Making good transom?

Fishery Pokery · 01 May 2009, 21:58

Hi,
When I bought one of my sibs (A zodiac) I made some launching wheels. I now would prefer something a little more professional, but was wondering what I should do with the holes I drilled in the transom? My transom is a type of wood, painted black. Do you insert some dowel? And how do you waterproof them?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Geoff

codprawn · 01 May 2009, 23:16

Use epoxy resin - you can use dowels or epoxy mixed with sawdust/filler - or both!!!

prairie tuber · 02 May 2009, 00:14

Use a hardwood dowel that fits snugly in the hole, coat it with a MARINE epoxy, and tap the dowel into the hole. Cut the excess dowel length flush to the transom.

jyasaki · 03 May 2009, 06:02

I assume you're talking bolt holes for your old wheels?

If you sealed the holes when you installed your old wheels, then do as PT says, but recoat the inside of the holes with epoxy first before tapping in the coated dowels.

If you didn't seal them when you bolted in your wheels, do a thorough investigation (picking, prodding, filing, etc) to make sure the area around the holes isn't rotting. Pick out any and all compromised wood, and rebuild with thickened epoxy (as Cod said.)

jky

Fishery Pokery · 04 May 2009, 06:57

Thanks guys!
I know there will be a difference between marine epoxy and a normal one, but what is it?
Cheers,
Geoff

AndrewH · 04 May 2009, 10:52

Some epoxy resins will take up water and swell a little, others will weaken after prolonged immersion in water. To be fair this is a very limited subset of all the commercially available epoxy resin/hardener systems, but "marine epoxies" don't have those problems

The other factor that is often used as a justification for "marine epoxy" is that it will set in a reasonable time without the need for temperature. I know several epoxy systems that are great for water use, but take weeks to cure at 20 deg C, and really need to be cured at 80 deg C

HTH

codprawn · 04 May 2009, 14:09

On a SIB I would be quite happy to use normal Araldite or any other normal DIY epoxy. I wouldn't go for the rapid set ones - the normal cure would be fine. And they are meant for normal room temperatures as well.

If you are worried about immersion I used Araldite to fix inside the toilet cistern 10 years ago and it's still fine!!!

Fishery Pokery · 05 May 2009, 19:45

Thanks very much for all your help.
To be honest I may go with the arildyte as pennies are tight and I have bought loads of things like sikaflex etc and only used tiny bits and wasted the rest.
Plus the part of the transom to make good is above the waterline.
Thanks again guys!
Geoff