Anyone local have a tablesaw? Coffin recore.......

[gofastsandman]

Hey,
Well I`m doin the dirty deed. Pullin the coffin cover as it`s fractured. Gonna try n save it. I`m thinking I can set a dado blade at the right height and put up a couple of fences and rip cut the core out. Happy to supply food , beer, a dado blade and anything else within reason. How bout a fishing trip. I buy n fly.

Hoping not to pull the tank. Gonna take a core sample of the foam and see if it`s wet. It was pretty nicely caulked except the areas that are not accessible w/ out popping the console.I`m taking pictures and taggin n baggin. Hope to avoid a complete disconnect. Will post pics when I`m up to speed. My 1st new digi cam came w/ software I cant get to load on my laptop or 1 at work..... with help

Thx,
GFS

[JohnB]

There is an easier way.
Take an angle grinder and go around the edges of the existing coring. Then take a pry bar, and the top glass will lift right off. Then find a loose spot between the coring and the inner skin, and start working that. I uncored my live well hatch 52x42 in 2 hours yesterday.
Is your coring wood or foam? if it's original, it's eather balsa or plywood. The balsa actually puts up a little more of a fight, but for that, since it is so soft, I just put a big wire wheel on a grinder, and it demolishes it pretty fast. If you skin is already cracked/broken, you just have to be real careful not to make it worse.
When you put it back together, you might want to used epoxy instead of regular glass.
I have a moisture meter, but without seeing it, I would bet it's wet. Almost every one of these old boats has wet coring. I don't care if its a potter or what, they did a poor job of sealing the bottoms of most of these hatches. They were strong, just not water-tight. I doubt they were wondering if it would hold up 30+ years when they built them.

[gofastsandman]

Hey John,
I recored the forward 2 hatches and the bond was still a bear. Just cracked and failed. Not really wet aside from the foam. Ply core and foam in the beveled edges. The riggers hit the core w/ the pull screws.

Popped the console and propped it up 5". It looks like it`ll walk right out the splashwell. Just enough room under the console foam forward under the cooler to get to the 4 invisible screws in the coffin.

Yes I`m taking pics.

Thanks for the epoxy tip, I`d been considering that.
I`m not used to flashing epoxy any tips?

Hopefully, I can use a cutoff wheel and putty knives/flat bars etc. But last time I was close to disaster. Snap is not something I need to hear. I`m voting for mulch.

GFS

[GradySailfish]

Epoxy is somewhat easier to work with then Poly resin...its take a lot longer before it kicks off, giving you time to make corrections as it sets.

Epoxy is also stronger and will be more forgiving if you make a mistake with lets say no properly prepping the piece or what not.

But...epoxy requires very exact measurements when mixing.

Good Luck....sounds like your making good progress.

[gofastsandman]

Thanks for the help,

It`s still hot here and the poly was killing me w/ a 15 min work time. I am thorough and exacting when it comes to prep and mixing. Didn`t think I`d be this far along either
GFS

[JohnB]

This is what I have learned about epoxy vs glass.

Epoxy is much easier to work with that glass. I still build things out of glass, like livewells and cap/patches, but if anything needs to be attached or stitched together, epoxy is the only way to go. You get a much stronger bond than with glass, especially to coring materials or old glass. Epoxy actually has a secondary/chemical bond with glass when you applying it to old glass. New glass on old glass only has a physical bond, and prep is CRITICAL. Not so much with epoxy, it will stick to old shiny glass.

I get all my stuff from Bateau out of Vero Beach. They have a great message board, and great technical support. Delivered to my door, epoxy is about 70 bucks a gallon for their "MarineEpoxy" product. As far as exact measurements, it is a 2:1 ratio, and for small amounts, I use the pumps, and for the big amounts, graduated cups, no big deal.

I have tore a bunch of factory and after factory stuff apart, and it amazes me how easy most of it comes apart. I only had to tear some epoxy based stuff apart once, and that stuff has an incredible bond to glass and penetration into coring materials. The material the epoxy is connected to will give way before the epoxy does. Also, glass kicks in 15 min, and whatever soaks in, in that short period of time is all there is, epoxy will soak in for hours, and if you use the slow cure in cooler temps, many hours. Epoxy is waterproof, glass IS NOT. I think that is why there is so many coring failure with glass hatches.