Marine Tex
- Thread starter Dhamil6490
- Start date
Hi dhamil6490 and welcome to the forums on SBO.
I think that if you were to add a photo of the wing's damage you might get a better response. A photo will help determine exactly what needs to be done. I hope you have experience in glassing otherwise you might want to seek a professional. Some DIY stuff is OK, but you are dealing with your keel. Lose that (the keel) and you lose your boat.
Good luck with your wing repair.
I think that if you were to add a photo of the wing's damage you might get a better response. A photo will help determine exactly what needs to be done. I hope you have experience in glassing otherwise you might want to seek a professional. Some DIY stuff is OK, but you are dealing with your keel. Lose that (the keel) and you lose your boat.
Good luck with your wing repair.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,818
Welcome @Dhamil6490. As you can wee there are several sailors dealing with the winter blues of not sailing. We are happy you have joined us and would like to help you focus your repairs on the stuff that "needs" to be done.
While we all have boats of different sizes, many of us have sailed, owned, repaired different boats through the years.
Please take some pictures from a few steps back and up close of the damage. The sailors here look not only at the obvious dents, but also what may have occurred further away from the 'ding' that grabbed your attention.
My first boat was a 15 footer. You listed yours as a 17 footer. We have stuff in common.
Looking forward to your second post.
While we all have boats of different sizes, many of us have sailed, owned, repaired different boats through the years.
Please take some pictures from a few steps back and up close of the damage. The sailors here look not only at the obvious dents, but also what may have occurred further away from the 'ding' that grabbed your attention.
My first boat was a 15 footer. You listed yours as a 17 footer. We have stuff in common.
Looking forward to your second post.
My boat is a Seaward 17. Photos of both sides of the keel are attached. Thanks for your advice.
Attachments
That's a pretty good bite out of your wingtip. I think, since the repair is structural, you will need to build up a good base and then cover and fair the repair with epoxy, maybe West System or Totalboat. I have used Marine Tex, but mostly to repair cracked engine blocks, etc. It is a very hard epoxy, suitable for drilling and tapping.
I'm not sure about the best way to rebuild the wingtip. You might be able to grind back the surface of the wing a bit and use fiberglass to make a new tip. A call to West Systems might be helpful.
Marine Tex is definitely not the product for this job. Any resin, epoxy or polyester is very brittle until something is added to give it strength. Fiberglass acts like reinforcing rod in concrete, it adds strength and flexibility.
It will be necessary to grind off all the damaged glass with with a 12:1 bevel to solid glass, then build the area up until it is the right thickness. It will probably be best to build up from the bottom and down from the top so that the good part of the wing is sandwiched between layers of new glass.
Don't bother trying to match the edges when laying up the glass. After it cures just grind the corner in shape. You'll want to be close, but an angle grinder will be your friend here.
It will be necessary to grind off all the damaged glass with with a 12:1 bevel to solid glass, then build the area up until it is the right thickness. It will probably be best to build up from the bottom and down from the top so that the good part of the wing is sandwiched between layers of new glass.
Don't bother trying to match the edges when laying up the glass. After it cures just grind the corner in shape. You'll want to be close, but an angle grinder will be your friend here.
Welcome,
Dhamil6490
A lot of great advise you will get here.
Marine Tex as others have said is great to fix small cracks in gelcote
However I do not think it is recomended for below the water line.
I would contact west systems and ask there tech support for repair advice. Whatever you use you are going to have to remove all of the paint from the damaged area before you make any repairs.
Dhamil6490
A lot of great advise you will get here.
Marine Tex as others have said is great to fix small cracks in gelcote
However I do not think it is recomended for below the water line.
I would contact west systems and ask there tech support for repair advice. Whatever you use you are going to have to remove all of the paint from the damaged area before you make any repairs.
If it was me...
First I would clean up the other wing. Then make a cast of that wing so I have a form for fitting the other wing. After cleaning up the damaged wing, attached the form so you can pour in the new resin. Now, that is me and I have no clue of how to repair fiberglass, but at least I have a concept of how to proceed. Crazy? Probably. LOL
First I would clean up the other wing. Then make a cast of that wing so I have a form for fitting the other wing. After cleaning up the damaged wing, attached the form so you can pour in the new resin. Now, that is me and I have no clue of how to repair fiberglass, but at least I have a concept of how to proceed. Crazy? Probably. LOL
