2007

DIY Pontoon Build Update 2

Well it's been about 3 weeks (or 40 hours worth of work) since I started building my pontoon, below are some pictures from a few days ago on my progress.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Here is the first pontoon with some wields on it (small patches of fiberglass coated with resin) to hold the shape and form for when the stitches (the white zip ties poking out all over) are removed. This being my first "real" garage project I found to be lacking some of the basic tools, like saw horses, but as you can see, I make do with what I have.



Here is the first pontoon, right side up, with the bulkheads in
place. They will be set permanently in place by fillet (fill-it) and fiberglass tape after the two coats of resin dry.







Interior view of second pontoon with out the bulkheads in
place. As you can see, the bulkheads play a vital role increasing the volume of displacement for when the whole build hits the water, in addition they also provide extra strength to the pontoon itself, enabling a few sheets of 1/4" plywood to support almost half a ton of weight!




That's all for now. Current plans are to get this in the water by this Sunday, but I'll have more build pictures posted soon and please feel free to post any questions you may have.