Sealing Wooden Hulls

[Terry Keeley]

Hey Jerry, good to see you on here. Trust me guys, when it comes to building wood boats Jerry knows what he's talking about!

Roughly how many hulls do you figure you've built over the years?

 

[f41stryker]

Is there any sanding done in between the second coat of epoxy after it has cured and if so what kind of grit? Should the hull be rough after the sanding to apply primer to? Should all hardware be removed to epoxy where holes are drilled to seal as well?

 

[mark voorhies]

Is there any sanding done in between the second coat of epoxy after it has cured and if so what kind of grit? Should the hull be rough after the sanding to apply primer to? Should all hardware be removed to epoxy where holes are drilled to seal as well?

The holes drilled in a wood hull will wick water, and worse, oil, if not sealed properly.

I asked the best way to seal the holes a while back and got some good answers from

long time boat builders.The 2 best I found were, make holes one drill bit size larger and

re-drill after epoxy sealing and filling holes, and also another way is to wick thin CA into perimeter of all

holes before epoxy sealing. Each is effective, and believe me, this is the first place

you will see water or oil get into your hull if not done right.

As for sanding between epoxy coats, if you scrape with a razor, it's ready for 2nd coat.

I like light 220 grit sanding before primer,just to rough up finish.

 

[Jerry Betke]

Hey Jerry, good to see you on here. Trust me guys, when it comes to building wood boats Jerry knows what he's talking about!

Roughly how many hulls do you figure you've built over the years?

Hi Terry,

I really enjoy building wood boats. I cannot even tell you how many I have built. The advice given on sealing holes is excellent. I just finished up repairing an Eagle SG that the owner did not seal the holes. The amount of damage done by oil and water seepage was incredible. Any areas where holes have been elongated IE: sponson tubes, rudder control arm,etc are extremly vulnerable. If the joints are prepared correctly before joining together with the epoxy the wood will fail before the joint. All the advice given on this subject has been good and will net a good result. Just a last comment on which product to use. Mike and I used the MAS product on the latest D-Hydro we built. The racing season will be the test bed to see if it has the strength characteristics of West System. We will wait for the results before we use it on additional boats. From what we have heard it is a good product.

 

[john22469]

hi guys i been reading this thread. has anyone ever tried to use the z-epoxy (45 min.) i was told to sand the hull with 220 then apply z-epoxy a thin layer with a disposable brush. then heat the epoxy with a hair dryer on low this makes the epoxy flow like water. whip off excess with the brush before it dries. Let cure for 24hr. then light sand and repeat.

 

[GiantScale13]

I always sand with 600 on a block after the epoxy has cured regardless of how it was applied to be sure its flat and lint free.

I always get lint on the surface when I wipe it on ,and then off. Which kind of fabric has the least lint?

 

[dave roach]

I use cheesecloth to put on the west systems and rub it in good.

My .002 cents

Dave Roach

 

[topfuel443]

I use old t-shirts (no lint!) to apply west systems then scrape off excess using a good edge, doesnt have to be a razor... I only use one coat. This is done AFTER the boat has been rigged up totally then stripped, that way the holes will also be sealed. After epoxy is dry, I do a little sanding, then paint colors directly over the epoxy, no reason to add more weight with primer when the boat is already sealed. Then shoot the clear and youre done. Alot of my boats are done with clear (PPG High Solids auto) directly over the wood, the great thing about west systems is it doesnt turn yellow like most epoxies do.

My $.02

James

 

[Dennis Whitt]

We FE guys do all we can to keep it light but strong cuz we use alott of balsa.When using epoxy I use a heat gun between coats and scrape off with an old credit card.The heat helps realy liquifie the epoxy so that it saoks into the wood and the second coat fills the grain.You would be surprised at just how muc h less epoxy you use.Oh and dont let it get too hot or it will bubble but again they are EZ to just scrape back off.

I use this same method on ply and boy does it make the final sanding so much easier.

 

[jeff baham]

fellows, you all said to use west systems epoxy. then one guy said mix it 5-1, dont they have the squirt nozzle that are made for the correct amount of glue. i was told , with just squirt nozzles, you can mix any amount you want.

 

[Bob Howard]

Yes there are two sizes of pumps, Just be sure to not mix to much at one time because in a container it will set up much faster than in small amounts. I found that 2 squirts of each is almost to much when I am trying to brush it inside of a hull.

Bob

 

[dannyual767]

fellows, you all said to use west systems epoxy. then one guy said mix it 5-1, dont they have the squirt nozzle that are made for the correct amount of glue. i was told , with just squirt nozzles, you can mix any amount you want.

I'm not sure what you're saying here, Jeff. I don't use West Systems but I never hear anything but good about their stuff. However, it is a little pricey and I think that you can do just as well with some other brands. I know that West System requires a 5:1 mix ratio of resin to hardener. You can't vary this ratio or your mixture will have problems! Its very hard to eyeball 5:1 like you can when you're mixing up your normal 1:1 epoxy glue and that is a good reason to use the appropriate pumps.

 

[jeff baham]

i don't use west systems it is ti expensive for me i use the devcon 2-ton epoxy, just as good if not better. it is 1-1 mix and you can buy it in a syringe or two 9 ox bottle. like someone said on here you can heat it to make it flow out smooth , but once you usethe heat DO NOT try and spread it agian let dry for the 8 hourcure time and then try agian , very simple.

 

[GiantScale13]

If your doing smaller jobs. You can put the resin and hardner in syringes. 5 cc of resin 1 hardner. Or 15 drops to 3

I hate throwing it away.

 

[f41stryker]

I received my hull today and started working on sealing it with the West Systems Epoxy and I love this stuff. I've used the 1:1 epoxies in the past and they smell awful and seem to cure fairly quickly, but this stuff is quite different. I'm shocked at how little of it you need to mix to cover such a large area. I do agree with people in that it is a little expensive ($65 for 105 & 205, pumps, mixing cup, mixing sticks from West Marine). But it seems that the consensus is that it's the best. It seems to be working very well so far, I've got the bottom of the boat done, rear sponsons, two sides of the front sponsons, and some top-deck done already. The best part is, I get to sand and do it all again! Once this has cured, is it ok to use wood putty? After epoxying, I found a couple places I hadn't notice without the deeper color and would like to fix, can I just wait 24 hours for it to cure and then use some wood puddy to fill out some areas? This stuff gets a big thumbs up from me.

 

[topfuel443]

one even coat of west systems is plenty for sealing....

James

 

[f41stryker]

I don't know, it seems most people use two coats to seal their boats...

 

[Tim Kish]

It is faster and better to rub it in with a rag then to scrape with a razor blade. It penetrates the wood better and reduces the sanding tme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to try the method of rubbing the epoxy into the wood with a rag on my latest project.

It worked incredibly well , very easy to control how much epoxy you use and the heat from the friction warms the epoxy just enough to allow for better penetration of the wood .

It also leaves such a nice finish that you have very little sanding to do between coats , very cool.

I have tried scraping heating and everything else in between this is by far the best method I have used .

Thanks Mr Betke