Building with C-Flex

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Jens - 28 Apr 2006 08:21 GMT

Hello fellow boaters,

Thinking about building a couple of similar boats, i came across the C-flex
building method. This, to me, seems quite interesting. Does anyone have any
experience with this method in respect of labour involved compared to more
traditional methods and also compared to the final result considering
fairing, hull strenght, cost etc.

Living in Europe, i have been unsuccessfull finding a company who can supply
the C-Flex material. Does anyone know of a source?

Thank you for your help

jlindberg

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mike.e.worrall@abc.com - 28 Apr 2006 15:39 GMT

Jens:

I'm in the midst of building a 30 foot sailing cutter from C-flex, a
fiberglass 'planking' that consists of 1/4" diameter 'rods' (each
seperated by 1/2") held together with a fiberglass 'scrimm'. The
C-Flex is shipped on a roll of 250 feet, and is manufactured in the US
by Seemann Fiberglass of - drum roll here - New Orleans. The first
order of business may be to call Seemann at (504) 738 - 6035 and ask if
they survived Huricane Katrina.
While you have them on the phone, ask about their Eurpoean distibution
(if any).

Seemann has a publication, the 'C/Flex Construction Manual' which is
(IMHO) a pre-requisite prior to begining construction, as is (again,
MO) Ken Hankinson's 'Fiberglass Boat Building for Amateurs'.

Now, as to ease of use: Here I have no reference, as this is my first
boat building project, and - unlike some of the true craftsmen who
visit this site - my skills would likely be considered 'average'. I
found the C/Flex easy to work with, with an 'average' ammount of
fairing; see the results here:

http://www.glen-l.com/designs/sailboat2/francisdrake-notes3.html

Comaptible with epoxy, a C/Flex layup w/o chopped-strand mat will make
a *very* sound hull, and despite what others may tell you, there is
very little (if any) weight penalty (over other construction methods).

Mike Worrall
Los Angeles

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MMC - 28 Apr 2006 17:13 GMT

Beautiful job Mike!

> Jens:
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> Mike Worrall
> Los Angeles

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Jim Conlin - 29 Apr 2006 02:35 GMT

Mike-
That's the nicest a job of fairing c-flex as i've seen. How much time did
the fairing take? What do you think the hull weighs?

> Jens:
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> Mike Worrall
> Los Angeles

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mike.e.worrall@abc.com - 29 Apr 2006 22:53 GMT

Jim:

As you know, C/flex is laid up over a male mold, with no more than
about 12-18 inches between 'supports'. In my case this meant setting
up a traditional 'frames on stations' building form, then notching in
longitudinal battens, over which thin transverse 'ribbands' were
placed. This 'ribband-batten' method is described in both the
afore-mentioned publications and is where most of the attention needs
to be paid (in order to avoid tedious fairing). The C/flex planking is
then stapled to the ribbands, assuming the hull shape. So, I think
it's the time put in on the mold that's the key to a fair hull.
Fairing is never easy, but was made more so by a tool called a 'power
board', which is a modified Milwaukee 'Hole Hog' that has flexible arms
onto which one attaches hook and loop sandpaper strips. The arms
conform somewhat to the hull shape, and this made the work much easier.
If I had to do it by hand with a 'long-board' I'd have likely given
up.
As to the hull weight, I don't have an exact #. I can say that I used
about 600 lbs of glass, 600 lbs of resin/hardner (of which there was
maybe 20% waste) plus the weight of the C/flex. So, figure about 1200
- 1300 lbs.
Thanks for the kind words!

Mike Worrall
Los Angeles

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Richard Lamb - 30 Apr 2006 07:14 GMT

> Jim:
>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> Mike Worrall
> Los Angeles

Well, she is a beauty and you done real good, pilgrim.

Richard

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Boat Forum / Building / April 2006

Building with C-Flex