sealants

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keno

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Joined
Jun 26, 2007
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27000
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I am planning to cut a hole in the bow to install a hawespipe for anchor rode to be stored in a forward compartment below.

What is the best material to use for sealing the exposed wood core? Some suggest 3M 5200 Polyurethane and others say only use epoxy for this job.
 
What I would try and do is cut the hole, then try and dig out about 1/4" to 1/2" of the wood core. Scrape and sand any stuck wood and adhesive from the inside of the laminate. It should be clean and roughed up with #80 sandpaper. Do a final cleaning with acetone. I would then fill the space with an epoxy/milled fiber resin mixture. Let it cure 24 to 48 hours. Then install the hawspipe and seal with something like boatlife or 3m sealer. If you use 5200, it will be almost impossible to remove the hawspipe later on.
 
If you use 5200 it'll be part of the deck. I hope you never plan on taking it out. If for some reason you'd like to, apply plenty of heat, like from a heat gun and it will release. There's also a product called Anti-Bond, it'll release 5200 also. blueflew is so right about doing the prep for the hole you drill. You don't want any water intrusion into the core material.
 
Mix up some West System with a filler for stregnth and use that.
 
The emphasis on this job is to properly seal the wood core from any moisture intrusion. The wood is most likely end grain balsa core and acts like a sponge in the presence of water. To further ensure a good seal, before you spackle in the epoxy/milled fiber paste, take some of the epoxy resin without the milled fibers and brush it on the exposed wood to really get a good seal. Also, when using epoxy resin, use the exact amount of catalyst specified. Epoxy will not cure properly if too much or too little catalyst is used. The West system 105 epoxy with the 404 filler should work good or just use milled fibers with the 105 epoxy.
 
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