Plexiglass bulkhead???

[Yak-a-Lou]

I'm giving serious consideration to adding bulkheads and hatches to my Walden Scout. I did a search and read what I could find.

Pretend that I'm allergic to minicell foam. What other material might I use?

I wonder about a heavy duty plexiglass. I've also wondered about the plastic that I could cut off of an old torn up ice chest.

I have a flex ruler, cardboard, and sealant ready to go. I have decent woodworking skills (bookshelves, not cabinets) and a decent shop set up. All I need is to decide on the actual material and a day off. I ALWAYS need a day off. http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif


Other question: Best sealant/adhesive?

Thanks in advance!

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums?s=418607442&a=ga&ul=9326093643

[Yak-a-Lou]

I'm giving serious consideration to adding bulkheads and hatches to my Walden Scout. I did a search and read what I could find.

Pretend that I'm allergic to minicell foam. What other material might I use?

I wonder about a heavy duty plexiglass. I've also wondered about the plastic that I could cut off of an old torn up ice chest.

I have a flex ruler, cardboard, and sealant ready to go. I have decent woodworking skills (bookshelves, not cabinets) and a decent shop set up. All I need is to decide on the actual material and a day off. I ALWAYS need a day off. http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif


Other question: Best sealant/adhesive?

Thanks in advance!

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums?s=418607442&a=ga&ul=9326093643

[No name]

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_razz.gif Or should I say Ben Over http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_razz.gif First Plexi glass comes in differnt typs hard, soft, tempered. Fiber glass ? no,- Poly pro? yes, -Nylon? yes,-First whats going in the hattch ? How Big? And the Biggie [ WHY ]?????? http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_confused.gif Sealints have been discussed a lot, For me its Marine GOOP Once cured its the best in-under- around- water on any and all plastics,metal this stuff sticks, Lexel is also another one being used with sucess, Silicone Is OUT as far as Im concerened unless you want some thing that will peel off of poly very easy its ok, its great for electrical STUFF, , If you need a small to med hatch talk to JON or JOEY before you sink your yak BillW

Here to help and learn my word is fact /not/ fiction

[Yak-a-Lou]

Thanks for the response BillW.

The Scout, which is a SIK, has a built in cooler on the stern. It's about 7" deep. It's existence makes it nearly impossible to store anything in the stern. Nothing over 8" long will fit back there and go below deck. I may as well seal it off and increase floatation. If I do it would make sense to add a hatch to access the area behind the cooler. In fact I added the hatch since I wrote the above request for info. Nothing to it. I used goop with stainless bolts, washers and nuts with the nylon inserts. It was NOT easy to use a jigsaw on my kayak but I got over it. Did a right fine job of it too. Pro-quality if i may say so myself (which I will).

I'm aware that plexiglass comes in different types. I have a good sized piece of tempered 1/4" stock in the shop and if I use it my cost for this project is minimized. (2 hatches @ $14 and two tubes of Goop. Whereas the plexigalss is clear (though scratched) I'd be able to look through it to see if I've left anything in the bow or stern. Recently I lost a pelican case in the stern for two months. Inside was my GPS and Smartcast. The box was jammed up between the side of thekayak and the cooler. It stayed there through several hundred highway miles and to washings. Recovered in perfect condition.

Can you tell me more about PolyPro?
More about specifically what nylon product you're talking about?
Advantages/disadvantages over the plexiglass? Reasons not to use plexiglass?
Availability of other products?

Adding a hatch to the bow will be more challenging and may be ill advised. The bow angles down slightly from it's apex making approximately a 1/4" drop in three inches from center measured toward port or starboard. How much difference might this make when installing a 4-6" hatch?

Any help is appreciated. Sorry for being a PITA.

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums?s=418607442&a=ga&ul=9326093643

[Scott]

I think if you're going to add such a rigid bulkhead, that some consideration for flexing will have ot be worked in. I'd consider a "gasket" all around the bulkhead. Like lay down a thick bead of goop all the way around and let it cure, then place the bulkehead inside the goop. This would allow some give and take. The bulkheads I've seen have had some type of edging to allow flex. That's about the extent of my knwoledge. Scott

Yak, Yak, Yak...is that all I do?

Changed for the betterment of the board!!!!!

