re-bedding deck hardware

I'm in the process of re-beading some deck hardware. Some screw hole had soft wet wet wood which I was able to remove with an allen wrench. I'm just about done with some re-core at the anchor locker, so I was please to find that it haven't spread yet and pouring a plug should do the trick. My liner inside the cabin is fiberglass so it cannot be easily remove. So now, how do I keep the epoxy from running down between the liner and the cabin deck? If its thick enough to keep it from running will it be hard to make sure I don't leave any void at the core level?
any help will be appreciated.

You put the black Gorilla Duck-tape on the ceiling. This topic has been covered before , and somewhere is a link with a good lesson on the subject. - chris

One messy solution

No experience with getting epoxy to stay put between an frp liner and cabin surface... but in some other parts of the boat with a very similar construction I did find a solution.
I would drill a half inch hole (and would fill it in later). This is enough opening to poke in a long piece of soft open-cell upholstery foam that I had snipped into longish 1/2" by 1/2" strips. I would saturate these in a pan of epoxy resin, and they soak it up readily. Wear your vinyl gloves and tape off around the area you are working on -- things can get a bit drippy....
Use a dowel or stiff #12 wire something similar and force-feed the dripping foam into the hole. Add more. And maybe some more. The foam finally forms quite a blockage inside around, wherever you poked it. Few hours later it's all hardened and if the hole is not filled enough, add some more thickened epoxy and tape it off, and let it harden.
Clean up all the tape, plastic pieces you put around to catch drips, and yourself, and go enjoy a chilled Hefeweizen.

Have fun!


Loren

Thanks, that is a step toward the right direction. The gap is about 1/8" to 3/16" so I'll look for something to stuff in there. I can already see how much of a mess I'm gonna make in there. On the plus side, my deck hardware is bolted through the liner so filling the gap should help to stiffen things up.

Here is that article I was writing about: www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing the deck . He goes into re-potting the holes in great detail, including putting black Gorilla Duck-tape under the ceiling to stop excess epoxy from leaking out. I have this job to do in the next few weeks, and am going to follow this outline closely. - chris

Last time I posted this link in the same way it took one straight to the article. This time you need to the box titled Compass marine project articles, and click on this. Once on this page go down to the box titled: Sealing Deck Penetrations to prevent core rot.

www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing the deck

- chris

Thanks Chris. This is what I'm doing right now. My problem is that I have an frp liner (Thank Loren for the name of the liner) with 1/8" gap between it and the bottom skin. I need to find a way to keep the epoxy from running in there.

I think the idea of stuffing something soak in epoxy will work fine. Loren, the foam you talk about might be a bit to thick, what do you think of using craft felt?

wolly bugger said:

Thanks Chris. This is what I'm doing right now. My problem is that I have an frp liner (Thank Loren for the name of the liner) with 1/8" gap between it and the bottom skin. I need to find a way to keep the epoxy from running in there.
I think the idea of stuffing something soaked in epoxy will work fine. Loren, the foam you talk about might be a bit too thick, what do you think of using craft felt?

Click to expand...

Actually, I used foam because I have some old upholstery foam kicking around our garage.... any "spongy" and absorbent material that could be stuffed in would do, IMHO.
BTW, your album pictures of cruising in Alaska are beautiful.


LB

You might also be able to mix up a batch of thick, sticky epoxy putty and jam that into the gap. I buy mine in a stick at Home Depot -- the same stuff as Mighty Putty that the late Billy Mayes used to hawk on TV.

tenders said:

You might also be able to mix up a batch of thick, sticky epoxy putty and jam that into the gap. I buy mine in a stick at Home Depot -- the same stuff as Mighty Putty that the late Billy Mayes used to hawk on TV.

Click to expand...

Thanks Tenders, I like the cleanliness of your idea and gave it a try. It works great. One less project on the to do list. I'm planning on taking the boat to the water next week if I can get the few remaining projects done.

Stuff a grommet between the liner and deck then use Gorilla tape and a wedge of wood pushing up onto the liner compressing the grommet and making a seal.

When you've potted the deck use a mechanics pic set and simply remove the grommet. Most are now silicone based and the epoxy won't stick well to it..