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Small crack under mast not so small...

907Juice

Continuously learning
I noticed there was a "small" crack under my mast hardware. I took it off and noticed that it was much bigger than I thought. The previous owner attempted to fix it by throwing some sealant over it and calling it good. The fiberglass underneath looks good from the inside the cabin, but the chunk of wood needs to be cut out and replaced. It looks like a fairly moderate diy job but wanted to get some input first. Can I cut the fiberglass shell off, remove the wood block, and as long as the core fiberglass looks good, replace the wood and redo the fiberglass top? I am also calling around to some fiberglass repair shops to gets some expert eyes on the job. Lemme know what you think.

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907Juice

Continuously learning
Same thing?

Thanks for the link and template. I'll dig into it this week and let you know.

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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Thanks for the link and template. I'll dig into it this week and let you know.

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Careful. That is a cast resin product with zero fiber reinforcement. Useful for many things but under enough force it will crack or break.
G10 is a laminate of fiberglass cloth and resin... indeed you could lay it up yourself, but it will take a considerable material and some time... I have done a "built up" reinforcement layer of about 3/8" and it took a while and used up quite a bit of bi-ax and epoxy. The G10 will take the place of your time and money.

Loren
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author

I have ordered this product in the past.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#grade-g-10-phenolic/=17d6ql3

While I have not used my account in the last year, they have allowed my little teeny purchases many times. Fast delivery too.

OTOH, there are two local plastics companies in my fair city that will precut G10 pieces for me @ no extra charge. Considering how hard it is on saw blades that is a pretty good thing also. You might look around your city.

I sawed out four cleat-backer plates yesterday in some 3/8" stock already on hand... Four blades worn out in my scroller saw...
:)
Interesting trivia: blades lasted longer when I backed off on the trigger and slowed down the oscillation a lot. Less heat I presume. I was using 'metal rated' blades.

Good luck.
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Norva Plastics +1

I'll second Norva. They can ship it in a 12" x 12" x 3" USPS Priority Box for a fixed price regardless of weight. If you get 12 x 12 (or smaller) pieces I always get extras to fill the 3" thick box which ships for the fixed price. I now have some spare 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick pieces for future jobs. Cuts like butter with a cheap ceramic tile wet saw.

Mark
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I use a carbide-tipped blade on my table saw and have cut quite a bit of 1/2" stuff with it easily enough.

Regular blades are NOT practical for this purpose.
 

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Use a tile saw instead, serveral health and safety reasons. Cheaper than the blade to

I use a carbide-tipped blade on my table saw and have cut quite a bit of 1/2" stuff with it easily enough.

Regular blades are NOT practical for this purpose.

Get one of these cheap and works great.
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-portable-wet-cut-tile-saw-69231.html

One of the reasons to do this instead of the carbide table saw, in addition to cutting the g-10 up to 3" thick, without any real effort, is that the water prevents the silica from the glass in the G-10 from become airborne and your breathing it.

Another trick if you need to have non straight cuts is a tile saw blade for your sabre saw, and cut over a bowl of water such that the blade dips in and out of the water.

Guy
:)

Waiting in Monterey for the weather and a crew member to head to the South Pacific.
 

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Hi Guy,

Good luck on your trip. What route are you taking?

Leaving Monterey where we have been stuck waiting on weather for the last two weeks and sailing directly to the Marquesas.

There is hardly a better place to be stuck than here, the aquarium, great restaurants, a nice and welcoming yacht club, even then though, the waiting game before such a large undertaking becomes a bit much. As does the $ for a transient daily berth at the marina.

Guy
:)
 

Nick J

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Blogs Author
Check the compression post base

There are 4 E-25+ in my marina that I know of and all of them look like their mast step has sunk. On mine it was due to the block below the compression post rotting out. I can imagine a perfect mast step repair with expensive G-10 and weeks worth of work failing due to the compression post sinking. If your bulkhead looks like this give the block a look. I've fixed the compression post base but I'm planning on rebuilding my step next year, so I'm interested in hearing how this turns out. Good luck!
 

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ChrisS

Member III
Mast step in bilge: I did a similar repair on my E-32-2

The compression post in my E-32 terminated in the bilge, sitting on an steel beam--which had been exposed to bilge water and was slowly degrading, causing the post to shift.

We slacked the rig, and using a bottle jack on a 4x4 post, jacked up/blocked the headliner, cut and chipped out the old beam, and fiberglassed in a block of G10 (a chunk of 2"x4", then 1/8" shims to get a tight fit).

After than, we tensioned the rig, and it's been fine since. FWIW, the job took about three days, the hardest part getting the degraded beam out.
 
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