[Yak-a-Lou]

That's an interesting point Scott. That may be a good reason not to use the plexiglass. The thicker stuff has no flex and the thinner stuff will crack if over-flexed. After reading your thoughts I went and stood on my kayak to check the flex. There is none.

The Scout is more rigid than most plastic yaks because of the material that it's made of. It's a foamy (bouyant) composite coated with an outter shell of plastic. In most spots it's about 1/2" thick. I stood on my bow without bending it. When I bounced up and down a little I may have been bending it 1/16" or so. It's barely notable. I weigh 175#. uh.... (Ok, truth time... #178 because we went and ate a huge dinner last night. oink!)

The only example I have to look at is my wife's OK Pro 129. Her bulkheads are constructed of the same plastic that the boat is made of. They're rigid but allow some bendability if they need to I suppose. No way I'd stand on her bow. She'd punch me in the nose.

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums?s=418607442&a=ga&ul=9326093643

[No name]

Plexy glass not flex, unless its untempered .pre shrounk is brettle , Pol Pro is short for what your yak is made of,Hatches in a sit in why ?? Nylon lets say white plastic , To seal off a front or rear compartment, I don't know it kind of limits what you can store. and the yak flexing It will have to be a heck of a bulkhead plus you losse floatation when you put STUFF in there, Then again good luck if its what you want, They laughed at NOAH to But if he were around Now Id be going aboard for the week end at least [Isabel] stay safe and afloat, BillW

Here to help and learn my word is fact /not/ fiction

[Ricky]

Here are the plastics that MSC stocks: abs,acetal (delrin), acrylic, cab (butyrate), noryl,(ppo) nylon, pbt (polyester), peek, pei (ultem), pet, petg, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, pvc,cpvc, pvdf (kynar), ptfe (teflon), and 3 polyethylenes of different molecular weights.
These materials are offered in sheets and rods. They also have lots of rubber compounds, foams etc.

[ralphfr]

RICKY - Can you supply more info on this company? PHONE/URL? I would like to find some sheet polyethylene. Thanks.

Ralph

[JimW]

What's the point of this? Why don't you want to use 3 inch minicell which is more or less an industry standard for this purpose and perfectly satisfactory? Granted it's not cheapest, but it's easy to install and will do the job with little worry about failure or damage to the yak.

[Yak-a-Lou]

JimW,

You're right. I was just exploring options out loud. Already had a sheet of plexiglass at the house and wouldn't have had to order anything or wait for it to arrive. Just bein stupid I guess.

S'ok. Got my head screwed on straight again.

Thanks for the replies.

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums?s=418607442&a=ga&ul=9326093643

[Ricky]

MSC 1-800-645-7270 Here is the link click this link to go directly to the MSC site. http://www.msc-direct.com/
They ship your order 2 day and only charge for surface ! Ask for The big book, (hard cover, full size book over 3 inches thick), it is free !This book is also on disk. They will send you that version if you ask. They have everything you need to make anything ! This book is heavy !
I need a hoist just to get it up into my lap !!
It is over 4600 pages, the first 150 are just drill bits. On the high dollar items you may be able to dicker with them on prices. This company is not cheap but they are real good on selection, and customer service.

[JimW]

That's what I figured Lou. Problem with winging this one is that if you are using the bulkhead for flotation it could get ugly at some point if for some reason you didn't anticipate, the whole thing fails.

If you're dying to use plexiglass I would make a gasket of foam maybe two icnhes thick and wide, kerfed to accept a slightly undersized panel (glue it in), and then friction fit into yak and sealed from both edges with 5200, lexel, goop, sili cauk. You start with a template that's fit to the location and trim that to compensate for the gasket thickness. Foam needs to be closed cell but you could laminate cheap stuff like camp pads or whatever you find.

[ralphfr]

Appreciate the info on MSC.

I was assuming YAKALOU wanted the bulkhead for dry storage. If it's just for flotation why not just set up a rope/net bulkhead and fill it with a flotation bag and some beach balls. Then you still have the flexibility to store something long inside the hull. JMHO.

Ralph

[Flypaint]

Another option for the bow instead of installing a hatch and bulkhead is to use flotation bags that double as storage bags and are made for that purpose.The outer layer inflates and the inner layer works like a drybag.

Relax, have fun, it's only fishing!