Drilling holes in shell before assembly

[Flactem65]

Hey — I’m planning on starting a build in a few weeks and was wondering if there’s any benefit/harm in drilling holes in the shell (say for mushroom vents, charging port, or for electrical components in the galley bulkhead) before assembling the shell. One benefit would be in ease of layout before assembly. Comments?

[sandman]

I think you would be more prone to drips or sags in your epoxy and/or varnish in areas where you’ve created a hole in an otherwise smooth surface.

Good luck with your build!

[Flactem65]

I was thinking that could be a problem. What I could do is mark or drill the centers of the holes, then after ‘glassing the shell, I could use hole saws to finish the process. Thanks for your response.

[crcurler]

Would there be any issue when you bend the wood with the hole shape changing/interfering with things? Most of the mushroom vents are on pretty flat surfaces – maybe not the front ones (I didn’t install those). This would be my concern. I would also be worried about dips in the fibreglass over those holes…

BUT on the plus side, the through cuts would be nicely waterproofed if you could epoxy them. As a person in the PNW this would have been a plus for me.

Best of luck…

[madebymike60]

My two cents…even though it would be easier to put holes in the plywood before the shell is together, I would recommend waiting. For one thing, depending on the number and size of the hole(s), you almost certainly would weaken the plywood. While that wouldn’t matter in some places, it wouldn’t be a good idea for plywood pieces that get bent. As for the galley bulkhead (which I know doesn’t get bent) if you’re not sure of exactly what electrical items you want and where you want them, it seems smart to wait until later. Use the time to look at ideas and when you’re camper is nearly done, make your decisions after getting in it and looking at the useable space and where things would work best.

I get the idea of doing things when they would be easier. I added runners under the galley floor (to add drawers to later) before installing the camper bottom because it would have been much harder to do later. That worked out well. I just don’t know if what you’re thinking about will. I wish you patience and good luck with your build.

[madebymike60]

Here is the link to that post about the drawers if you are interested.

Drawers under galley flat

[Flactem65]

Thanks for your comments — and I like the idea of the drawer/table! As far as the holes in the shell — I think I’ll layout the centers with a small drill bit before assembly while everything is flat and then use the centers to place a hole saw or compass to complete the holes after assembly/glassing.

[Author]

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