TWL: Wood boats
Now, all you plastic boaters can move on--this question is for us die hard
"woodie" owners.We have stripped all the paint off the bottom of Classy Lady
(did it last fall), and now are preparing to recaulk seams & paint the
bottom. Would like to have info on seam compounds. Did a test section last
spring on 8' of the bottom using 5200, interprotect, & VC17. Found that the
5200 was bare in several places in the fall & now know that 5200 is not
practically paintable. (confirmed this w/3M).So now my research suggests
that polysulfide (such as "Boatlife") is the best choice. For us in the
north, the desire is for the seam compound to remain flexible & remain in
good seal with the planks in the winter & not require extensive swell time
in the spring. Any ideas, suggestions, comments?
Thanks,
Gayle Roudabush
Classy Lady AL46-14
Detroit MI
Now, all you plastic boaters can move on--this question is for us die hard
"woodie" owners.
are preparing to recaulk seams & paint the
bottom. Would like to have info on seam compounds. the desire is for the
seam compound to remain flexible & remain in
good seal with the planks in the winter & not require extensive swell time
in the spring. Any ideas, suggestions, comments?
Gayle,
Funny you should ask. I HAD a wood planked hull once and never again, but
that is another story.
As we speak I am helping, as in I'm the gopher, a friend with his wood
planked boat. He has had a wood boat for over 40 yrs and does all of his own
work. An aside his boat ( a commercial shrimp boat) is always
immaculate.This trip up he is replacing abt 8 planks and several ribs. One
might say that he knows what he is doing!
The seams are treated as follows:
If two new planks are butting ( parallel), this joint is VERY TIGHT so he
puts a scarf in it with his circular saw to make a space for caulking. If
the seam is old and just needs new caulking he cleans it and then hammers in
cotton.( He has 3 sizes of tools to drive the cotton in, thin, medium and
large) Over this he sprays a light coat of paint, the excess on the surface
of the plank is immediately wiped away. This sets the caulking and protects
it while the boat is still up and not yet painted. He then finishes off the
seams with BONDO.
CCC
Seam caulking happened to be the topic of the meeting of the classic (
read wood ) boat society meeting this past Sunday ..
Most of the fellows are using a multi part process - cleaning out the
seam - coating the edges with a penatrating epoxy ( for increased adhesion )
and then using 101 for caulking - using cotton caulking only for a caulk
backing for the widest joints ..
Notably it was said that 5200 would pop the planks right off the boat !!
Your milage may vary !
All the Best
Ken
Mrs. Hudson
Gayle,
I'm in the pacific northwest. So, the boat stays in
the water. My advice is to stay away from 5200. If you
want goo in a tube, use polysulfide. It can be
removed. I've used Interlux seam compound on mine.
Others use what they call "bear shit". It's a mix of
roofing tar and portland cement.
There is a great forum on Woodenboat's website. Go to
http://www.woodenboat.com and, follow the links to the
forum. Do a search on seam compounds.
Good Luck,
Terry Etapa
ex-Detroiter in Seattle
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~tetapa
--- Gayle Roudabush skippergr@worldnet.att.net
wrote:
Now, all you plastic boaters can move on--this
question is for us die hard
"woodie" owners.We have stripped all the paint off
the bottom of Classy Lady
(did it last fall), and now are preparing to recaulk
seams & paint the
bottom. Would like to have info on seam compounds.
Did a test section last
spring on 8' of the bottom using 5200,
interprotect, & VC17. Found that the
5200 was bare in several places in the fall & now
know that 5200 is not
practically paintable. (confirmed this w/3M).So now
my research suggests
that polysulfide (such as "Boatlife") is the best
choice. For us in the
north, the desire is for the seam compound to remain
flexible & remain in
good seal with the planks in the winter & not
require extensive swell time
in the spring. Any ideas, suggestions, comments?
Thanks,
Gayle Roudabush
Classy Lady AL46-14
Detroit MI
=====
Well mystery masked man was smart,
He got himself a Tonto,
'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free.
But Tonto he was smarter;
One day he said, "Kemosabe:
Kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea."
-Lyle Lovett, "If I Had a Boat"
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