1975 Skiier Stringer Replacement

Scott,

Unless the new stringer tops are crooked you shouldn't have to plane the tops at all. Put the two stringers on the saw horses flat top to top to verity. If the new is high you should plane the bottom to lower it. It looks like you may already have you new stringer in but if not I would recommend using it as the template for the other. In fact on mine I clamped all four together and did my floor batten layout up front so I know this would be the same. The primary stringers where mirror images but the secondaries differed somewhat on the bottom, probably due to the amount of floor grinding I did.

A lot of people have had good success sealing up the stringers before putting them in the boat as the resin is thin and a lot of it will end up in the bottom of the boat. Laying them flat allows the wood to absorb a lot more. Cutting the top notches before you install the stringers is also easier done before installing.

Pete recommendation to radius the top edge before glassing is a good one as the cloth will be easier to get to lay. Likewise at the bottom make a good fillet with thickened epoxy. I found the back of a plastic spoon works well for this. Getting the cloth to lay can be difficult especially thicker and it is easier to use two thin in lieu of one thick in most cases.    

FrankT     

Just to add to this, I just got my order of more the other day and was reading the literature they sent along. Their absorption test is pretty amazing. Scott, go look at their website and see all the testing they've done, etc. I agree with Pete in that I'm sure you could mix it up on your own, but why? And risk getting it wrong? My boat is a bit bigger than yours and I ended up ordering 4 of the two quart kits. It cost me about $250. Not too awful much in the grand scheme of things.

Scott,
Don't worry, you never put out the wrong message!

You may not find very much on CPES on their site. It was designed for wood repair. You will find new wood application instructions in the pamphlet that comes with it.

CPES as a sealer/primer in boats come from the restoration of wood boats and not the replacement of stringers in glass boats.
It works so well, that the method was started with our stringer jobs.

How wide are the notches. You may be able to use a router. I would use a skill saw first. Set your blade to the depth you want your notches. Cut across at each end of the notch. Next, Use a router bit for cutting grooves on a tongue and groove. Try to use a wide one if you can. Just set the router bit to the depth you want the notches and take out the material between the saw cuts. This isn't goint to work well if the notches are sider than the circular table on the router. If you do it this way be careful. It's easy to slip up witht he router and ram through wood you didn't want to take out.

One idea. Someone else probably has a better one.

BKH

Scott,
The router is a good idea but may be more than you really need to make the lap joint cutout. I'd stick with the saw kerfs and then finish it off with a chisel.

Here are some antique tools I am using to rebuild the stringers: Level, block plane, tool to measure angels and a scribing device similiar to a compass:



Headed out to the garage for about six hours of work.

scott

Frank,

Taking a break. Read what I told Pete two posts above. I used my new plunge router. Set two scrap boards level with the top of the beam as a guide for the bottom of the router to run on, plunged it down until it hit the top of the beam and then went down another 5/8th inch for the thickness of the plywood I am using, turned it on and cut out the area in question then used my block plane pictured, chisel and sander to make it perfect. Will post a picture soon.

RE: If you drip epoxy resin somewhere, don't think you can pick it up later. I did this and now have to grind for thirty minutes removing what I spilled.

Here is what I accomplished today:

This is a picture of the notch I cutout of the the beam, one in front and one in back



Here are the secondary stringers. They are not glassed in yet. I still have cross supports to install and another piece beside the exhaust hole. I also have to put the gas tank support piece on the top rear of the stringer:





Need all inputs. Have not heard from a bunch of you guys in a while.

Thanks,

scott

Bevel square.

Scott,

It looks like you're doing a good job. I notice there is still quite a bit of "color" in the bilge and I can't tell from the pictures if you glassed over it a little bit. That "color" is the pigmented resin that was talked about earlier in this thread. Make sure you aren't glassing over that as it won't adhere well. I just took the approach of grinding it off all the way to the center on mine, just to be safe.

Are you wrapping the entire stringers with glass? If so, they seem pretty squared off. You're probably going to want to round over the edges with a router. The glass lays easier on a radius than a 90.

WakeSlayer wrote: srbranum wrote: 81nautique wrote: Bevel square. ??????? I suspect Alan was telling you what one of your antique tools is called. It is the two piece flat one he is referring to.

Sliding bevel square:

srbranum wrote: So Frank, tell me more about these drain holes. I will look at my old stringer but I believe there was one on each side. Because I am pretty dumb, can you explain how to keep the water from going back in the holes to get to the secondaries? I could make it to where they would drain but the idea is to keep water out of the secondary areas, correct? Is there a plug you remove each time you finish for the day and put it back in when I take the boat out again? Also, I saw on the BFN rebuild that they appeared to have colored the last coat of epoxy/fiberglass gray on the primary stringers. Do I have to color mine but I don't see why since the only time they would see the sun is when I open the engine cowling to take out or put in the drain plug? If I color the bilge area, maybe it should match? Let me know what you think. Thanks scott

I am not certain what your plan is - foam or no foam. I am not foaming as I am a firm believer that to preserve wood you need to let it dry. To accomplish this my removable panel behind the engine goes the full width of the boat not just the width of the primary stringers and I intend to remove it every winter to allow the sub-floor materials to dry out. The plan on the rebuild is not to try to keep the water out but to seal up the wood well and allow for any water to make it to the bilge of the boat. To accomplish this I cut drainage slots on the bottom side of the stringer. You can see them on this picture at the water pickups and close to the ski pylon.



My slots are only about an inch in height. The length is not as critical but my rear is long enough to miss the thickened area around the water pick ups and allow for an easier tape job.

Water in the bilge isn't a big problem but wood and epoxy constantly exposed to it is. Seal your wood up well to mitigate water intrusion. Please realize that epoxy itself will absorb water. Most are weight tests of a submerged piece before and after. Although typically less than 1/10th of a percent in a 24 hour period you will have even less if the water can get out.

FrankT

Pete,

I sent this same message to andy(okieboarder). Why do I think I am leaving something off or missing something? I expect to have both primaries and secondaries in place within two weeks leaving only the floor and carper and the engine which all seems easy compared to what I have been doing. If you look at what I am doing, is it the right thing to do? Have spent $1050 so far and I can expect about another $1000.

scott

Scott,

Some things I see that are different is you didn't grind as much of the boat as I did. I also notice your stringers seem smaller and less complicated. As Frank said, fillets. I did fillets on mine. I don't see any other differences off hand.

Scott,
I'll back up Tim here that you need to slow down, read some other threads thoroughly as well as this one. Comments like Chris's above have been made but you seem to miss them at times.