Prisma Composites Preforms for Stringers & Bulkheads

jziegler

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Has anyone used the Prisma Composites preforms? Any comments on them. I saw these on Ship Shape TV and found their link. Check them out and watch the Ship Shape TV video. They look good but don't know of anyone who has used them.

www.preforms.com

Let me know what you all think. Joe
 

seabob4

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At Proline, we use all Prisma stringers on our boats that don't have a stringer grid mold. We also use Prisma beams to stiffen hullsides and hatches. Great company, Scott Lewitt and Mark Pigeon are excellent people!
 

richie rich

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Composite stringers are nice....but the wooden grid in your Sailfish does 2 jobs........1) it gives the boat stiffness as they all do, 2) it gives you the height for your deck and sole......you will need 11" and 16" tall stringers to keep your deck height as built.....are these that tall? And whats the cost?

To make the Sailfish stringers and bulkheads you will need about 6 sheets of 3/4 ply......if you use Meranti, thats $600.....if you use XL marine ply, thats $420.....plus 30 yards of DB700 45/45 and a roll of 12oz tape....thats $350.....so a total of $770-$950

How much are the Prisms? How will you match the exact height that varies along the hull curvature?
 

seabob4

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Richie,
For all our boats, Mark Pigeon comes over and takes detailed measurements from the hull flange on the heights needed, plus where the rigging tubes are going to be run and the location for the weep holes. This can take several visits to get the parts down correctly. So stringers are not exactly something one wants to undertake, unless some precise measurements can be provided to them.

The Prisma beams, on the other hand, are off the shelf items that work great for stiffening up large panels and are very easy to work with...
 

richie rich

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Seabob....

the Grady design for the hull JZ is looking to repair is going to be difficult if not impossible to use these off the shelf systems. These pre-formed structures are based on a box or trapezoid shape to work properly. A tall and thin glass shape without a solid core like wood or Renicell will be weak.
Grady designed that hull around 3/4 ply and glass and the landing areas under the deck and supporting the inner liner are only about an inch wide. Because they also designed in the fishboxes and water tanks, there's no room for anything wider to be put in its place. Maybe you can do it in the aft section, but that would mean 2 halves of the boat would have stringers running on different centerlines and the additional space required for these units will eat into the fuel tank area....making a 125/75 tank combination to maybe 90/45.....Plus the stock Prisma Beams don't come in the correct heights to support the liner or make bulkheads...that means you still need a wood support structure for the liner.

If this were a flats boat or shallower V and JZ was making a brand new deck/liner then you can use these on the hull and laydown your floor and take it from there, no problem....but when trying to match the Grady design and very limited space or landing area to support the liner, in my opinion the additional cost and re-engineering doesn't add up.

The original design with wood, roving and PET resin lasted 25 years....if its re-done with better wood, biax glass and epoxy, the new stringers will outlast the rest of the boat. You really have to see what's underneath the deck of that boat....it's not an easy design change.
 

seabob4

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Richie,
I understand what you are saying. The OP simply asked about the viability of using Composite preforms to achieve his desired goals, and I offered my opinion and suggested usages.

I read on this site almost daily of rotten wood in GW stringers, transoms, b/heads, etc. Structural composites have been around for years. GW needs to get in the 21st century...

Or maybe it's just the Carolina way...
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