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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through June 28, 2009

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Old     (wakemikey)      Join Date: Mar 2008       06-11-2009, 11:20 AM Reply   
Did anyone else see the ad in the back of WBM for http://gcminnovations.com/products advertising see-through and illuminated swim decks and boat floors, etc? Wow.

http://gcminnovations.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/deck_red.168154645.jpg
http://gcminnovations.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/floor_1.168163844.jpg
Old     (bill_airjunky)      Join Date: Apr 2002       06-11-2009, 11:58 AM Reply   
Looks cool. But can you imagine how slick & scratched up it would be?
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-11-2009, 12:13 PM Reply   
How much? It does look cool but like Bill said you'd have to cover the majority of it with something non-slip so you'd loose alot of the effect.
Old     (hatepain)      Join Date: Aug 2006       06-11-2009, 1:18 PM Reply   
For the heck of it I emailed them. I'll share what they say with regards to price, size and the non skid.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-11-2009, 1:22 PM Reply   
Sounds good be interested to hear what they say.
Old     (roverjohn)      Join Date: Dec 2007       06-11-2009, 1:52 PM Reply   
I think it would be cool to have the nonskid cut to some sort of cool shape, like maybe your boat's logo. It would look tight at night when you can't see the rest of the graphics package. I don't think scratches would be a big deal as it's translucent not clear.
Old     (266crownlinebr)      Join Date: Apr 2007       06-11-2009, 5:49 PM Reply   
I caught that too. Thought that was finally a new idea.
Old     (cowwboy)      Join Date: Jul 2008       06-11-2009, 6:49 PM Reply   
So it's sand blasted acrylic or plexi?
That wouldn't be to hard to build.
Old     (pickle311)      Join Date: Oct 2005       06-11-2009, 8:11 PM Reply   
looks sandblasted to me, that's what I thought as soon as I saw it. Plexiglass is just a brand of acrylic, they are both the same from what I understand.
It would be easy to build as long as you make a really good template. 1 small screw up would be expensive. I like the idea though and it does look sweet.
Old     (johnny_jr)      Join Date: Mar 2006       06-12-2009, 8:29 AM Reply   
From the looks of it they are made of natural acrylic sheet and was blasted for a rough finish. This could be done using your existing platform as a template and a good router and bit. New things are always good. We have a direct line on plastic sheet, I'm going to price out some 1 inch and see what it would cost a do DIY'r for the material.
Old     (hatepain)      Join Date: Aug 2006       06-12-2009, 9:07 AM Reply   
So I got my response sorta. Here is what I sent them: I’ve been looking at a new solution for my swim platform and this looks interesting. What is in place as a non skid? How much are they and what is the size? I have an 06 Sanger V215 and could just use the existing mounting brackets.

Here is their response: The swim decks range from 2500 to 3500 dollars depending on the options you want

Kinda pricey in my opinion and to be honest anyone who can't take the extra few seconds to answer the questions in an email isn't someone I'm real interested in doing business with. I guess because I do a ton of emailing in my business I expect a certain level of customer relation to go into them.
Old     (johnny_jr)      Join Date: Mar 2006       06-12-2009, 9:11 AM Reply   
WOW 2500 to 3500 forget audio, I'm gonna build platforms instead.
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       06-12-2009, 9:21 AM Reply   
kinda pricey??? That's real **** pricey in my book. Looks like it cost all of $200 to make.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-12-2009, 9:29 AM Reply   
Way out of my price range. I might try to DIY it. Maybe a removable cover that fits over the existing swim deck so at night it blings and during the day you have your stocker! I'm going to order some plex and give it a go. Think i can do it for less then $250
Old     (johnny_jr)      Join Date: Mar 2006       06-12-2009, 9:59 AM Reply   
Last time I quoted Natual Plexi (about 2 years), it was about $850 for a 4x8 sheet, so enless you want a small platform it will take about a full sheet to get a platform (assuming 96" beam or less and 36" depth)If you have a 102" beam you need a 4X10 sheet to make it happen. Not sure it can be done for as cheep as most people think.
I know for a fact that 1" PVC sheet runs also 900 and natual is a lttle less.
Old     (johnny_jr)      Join Date: Mar 2006       06-12-2009, 10:04 AM Reply   
Got an update eplastics sells 1"x48"x96" sheets of plexi for $1200 plus shipping, figure about 25% in mark up brings it to about $900 a sheet plus shipping if you can score it at cost.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-12-2009, 10:08 AM Reply   
Johnny if I use my existing platform and just make a cover that fits over it i don't need a 1" thick piece. Thats my thought. I'll give it a go and see what i come up with!
Old     (supraride)      Join Date: Jun 2007       06-12-2009, 10:17 AM Reply   
Robert, I would be interested in seeing that when you are done. How are you going to see thru it, if its over your existing swim platform?
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-12-2009, 10:22 AM Reply   
Ordered the plastic, $330 for the sheet 1/2" thick. Why do you always have to be right Johnny! lol

