I've finally got around to testing the MultiPanel sample that I have had sitting in my shop for the past few months. A very light weight foam building material it is fully compatible with epoxies and other commonly found products used in boat building and repair. MultiPanel is a closed cell foam and is completely non hydroscopic, in fact if you pour water on it it just runs right off. Although the information on the website says that you can paint right over the top of the panel I suspect that most users will find the panels most useful as a core material with epoxy and glass or at least with some other surface material attached.
My first surprise was how easy it is to machine and work. It can be cut with standard woodworking tools and with a fine tungsten blade the machined edge is near perfect. I was also expecting there to be clouds of dust but this was not the case at all. Many foam materials produce a lot of static when machined and cut which soon covers everything but this did not happen with the Multipanel.
As an initial experiment I glued some oak veneer to a sample. The veneer I was using was of the pre glued iron on type so I warmed the panel with a hot air gun and pressed the veneer into place.While the glue was still warm I placed it into vacuum bag using my handy vacuum food sealer and allowed it to set up for about 15 minutes.
After removing from the bag I trimmed the edges one the table saw and as you can see the cut was perfect with no splintering of either the oak or the panel. The oak could now be finished with varnish or other coating as desired. ( Click on the images to make them larger)
Of course this is just a preliminary test and I have other techniques that I am trying out. It is possible to thermoform the Multi Panel. Basically after heating in an oven the panel becomes very pliable allowing it to be either free formed or set over a former and allowed to cure. I could see that this would be a great way of forming such items as curved bunk fronts and other items aboard. I must confess that I did try to use the heat gun to soften a small panel and although I did get it to bend a little I was unable to generate enough heat in the whole panel to get it to bend easily. But far from being a disappointment I was actually quite excited, the panel did not catch fire even when exposed to the extreme heat of the hot air gun and heat transfer to the other side of the half inch panel was minimal indicating to me that the Multi Panel would be a very good insulator when used us a core for bulkheads and such like.
I'll bring you an update and some pictures after I have successfully bent a panel or two but I feel very encouraged with the progress of my initial investigations. I could see that the Multi Panel may make an excellent material for many structural components, very light and at the same time very stiff. I am seriously considering using it for the bulkheads in the the new boat I am working on. The more weight I can cut out of the boat the better as this will enable me to use a smaller motor which in turn equals less fuel.
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