FWIW, this prompted me to take a look at the book "Heart of Glass: Fiberglass boats and the men who made them": and some info on Balsa is on p122,
"Balsa Core. The Baltek Corporation was the exclusive supplier to powerboat builders of balsa planks for stiffening hull sides and bottoms. When balsa was originally supplied in lengths with the grain running longitudinally, Pearson had problems with water migrating away from the point of entry at the deck hardware fasteners, causing delamination. Everett Perason recalls that "We were using pieces 3 feet long by 1/2 inch thick by 2 inches wide. We had some leaks at the fittings, which didn't make any sense. So I started stacking this stuff up and cutting it on the bandsaw and making end-grain balsa. I was doing that on Constitution Street when Alex Lippay and Bob Levine came in from Baltek. They said "What are you doing". I sadi "I got to turn this stuff the other way to stop the water from spreading. They said "Jeez, this is what we should be doing." I said "You're right". That's how Contourkore started. They took the end-grain idea and made samples that we evaluated. They came up with a method of putting scrim on it and so forth. In hindsight, I should have applied for a patent. I think we were probably one of the first to use Contourkore, as early as 1963 in a race boat hull. THe new product was brought to market in 1963 and 1964, with Pearson as one of the its first few users and most vocal supporters. Indeed, in 1981, Pearson sank a 2-square-foot basl cored panel in Narragansett Bay, attached by change to his dock. After three years he removed the panel from the water and had it analyzed. The results? No water penetrated the balso more than 4 mils." Best, Lisle On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 4:23 PM CHARLES SCHEAFFER via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > "Balsa core" gets some bad press and I was interested in how it came into > boating, especially C&Cs. > > After some research, I learned: > Making things with a core was first used by Egyptians three thousand years > ago. Veneers of precious wood over a core of cheaper wood extended the use > of precious materials. The practice was lost in the middle ages and > re-imagined in the 1700's when furniture makers wanted to make things from > scarce woods. > > Later in the 1920's and 30's, balsa core was being harvested in Equador > by a French company trying to market it in France in the 20's and 30's. > The Jewish French owners fled the Nazi takeover and emigrated to the US. > Their balsa was later used by DeHaviland in England to build the famous > Mosquito two engine bombers in 1941. Dehavilland built over 7700 of these > 400+ mph planes using two Spitfire engines each. They used a plywood > vaneer over an endgrain balsa core. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTsnMKzmdWs&t=613s > > The balsa industry lost a market after WWII but in the 70's, they > convinced fiberglass boat builders to use balsa core and Hatteras > sportfishing yachts were their first big client. Almost all boat builders > eventually started using balsa soon after, including C&C, Pearson, Santana, > Cape Dory, Columbia, Catalina, Hunter, Olsen, Saber, Schock, J-Boats, > Beneteau, Jeanneau, as well as all the power boat builders, too. > https://www.company-histories.com/Baltek-Corporation-Company-History.html > > Core comparisons: > > https://www.cruisingworld.com/how/inner-layer-core-materials-sailboat-construction/ > > I personally think C&C did an industry leading job to perfect the process > using fiberglass and balsa core to build a lightweight and strong > structure, but that is better covered by John Kelly Cuthbertson or others > with more personal knowledge. > > > Chuck Scheaffer, Resolute, 1989 C&C 34R, Annapolis > > > Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with > the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks > - Stu
Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
