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Hippie459MN wrote:Whats the cost difference on that vs standard core? I thought about going with that as well to avoid any future rot but Im not sure what I am going to do just yet.

I have not completed my research on all products avaliable but have a few comparisons. I have coosa , corecell and Nidacore. I am have run into a dead end on Diab products which makes divinycell and kegecell. Diab refered me to Paxton distributers in Norfolk Va. so I visited them this week to only find out that they didn't do retail sales and no body there realy had any knoledge of the products except pricing. They refered me to Norfolk marine and I found out there they had only a catalog and no knowledge on the products. that put me back at square 1. I haven't given up yet ,I e-mailed my contact at Diab telling him my experience and i just got a response saying I can buy direct from them and wants to answer any questions I have. Nidacore also refered me to a suply house in Norfolk called Eastern burlap and trading. I was impressed with the knowledge and willingness to help although I had told him upfront I was comparing products for my small project and wasn't gonna buy anything until i had all product info that I could get. Not only did they have Nidacore but also had coosa and corecell. He gave me samples of coosa and corecell. After I told him I had heard not to use Nida HP88 as core he didn't agree telling me he supplies Fountain powerboats with this product which they use for core . I am triing to confirm that but if true I think it should work for my stream. In the Nida honycomb site there are several builders that use Hp88 for core such as Bertram and Edgewater along with a offshore racing style boat that I couldn't make out the name. He seemed not to be partial to any of the products and just wanted to help. He answered any question I had no mater how stupid it was. He did not recomend H8pp unless i doubled it to a 1 inch stringer because of the small height. He suggested I use coosa for the stringers if I wanted to maintain a 1/2 inch width. He said all of these products would do fine for the core but since i am looking for max speed i should consider wieght which would put Nida in 1st place with H8pp.
I am getting my price information from the catalog august 2009 eastern burlap. I am baseing it on 8 x16 feet area which is more than needed i think.
Coosa N1150 a 1/2 inch thick 4x8 sheets 4 sheets @114.77 =459.08 wieght 80 lbs
Corecell A500-050cs 1/2 inch thick 2x4 sheets 16 sheets@33.96=543.36 wieght 30.4 lbs ( was told it was a 15# density but i saw it as 5.7# density on corecell website this is based on 5.7# density)
Nidacore Hp88-50 1/2 inch thick 4x7 sheets 4.57 sheets @43.56=199.07 wieght 26.7 lbs.
Nidacore FP/S-50 1/2 inch thick balsa 2x4 sheets 16 sheets @20=320 wieght don't know

Good info thanks!

Does anyone know what bulsa weighs? Just as a weight comparison.

I agree, Very good info. Thank you.

I agree. I am getting close to making this same decision. The information will be useful. Thanks

I still have a couple of months to gather information before i will need to start putting the vector back together, in time for spring.I have arrange visits at a few factories to see what exactly what they are putting in boats and why they use it. I hope to get some good pics. I found a good article on composites. http://www.compositesworld.com/articales/getting-to-the-core-of-composite-laminates.aspx
Core producer Nida-Core (Port St. Lucie, Fla., U.S.A.) has recently entered the balsa market, offering Balsalite brand balsa cores at a lower cost than the competition, says Nida-Core's marketing director Jack Lugus. Two grades are offered, at 6 to 7.6 lb/ft3 and 9 to 10 lb/ft3, in rigid or scored panels, with applied facings, if desired. Balsalite is coated (as are competitor's products) to reduce resin consumption during lamination
that was out of the article

I couldn't get the link to work.

google search composite core and you should be able to see it

getting to the core of composites laminates compositeworld

77viper wrote:Good info thanks!

Does anyone know what bulsa weighs? Just as a weight comparison.

At 6lbs per qubic ft. the comparison would be 32 lbs

In the above comparison was the Coosa 80 lbs for the 4x8 sheet? So 1 4x8 sheet equals 4 - 2x4 sheets of the others or 20 lbs per 2x4 or was your weight calculation for the whole 8x16 foot area?

VultureNo2 wrote:In the above comparison was the Coosa 80 lbs for the 4x8 sheet? So 1 4x8 sheet equals 4 - 2x4 sheets of the others or 20 lbs per 2x4 or was your weight calculation for the whole 8x16 foot area?

The calculation is based on using 1/2 inch thick stock of all products to cover 128 square feet of area. (8x16)It looks like more than one density of balsa can be obtained .I am not certain about the balsa but believe i calculated its wieght at minimal.As far as the coosa board a thinner stock could possably be used therefore reducing the wieght. For example : using 1/4 inch thick coosa would drop the wieght of stock covering 128 square feet of area down to 40 lbs. bringing it close to the other products wieght for the same area.