Making a kill box/ bait board

[mitch_wahoo]

Hey readers,

I've just started making a kill box/ bait board for my Aussie whaler.

I've already got a stainless bait board which is good but I hate bleeding/ braining fish strait into my esky so the decision was made to make a kill box I can bleed fish in before going into the esky.

Made up the box out of 12mm cd ply which will be getting glassed over and flow coated. It will have a hinged lid which will be the bait board.

Here's a few pics.

[Rip it up]

Couple of hints from the fibreglass point. While the router is out knock all external corners to a small radius. And all internal corners mix up a brew of polyester resin and talc powder ( cheap baby powder is good) into a thick paste that won't sag off a putty knife. now feed it into all the internal corners. Use an old desert spoon to make it a smooth radius. Now lay up the resin and chop strand Matt onto wet bog mix. Fold glass up and over the top lip of box.

Quick sand for daggy bits then flowcoat. Speckle Finnish if you like and job done.

Might be worth adding a drain tube out the back into your motor well if you want to get rid of the blood.

Handles to lift out of boat for cleaning?

Otherwise have fun with it and don't mix your resin too hot.

[deckie]

Looks the goods Mitch..about to embark on something similar myself so its handy to see. Tis a great size. Held using existing rod/baitboard holders ?..how is it going to be attached ?

Good tips there Rip. If i wanted to build an insulated one similar to Mitch's but a bit smaller (hold ice but only for day trips), but still be reasonably light...what thickness ply and what type of foam do you reckon would be the go prior to glassing/fcoating ? Got a heap of leftover probond for corners and poly resin i wouldnt mind using up on a project.

[Rip it up]

Deckie. Polyester resin eats polystyrene foam. So you would need to source polyurethane foam foam the job. You can leave out the ply and just add extra glass layers.
Vanglass in yandina make their own esky foam on site. And they are well priced.

25mm would work well. It's important to get a thicker lid and have it seal well. Build it just like the poly Eskies and you cant go wrong

[feral cat]

Rip it up... that mob in yandina (vanglass) are flippen awesome.I made 2 x 220ltr esky ice seat boxes with the offcuts from them.I have had ice in them for 3 day trips with bugger all melted.There product is 2 layers of 450 then 22mm foam then 3 layers of 450 on other side,one side is flow coated and other is gel coat which makes it ideal for ice boxes.
I agree with rip about the edges,makes it easier for laying glass and alot less air bubbles forming in the corner.

[fandtm666]

definetly router the edges and then give them a light sand before laying the glass.

also being a large area make sure you do it in the shade otherwise with the sunlight
it will start to go of pretty quick ( found out from experience ).

With the speckle i found when i did mine that if i did the speckle while the flowcoat
was still tacky it worked best.

You can get all you need including the insulation foam from FGI across from harbor town.
and if your at the south end of the coast i have 1/2 a roll of 450 matt aswell.

[mitch_wahoo]

Cheers for the replies.

Rip it up. Thanks for the tips. Edges are already routed for that purpose. My brother does fibreglass repairs on boats and has a 20kg bag of talc in the shed left over from a few jobs. We just put a new floor in a 28ft kevlacat. (American model) so he knows all the tricks of the trade. It's amazing how strong that talc is when mixed with resin to make bog. Yes it will also have a drain into the motor well.

Deckie. Yeh it will be removable so I can use my bait board if I want to instead. I was going to make it out of foam but a mate Mae his out of foam and the mounts keep ripping off. He didn't put blocks in the foam to screw too so I think this is the reason why.

[marto78]

Just an idea if you haven't already started glassing it but I would be putting a 2 inch wide piece across the top of it at the back so that when you lift the lid up it will create a bit of a pocket to catch all your knives and things before they go over the back.

It looks great Mitch.

[dnej]

I understand you can glass over ordinary styrene if you paint with acrylic paint firstly.
David

[mitch_wahoo]

Thanks Marto, good idea. I've also made a holder for my knives and pliers that will get screwed to the front of the kill box. My knives always go in there. I've had accidents where knives have fallen off the bait board onto my foot so I always try to put them away

[mitch_wahoo]

Glassed the outsides today.

[mitch_wahoo]

All finished up now. Fully removable so I can use my stainless bait board as well.

[kaypee]

Nice mate, Still deciding on doing that glass work yet to mine. Might give your bro a call next week to see what he thinks.

[mitch_wahoo]

Thanks kaypee, yeh mate too easy. I'm sure he will be able to help you out.

[Spiderpig]

Looks shit hot mate, does your brother work for himself?