Tony, the swim platforms this company is selling aren't see through they are just translucent so they glow a specific color. I am going to make mine as a slip over, sand blast the top and then hook up a string of LED's to make it glow. With the revised cost of plastic i'm guessing this project well cost me about $400 not including some form of non-skid, I think i might do as some people suggested and cut out the malibu emblem into some non-skid to give it a real cool look.
Old     (wakemikey)      Join Date: Mar 2008       06-12-2009, 11:02 AM Reply   
I don't really think it would be slippery - I'm sure they thought of that. Many bathtubs are plastic and they can make the floor non-skid.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-12-2009, 11:39 AM Reply   
I actually was just playing with some plastic sheeting I had lying around and even after sand blasting add a little water and there as slippery as a hockey ring. I think I'm going to cut the malibu emblem into some non slip.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-12-2009, 11:40 AM Reply   
Wakemikey, most plastic batch tubs do have a non slip sticker on them, and i know i've slipped in the bath tub before still! lol Could be i'm just a klutz though!
Old     (rocketman)      Join Date: Feb 2003       06-12-2009, 7:23 PM Reply   
Robert,

Take some documentation photos as you build this. You might start having a following like Grant does with all of his cool innovations.
Old     (rocketman)      Join Date: Feb 2003       06-12-2009, 7:23 PM Reply   
Robert,

Take some documentation photos as you build this. You might start having a following like Grant does with all of his cool innovations.
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-13-2009, 10:24 PM Reply   
Started playing with this idea. Did a little testing.

I got a piece of 1/2" plex, sand blasted the whole piece except a small square just wanted to see what the light diffusion looks like.

clear

I then grabbed just 3" of a small smd light strip in blue. Was alot longer but I had to show off how flexible the light strip was to my neighbor and it broke! lol This is what the piece looks like with just 6 leds! This piece is about 15" square!

lights on

The light looks great in person, in the picture its a bit blotchy but then again my sand blasting was a bit blotchy because we still had some beer left in the boat! lol

I'll keep you posted as we go!

One of the things we noticed worked best was sandblast the top surface and leave the bottom surface clear and set it on a white base for the best and brightest effect!

Our current idea is to build a base white swim deck out of fiberglass then attach the plexi top!
Old     (mikea)      Join Date: Mar 2005       06-14-2009, 5:41 PM Reply   
plexiglass / acrylic will break, chip, shatter.

you may want to re think with lexan / polycarb.

It will be much easier to work with.
(but i do not know about the UV rating on polycarb, etc.)
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-14-2009, 6:35 PM Reply   
The place we ordered the plastic from suggested a special type of plastic that had a uv inhibator and was not prone to cracking however they did say if you dropped something hard on it with a pointed tip it could chip! I'll post some pics of what we came up with today! I keep calling the material plex for lack of the correct name. I'll get the exact material we're using and post it on monday.

One other thing we noticed in playing with the led's is they had the brightest effect when the top was sandblasted and the bottom was over a white base. So we decided in order to make the swim step as strong as possible and bright as possible we decided to install the 'plex' over a fiberglassed wood base that was painted white!
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-14-2009, 6:42 PM Reply   
So we started by removing the swim step from the brackets.

swim step brackets

We then traced the outline of the swim step( we did minus 2" off the sides and the rear of the swim step because we're planning on having the 'plex' curve down to give the fullest look and effect with the lights on)

trace

We then began adding bracing to the wood to get as much strength as we can into the wood.

trusses

The next step is to fiberglass the swim step to get as much strength as possible into the swim stepp. Should have more photos for you tomorrow!
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-14-2009, 6:45 PM Reply   
As you've probably noticed we originally started with the idea of having a slip over plex that covered the original platform but this provided to be a huge pain in the butt because the original platform had alot of curves on the top. And a piece of plex 1.5" thick had way to much flex when we tested it across the brackets.
So a full new swim step is what we came up with!
Old     (wackbag)      Join Date: Feb 2009       06-14-2009, 6:57 PM Reply   
Very cool. Robert show some pics!!! Nice work....
Old     (2006maliblue)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-15-2009, 1:59 PM Reply   
We finished up all the trussing on the wood for the swim platform!

woodtrussing

We mounted it up to check flex and right now with no fiberglass, just wood we have the same amount of flex as the stock swim platform.

mountedplatform

Now that we are happy with the swim platform we are going to fiberglass it and paint it white as we discovered that color gives us the most light transfer.

It might be a week before we have the fiberglassing and paint completed but we'll add new photos once we've finished that step!
Old     (chpthril)      Join Date: Oct 2007       06-15-2009, 2:30 PM Reply   
The designer is a local Tige owner I know and that thing is BAD AZZ at night!!!

Its not much slicker then a freshly coated TEAK platform.
Old     (hatepain)      Join Date: Aug 2006       06-15-2009, 3:08 PM Reply   
^^^So really friggin slick!

Cool project Robert I'm really interested in the results. Thanks for sharing.

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