Re: weight reduction tech

Posted by FrankP on Jun 2, 2005

Wow, lots of ways you can reduce weight. This is a topic that pops up every now and then so you should be able to do some searches on the forum and find some great information. Here are a couple of suggestions that you will likely hear most often:

No end pours--use wood blocks instead.

Very light fill coats (generally easiest with a squeegy) and probably only 2 instead of 3

Use lighter glass or use the "racing" kit that uses 3mm instead of 4mm panels.

Less overlap of deck glass and narrow fillets. You don't really need wide fillets so just make them wide enough to ensure the seems are glued sufficiently and sealed (I think mine are 1/2-3/4 inch wide). Also use 2" tape instead of 3" tape.

Round all inside edges of the sheer clamps...for that matter make them a 1/2" smaller on all edges and then round the inside edges. You don't need the full 1" for deck installation.

No deck hardware. No nails, no external straps or screws passing through anything. Use all soft padeyes and mount foot braces with lightweight cedar blocks instead of mounting bolts.

Other possibilities include removing deck beams (especially between or close to the cockpits) but that may be a loss in strength that requires additional glass so might not really save a lot of weight in the end.

The biggest factor will be your diligence with epoxy. Make small batches and use sparingly in all fill coats, and you will save a few pounds on a boat the size of the sport tandem.

FrankP

In Response to: weight reduction tech by Brian Bills on Jun 1, 2005

Replies:

• Re: weight reduction tech by John Foster on Jun 2, 2005
  • Re: weight reduction tech by terry on Jun 2, 2005
    • Re: weight reduction tech by J.Schott on Jun 2, 2005
      • please send/post pictures by Howard on Jun 2, 2005
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          • Re: please send/post pict by Paul on Jun 4, 2005
          • Narrowing by Howard on Jun 4, 2005
      • Re: weight reduction tech by Kyle T on Jun 3, 2005
        • Re: weight reduction tech by LeeG on Jun 4, 2005
          • Re: weight reduction tech by Kyle T on Jun 4, 2005
• Re: weight reduction tech by Howard on Jun 2, 2005
  • Re: weight reduction tech by ray on Jun 3, 2005
    • Re: weight reduction tech by Mac on Jun 3, 2005