Quote:
Originally Posted by Chotu
Thank you. I would love to use aluminum beams. However there is a camber to the roof. How would that work? I don’t think I could get an aluminum beam with a prebuilt camber could I? I don’t know about that. Maybe I could.
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There is no reason to glass a beam up on the boat. It's not hard to make a template so you can have whatever type of beam you want made off the boat.
Fiberglass,
plywood, aluminum whatever can be done elsewhere and bolted or glued in place once completed.
In case you're not familiar with how to template a curve, a quick
Google search should pull up a ton of results with detailed videos and pictures. But here is a quick written summary:
Brace the cabintop to the correct position your plans require. Place a wide board that spans the entire length perpendicular to your roof. I typically get better results with a compass/dividers, but a joggle stick and batten may work better for that large of a span with its uniform curve. Now scribe your line to the perpendicular board and you have your template.
If you you want to make a solid
fiberglass beam, make a
cheap and simple
mold out of MDF and go at it with polyester or vinylester resin.
If you want to laminate a beam out of
plywood, transfer the template to a 2x10" or whatever radius you need, cover the edge with packing tape so you can pop it off later, and laminate the plywood directly to the
lumber. If you want aluminum, bring the template to a shop that can bend T shaped bar stock or whatever shape you want. All options can easily be Plexus adhered once completed.
Matt