lightwieght decking

[jetmech]

I am looking to purchase a flatbottom boat and do the deck mod to it and saw that most people use wood which is heavy. I am in aviation and thought it would be cool to use some honeycomb floor boards from an aircraft.. I have the oppoutunity to get some floor boards from an aircraft that is being scrapped. I will measure them today but i looked at them yesterday and they seem about 18 inches across by 4-5 feet long. Would anyone be interested in using these as an alternative to heavy wood. A piece this long probably only wieghs a couple pounds. The only down side is you would have to use multiple pieces to build your decking but it would all get covered up by the carpet. Let me know if interested as i am going to get at least 10-15 of them for my future prodjet. thanks.

 

[linehand]

Where are you located?

 

[jetmech]

i live in the Kankakee Il. area (manteno) but it work in the Northwest indiana area

 

[JMichael]

What are these honeycomb boards made of that makes them so light? Any ideas on what shipping something like that might run? Got any pictures of any of it? Oh, and what's the thickness on it?

 

[jetmech]

I ended up not working yesterday and have today off. Im hoping tomorrow after work to get a coupld floor boards out.. They are made up of a lightweight honeycomb material sandwiched inbetween a layer of fiberglass. These are floorboards from an old airline aircraft that is no longer in service. Im thinking they are around 3/8 of an inch thick. Hope to have some pics by tomorrow night.

For the mods, I see you have rules on posting here for under 25 posts. If you wish to remove this that is ok. I just starting getting into fishing this year and am thing of buying a flat bottom boat and found this website thru youtube. I saw everyone uses heavy plywood and since im in aviation and i have the oppoutunity to get some light weight floor boards i thought i would see if anyone is interested in using these. Thanks

 

[Bugpac]

It looks more like it should be in the forum not the classifieds, you cant sell something you dont yet have.

 

[jetmech]

Thats cool, I wasnt sure where to post it. Hoping to have 3-5 boards off by tomorrow night. Hopefully to have some pics then too. I think these would work out great putting then front to back and probably 3 across. I will post pics, sizes, weights, and i will get some shipping costs as soon as possible..

 

[jetmech]

Ok i pulled 3 floor boards out today after work, 2 are 7 ft long by 19.5 " wide by 3/8" thick. Each one of these weighed in at 8lbs. the other one is 9ft3" long by 19.5 inches wide. I didnt weigh it but probably 9 lbs. Is there anyone doing a deck mod that is willing to try these out at a 25% discount. I live in the chicagoland area (south kankakee area) but if someone wants me to ship them a stack of them i can look into shipping them. Maybe even cut them down to someones specks so the box is not so long. Remember these are floor boards that you walk on when you get in an airplane. Also these are flat on both sides so laying them on your aluminum channel would work great. I will add a pic later tonight

 

[jetmech]

Here is a pic of 1 sitting on a table

 

[JMichael]

It's hard to tell much about it from that pic but it looks like it's got a double layer running down both edges. What material are they made of?

 

[jetmech]

Yes. I took a look at the boards and they are a layer of fiberglass resin with a paper type material in the middle that is coated with a resin substance. If someone has there structure built i would be willing to send out a board so you can try it out. I can cut it down to 4-5 feet to cut shipping cost down too.

 

[jetmech]

Is anyone willing to give these a try. I looked up similar boards that 3m sells and these are very similar. I know they are only 19.5 inches wide but puting 3 together, maybe fiberglassing the joints and after carpet you wouldn't know you had 3 boards to make a front deck. I am willing to send someone 3 boards if you will pay for the shipping. I dont have a boat at this time, or i would definatley be using these instead of heavy plywood. Let me know if you are willing to try these out. Thanks

 

[kabuti]

Hi, we would like to try some on our boat. Let us know what shipping would be to Fresno, ca. 93727 Thanks

 

[shawnfish]

Hi, we would like to try some on our boat. Let us know what shipping would be to Fresno, ca. 93727 Thanks

X2 let me know the price...omaha, ne

 

[jetmech]

Ok i have one person that contacted me yesterday(lefty) in the boat mod section. I gave him a price to ship all 3(if he needs all 3) to him. If he wants these 3 then when i get more i will be selling these for 25 dollars a board plus shipping. Let me finish dealing with lefty and definatly have more next week.

 

[jetmech]

I will be shipping a few out to lefty probably on monday. I took a 26 inch piece of the floorboard and supported the ends by 2 small step ladders and stood on it and it had about a 1/4 inch of flex and this is without the edges supported. In the airplane they are supported on the edges and every 19.5 inches in the middle. Me and lefty believe these are going to work out great. So far i have 12 boards with 3 going to lefty to try and post up pictures and a report of how they worked for him. If he likes them he wants 4 more. Im hoping by the end of next week I will be able to get about 20 more. If you dont want to wait for leftys report and want to purchase some they are are going to be 25 dollars a board plus shipping charges. I have boards in the 5 ft to 7 ft range, I did have a couple 8 and 9 footers but had to cut them down to just over 7 ft to fit in my tahoe. Thanks.

 

[lefty]

Dry fit the boards last night (before cutting) and i have to say i am impressed. Little to no flex. Span was 24 inches. I will post pictures of the install after christmas.

My only unknown is the cut edges and fastening method.

Cut edges show the inner workings of the honeycomb. The factory edges are sealed. although the inside appears to be resin coated. I am going to seal it up with some heavy duty silicone after i make my cuts.

Fastening with a normal screw i assume will crush the material and not have the "bite" that normal plywood would give. It looks like the used a washer/sleeve system in the airplane(some of them are still there) i will try a thin fender washer im think it will work just fine.
Check my build if you'd like ALUMACRAFT 1448MV. in the conversions forum. Ill post pics after christmas.

 

[jetmech]

Sounds very good. Yes in the airplane they have a largearea countersunk washer on the board that goes down into a nut plate(a nut that is encased in a small bracket that is riveted to the support brace, but I think your on the right track with just a large area waher maybe countersunk(dimpled) and a countersunk screw to your structure. Depending on this snow storm we may get here i am going back either tomorrow or sunday to get alot more boards..

 

[jetmech]

I have 45 boards available for purchase in the For sale section of this site for those that are interested. Thanks

 

[kabuti]

I sent you a p.m.didn't see a for sale section on here tho. Dan