Building a livewell

[Bill]

Thinking of building a shallow/long livewell that I can cast off of Instead of having a 30 gal tank that takes up a lot of space.... thinking 1/2 ply will do it and I know I need to round the corners out. just thinking of ways to round the glass out .. cut a 5 gal bucket into 4 parts? ideas appreciated or if you have built one let me know

 

[CEShawn]

This is a project I want to take on this winter or early spring so will look forward to see pictures.

I just ended up buying a Kodiak livewell to get me through the rest of the season. I'd think about going fancy, have an inverted U channel type lip to grab the water so it doesn't slosh around and in the corners maybe try to put in a way to circulate water rather than just dumping it in.

The worst part about some custom livewell's is the sloshing around of water on deck, case and example why I just bought a small one this year. I do not want to be out in Cape Cod Bay having water all over my deck from my 55 gallon drum cut down. Not only do my feet get wet (do not like always wearing boots as I think they can be a safety issue) but also its landing all over the deck hatches which are secure but its just not good seamanship. Never mind if your feet get wet now, its freaking cold water.

In my past boat H&H 40 we had a pretty good setup but wasn't dry. It was a carolina style box in the back, one I'd like to repeat. Corners were not rounded on the inside but this thing was huge, I think we could fit 400lbs of ice in it, might have had some insulation. It had some nice touches, it had thru-hulls going through the top and draining water naturally outside. It also had a small lip aroudn the bottom, almost like a cut out for your toes, so you could get really close to the back of the transom, toes under this rail also gave you stability while stand up fishing. In the corner of this was a typical drain plug found on a skiff to drain the water. I wish I had good pictures of this.

I wonder if you would want to make it out of some foam material instead of plywood, was just looking at one forget the trade name but also would give it insulation, so if it wasn't used for a livewell can double as ice storage, etc.

I've been thinking about ordering some of stuff from Jamestown Distributors to get practicing for some projects...

 

[Bill]

Thanks Sean.. Ya Im not sure if I am going to build a mold out of the box that I make and then turn a glass box out of it or if I am going to just round out the corners of the box and glass it tight..in terms of getting the water direction right .I think ill just get one (or 2) of these attwood spray manifolds..for the overboard Ill do the 1 1/2" thruhull on the top with a short peice of hose going off the stern and a drain plug on the bottom of it to drain.

 

[steveinak]

Build it out of that yellow foam they use for insulating roofs instead of plywood. Pin it together with dowels, sand the corners round & glass over it. I had a box on my Henriques built out of 2" foam, it was 8'x4'x3' it think i used to get 1800lbs of weakfish in it with slush ice.

 

[Bill]

thanks Steve.. you dont have a pic of that well or that insulation do you?

 

[MDI45]

Bill,when you buy the insulation...make sure it has a silver foil over the foam...if not the resin eats right through it

 

[steveinak]

Bill,when you buy the insulation...make sure it has a silver foil over the foam...if not the resin eats right through it

I also used some that had a black or brown paper on one side, pulled the paper off and it was ready to glass to. I think its urethane foam.

 

[steveinak]

thanks Steve.. you dont have a pic of that well or that insulation do you?

Here's a couple of the box on deck, i think i have a piece of the foam down in the barn i'' look tomorrow and see if it says anything on it. Looking at these old pictures reminds me why my carpnal tunnel is so bad !
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[steveinak]

Bill,when you buy the insulation...make sure it has a silver foil over the foam...if not the resin eats right through it

Does Pete still have that box?

 

[Bill]

Ok so about the foam.. I have never built anything with it.. I get the idea but not sure how to work it with the foil? how is the glass and resin gonna sit on that? if the resin eats through it how do they make surfboards etc? What I am thinking is that I cut out the 2" foam to the proper dimensions and if the foil isthe way to go then I suppose I should tape the exposed foil with HVAC tape? then spray glue the chop strand mat on there to hold it on the foil.. we it out inside and out.. let that dry..then take some formica and form the round corners that I want..wax those up and then glass the corners.. remove the formica and then fill the voids in the corners with spray foam and then make the top in the similar fashion? then add the fittings etc?.. just taking a guess, let me know what you guys think

 

[El Mar]

Use blue foam, no backing then use epoxy. No eating of the foam.

 

[steveinak]

Ok so about the foam.. I have never built anything with it.. I get the idea but not sure how to work it with the foil? how is the glass and resin gonna sit on that? if the resin eats through it how do they make surfboards etc? What I am thinking is that I cut out the 2" foam to the proper dimensions and if the foil isthe way to go then I suppose I should tape the exposed foil with HVAC tape? then spray glue the chop strand mat on there to hold it on the foil.. we it out inside and out.. let that dry..then take some formica and form the round corners that I want..wax those up and then glass the corners.. remove the formica and then fill the voids in the corners with spray foam and then make the top in the similar fashion? then add the fittings etc?.. just taking a guess, let me know what you guys think

Pull the foil off! then you'll have 2 good sides to glass to. I'd bet if you cut the foam into narrow strips you could make the round shape for the ends, make a form for the foam out of masonite lay in the pieces of foam glass one side then flip it over and glass the other side. Sort of like making a barrel.

