: Before I remove the lamination from the deck, I'm going to attempt trimming the bottom of the lamination with a hand held router and a laminate bit.

:I was going to try to trim around the outside edge with my bandsaw first, followed by the belt sander. If that proves difficult, then I will one-by-one go through my tools to see what works!

Hi Spidey,

The glass fibers in the cloth are harder that tool steel and will dull a regular blade or cutter VERY quickly.

I was drilling holes in FR4 [a glass reinforced laminate] for some rivets with a highspeed steel bit - after few holes the bit had worn down enough that the rivets would not fit. You could actually see how deep I was drilling by the wear on the bit!

Carbide edged tools work fine and the beltsander will do a great cleanup job.

For cutting the combing to shape I would try a Dremel tool set to lowest speed [to avoid softening the resin].

One of those 1/8" carbide cutters used by the Printed Circuit fab shops to route the boards out should work well. Lee Valley Tools sell them.

If there is a PCB fab shop in the area - give them a call, bits no longer accurate enough for routing out the boards are still plenty sharp enough for general use. Often they can be bought for the salvage price of the carbide.

Hey, the boat is looking great Ken!

Hank