>I have exhausted all local avenues for having a "plastic" tank manufactured even to the point of contacting Rocco. The problem is how do you show, in a drawing, the 3 or 4 dimentional curves of the sides and bottom to allow accurate reproduction. I don't know if this idea is practical in your application or not, but..... The captain and chef of a 120' yacht I have had a bit of association with decided a number of years ago to have the entire galley reconfigured. After tearing out the existing fixtures, cabinets, etc. and moving the major bulkheads, they mocked up the new galley counters, cabinets, exhaust canopies, etc. using foam core. This allowed them to match exactly any hull, bulkhead, etc. curves these components had to conform to. The three-dimensional foam core shapes then became the templates for the manufacturers who made the new cabinets, counters, etc. If you have good access to the area where you want your new tank, perhaps a similar method might work for you. Thin foam core can be cut and bent to conform to a compound-curve surface. The pieces can then be taped (or I suppose even glued) together. Foam core is cheap, so a "trial and error" method of getting the tank shape just right wouldn't be an expensive proposition. Once you get the foam core tank put together so it fits the way you want it to, it can then become the pattern the fabricator uses to make the actual tank. ______________________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/ms-tnef which had a name of winmail.dat]

Martin - hey ! now that is an idea that I had not thought of. I know that a number of custom fabricators use this method to duplicate weird shapes but just never thought of it in the context of my tank project. It would work quite well for me if I could only find a plastic welding firm to make the actual tank. It sucks at times being on the north side of our 49th - sometimes even wonder why it there - but there must be a company within the Lower Mainland that does plastic welding - I just have to find them. I think that I am going to drop by a couple of the boat builders in the next few days and see if one of them might have a lead. Ted - In regards to your comments regarding WEST System, I have been in contact with them at length however the technical department leaves me real uneasy with their lack of support for their product being used in a potable water tank. I suspect that they are just being cautious due to the health regulations etc and not wanting any kick back however they just make you wonder what is really in the epoxy that could harm you. I suspect that there is nothing too dangerous and that it would be negated by proper top coating as Bob has suggested. Again - thanks for the input John Tones MV Penta Sidney, BC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.7/112 - Release Date: 26/09/2005

John, you're right to be concerned about safe application of epoxy. And I think you're also right...they're probably being cautious for legal reasons. But I do know that both of the founders (Jan and Meade Gougeon) and a couple of their technical staff, have all built and installed plywood/epoxy water tanks in their own boats. I should probably disclose that in another lifetime, I was director of marketing for Gougeon Brothers...I know the company well, and an enormous amount of respect for their products and their technical expertise. Ted > -----Original Message----- > From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com [mailto:trawlers- > and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of John & Judy Tones > Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 1:26 PM > To: Faure, Marin > Cc: trawler list > Subject: Re: T&T: Water Tanks > > Martin - hey ! now that is an idea that I had not thought of. I know that > a > number of custom fabricators use this method to duplicate weird shapes but > just never thought of it in the context of my tank project. It would work > quite well for me if I could only find a plastic welding firm to make the > actual tank. It sucks at times being on the north side of our 49th - > sometimes even wonder why it there - but there must be a company within > the > Lower Mainland that does plastic welding - I just have to find them. I > think > that I am going to drop by a couple of the boat builders in the next few > days and see if one of them might have a lead. > > Ted - In regards to your comments regarding WEST System, I have been in > contact with them at length however the technical department leaves me > real > uneasy with their lack of support for their product being used in a > potable > water tank. I suspect that they are just being cautious due to the health > regulations etc and not wanting any kick back however they just make you > wonder what is really in the epoxy that could harm you. I suspect that > there > is nothing too dangerous and that it would be negated by proper top > coating > as Bob has suggested. > > Again - thanks for the input > > John Tones MV Penta > Sidney, BC > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.7/112 - Release Date: 26/09/2005 > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering > > To unsubscribe send email to > trawlers-and-trawlering-request@lists.samurai.com with the word > UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message. > > Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World > Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

<but there must be a company within the Lower Mainland that does plastic welding - I just have to find them.> Try PolySystems - a div. of BC Silo & Tank Ltd in Vancouver or environs...1-800-665-4499. ' Custom Welded Marine Tanks' www.emira.com/bcsilo No connection, never used them, just had them in the files. Terry Tamarack