I started building the hard bimini with the FRP panels from Home Depot after speaking to the guys at Jamestown Distributors.
Day 1 assembled the bits - MAS epoxy, 2x6s sheet of plywood, foam core, glass cloth, and 2 4x8 sheets of FRP panel from Home Depot to use as skins. Took a 2x6 to the boat and clamped it to the existing frame and marked the curve. Realized that a 2x6 was not wide enough. Cut the 2x6, screwed 'extensions' on the end so they were 2x12, clamped it to the rail. Cut the rest of the curve. Verified that the 2 bows had the same curve and repeated the process. Then came the evil FRP. It has a bubble finish on one side that needed to be sanded. This stuff is hard as a rock and creates a fine white powder that goes everywhere. You MUST wear a mask! It also consumes sandpaper. I got frustrated with 80 grit, so tried 60. 80 was marginally better. Did the sanding on the garage floor. Spent more time on my knees than a cheap hooker. Set aside the FRP and screwed the sheet of plywood to the 2x6s to get the shape. Realized I was short of foam, so I cut about a 48 x 5 inch piece of 1/4 inch PVC sheet. MAS sticks to PVC, unlike West. Day 2 - part 1. Trimmed the excess off to get the size to its proper size 48 by 76. Cut G10 into squares for the attachment points as recommended by Jamestown distributors. Cut holed in the foam core sheets for the G10 to fit in. Measured distance from the edges. Did the layup of bottom FRP panel, glass cloth and foam. Epoxied in the G10. Will add more epoxy, cloth and the top FRP panel tomorrow night. Right now it is fairly flexible. I'm hoping it stiffens as I go. The good news is that if my measurements are slightly off it won't matter. Photos of intial work: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jQwPE06SOaWaLx-EAU-yQpnJv5BP0UwU?usp=sharing -- Joel 301 541 8551
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