• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Sole Redemption

tilwinter

Member III
So I have been able to get the factory sole up, actually with greater ease than I anticipated, although not intact enough to use as a template. I am making templates out of 3/8 plywood, to get some practice and to make sure things fit before chopping up my teak and holly plywood.

QUESTIONS

1. It looks like one could get a better fit by chamfering the edges, buy I am not sure how well the 1/4 plywood would take to chamfering. Did anyone do this?

2. The factory glued and screwed the sole, buy I am inclined just to screw. Anyone else go this route?

2. I also though thought I could get a nice finished look by putting beige Life Caulk around the edges, which might also hide some uneven edges. Any thoughts on this?

Appreciate any thoughts.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=1526&referrerid=28

The use of Bronze square-drive screws is covered in this thread. Has worked fine for our sole project for years. I would not go back to the factory screw-and-plug method. I believe that you should be able to access the bilge completely.
Champfering might help some, but note that the wood will expand some in the rainy season, even after being finished both sides... For instance, our lift-out sections over the pump intakes are finished all sides and still stick some in the winter.
So my take on it is not to make the final fit too tight; leave a 32nd or a bit more all around.
I would not caulk the edges. If you ever have some water under those edges for any reason, it could never evaporate out and would be more likely to permiate the plywood. I have seen some boats with a sealant-filled edge and did not like it. Subjective observation! :p

Note that "gluing down" the edges might make later removal more difficult, too.

My .02,

Loren
 
Last edited:

tilwinter

Member III
sole

Loren:

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have read the thread about the square drive screws and that is the plan. Why did the factory also glue the floor?

The factory sole is champfered in some areas, but I am hesitant to screw up an otherwise good routing job by trying to make it even better.

The way the sole is constructed on my 30+, it all sits in solid pans, so there is not any issue with access to the bilge.

I had an experience with water on the floor, and as you point out, it does go under the sole. I will have the entire piece covered with two coats of clear epoxy, and additional two-part polyurethane varnish on the top. By not gluing, I should be able to lift the floor and dry underneath. It seems like a tiny bead of sealant would be easy to remove without destroying the wood, and might actually keep small amounts of water out. I wouldn't use 5200, just Life Caulk, or even something easier to remove, if anyone had any ideas.

Or not.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Another idea

A sailor friend solved the caulking problem by stuffing some nautical--looking line in the crack around the edge of his sole. I think he used 1/4' or 3/16" line and simply pushed it into the crack. The advantage is that it's cheap, can be easily removed at any time and reinstalled; the disadvantage is that it may get dirty over time--though it could be removed and washed once per year if that's a concern. Just an idea....
Frank.
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
The sole on my E38, which I assume is original, is screwed and plugged. There is an edge molding, what would be considered a shoe molding in the land carpentry world, around the perimeter of the sole. It is made of teak and varnished, screwed and plugged. It would be a simple task to make up molding to fit the perimeter and screw it down just like the sole. Likely it will end up sometimes attaching to the sole itself and other times to the adjacent cabinetry. Wood will move a good bit with changes in humidity. This trim will hide the gap and any movement of the sole yet still be removable. Thats how I would do it. RT
 

tilwinter

Member III
Intersting idea. Because the sole in the 30+ sits in depressions in a fiberglass molded floor, there are long edges which do not butt onto raised borders, so this technique would not work in portions of the sole, but would certainly work along the edges.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Intersting idea. Because the sole in the 30+ sits in depressions in a fiberglass molded floor, there are long edges which do not butt onto raised borders, so this technique would not work in portions of the sole, but would certainly work along the edges.

If you look at some of our photos in the past long thread on this topic, this is how the sole pieces were placed in the Olson series. The later (larger) Ericsons I have visited do have the wood sole right to the front of wooden cabinetry and so they can and do have a trim piece along the sides. This does give the whole assembly a more of a finished look, I admit.
Oh well, Every design has its pluses.
:rolleyes:

Loren
 
Top