 

[Crabman]

Bill, if you are building a livewell strong enough to stand on with round corners, build it out of plywood and radius the corners with kerf cuts. I do this all the time. It's fast and easy if you have a tablesaw.









Cut your bottom and top out of plywood to shape. Cut plywood pieces the height of the sides so the kerf cut will run with the grain for ease of bending. Rabbet the inside top and bottom of the sides the thickness of the patterned top and bottom. Cut a sample piece to see how deep to cut the kerf and how many cuts you need for the bend. Wetting the outside of the plywood will soften the skin and produce less cracks. Small fractures do not matter because the fiberglass will give you your strength. Test fit and join seams of sides with blocking plates and screws. When fit is right, mix some filler to mayo consistency and smooze it in the kerf. Bend the radius filled with filler slowly so it will ooze out and not crack the outer skin. Allow it to setup and then glass. It will be strong as hell.

Tough to write, easy to do. PM if necessary and I'll give you my number.

PS: That's not air in the glass, it is light sanding.

 

[El Mar]

Nice work!!

Epoxy or poly??

 

[Bill]

Crabman.. that nice work buddy.. never done that before..
thanks ya I was just thinking of doing something like that to begin with.. not looking to reinvent anything although empty weight is an issue on the mooring with my scuppers so close to the water line.. i might be screwed as it is but I really want to do something different..

 

[Bill]

Use blue foam, no backing then use epoxy. No eating of the foam.

El mar..off the topic.. have you still been looking at boats? how itchy are you?

 

[Bill]

Bill, if you are building a livewell strong enough to stand on with round corners, build it out of plywood and radius the corners with kerf cuts. I do this all the time. It's fast and easy if you have a tablesaw.

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Cut your bottom and top out of plywood to shape. Cut plywood pieces the height of the sides so the kerf cut will run with the grain for ease of bending. Rabbet the inside top and bottom of the sides the thickness of the patterned top and bottom. Cut a sample piece to see how deep to cut the kerf and how many cuts you need for the bend. Wetting the outside of the plywood will soften the skin and produce less cracks. Small fractures do not matter because the fiberglass will give you your strength. Test fit and join seams of sides with blocking plates and screws. When fit is right, mix some filler to mayo consistency and smooze it in the kerf. Bend the radius filled with filler slowly so it will ooze out and not crack the outer skin. Allow it to setup and then glass. It will be strong as hell.

Tough to write, easy to do. PM if necessary and I'll give you my number.

PS: That's not air in the glass, it is light sanding.

Where do you get your filler an resin from? just curious.. trying to build a good list of suppliers that people have had good luck with...also on those radius corners how deep do those kerf cuts go? what did you build there? is it chop strand and then tape on the seams? how many oz?

 

[El Mar]

El mar..off the topic.. have you still been looking at boats? how itchy are you?

Always looking, would like to find a DE in the 36 foot range. What I have now serves me very well so no rush.

If the right deal came along I would be motivated.

I like the idea of this boat, minus the long cockpit overhang and would rig it out more for offshore fishing.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...nits=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=74754&url=

Price is a whole 'nother issue. LOL

 

[Bill]

Always looking, would like to find a DE in the 36 foot range. What I have now serves me very well so no rush.

If the right deal came along I would be motivated.

I like the idea of this boat, minus the long cockpit overhang and would rig it out more for offshore fishing.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...nits=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=74754&url=

Price is a whole 'nother issue. LOL

Ya I hear you boss.. lots of money involved..I really cant stand those overhangs LOL..I would bring a sawsall with me

 

[Crabman]

Thanks for the compliments. This is not rocket science. It's really pretty easy IF you have a decent tablesaw.

The kerf cuts are placed on the inside of the radius. The cuts are almost through the plywood. Less than an 1/8" more than a 1/16". You really have to take a piece of scrap from ply you are using and make some test cuts to see how bendable your ply is. Again works much better if you cut parallel to the grain. Unfortunately, the cutting the kerf with the grain on plywood usually results in a four foot piece. I have made kerf cuts perpendicular but it results in more cracking and splintering. That's not a bad and can be controlled with wetting the outer skin of the plywood. Bottom line, get a piece of plywood. Cut a four to five inch strip, two feet long and put it along side the blade your tablesaw. Raise the blade until you're almost through. Cut kerfs about 3/8 to 1/2" perpendicular to the 4" width and try to bend it. If it bends great, if not dampen the outer ply and see if it bends. If it doesn't the kerf has to be deeper.

Fillers, you can use them or not. You will see even with out fillers, when fiberglassed inside and out, it's strong. I used to make high end speaker boxes and they wanted no chance of vibration, so I filled them. I used anything from bondo to epoxy with microballons.

Rabbets, you can use them or not. If you want something you can dance on, a rabbeted edge could give it to you. Again, depends how deep you want to go. The fiberglass makes this type of construction real strong.

How I fiberglassed this leaning post. I knocked the edges with a random orbital sander than used 3/4 mat and light cloth, polyester resin, viola.