Rub Strake alternative material in sheet form

[Bigtalljv]

Hi,

Does anybody know of a sheet rubber product that I can use in place of rub strake? I need a 2'x2' sheet of it for the nose of my Zodiac. I'm in the USA. I have had no luck finding the basic gray material that was used on my Zodiac. I even contacted a UK dealer or two but they never got back to me after the second email. Color not important as I will hopefully go with a big enough sheet to make it look OK.

Thanks,
Jason

[GQMF]

How thick does it have to be? Most rubrails are EPDM rubber (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer); I'm considering to order from technorubberind.com however they don't seem to sell sheets. Their rubrails are specifically made for sib/rib... and cheap... 80ft@ 3" for about $200. A quick google of "EPDM sheet" tells me 1/4" 40sq.ft will cost you about $100... that's in the form of a gym floor mat ... same material; just find the right finish, smooth, glossy, whatever... I'm all for using materials other than their build purpose...

[Bigtalljv]

Yeah! the EPDM label is what I was looking for. I had no idea what the type of rubber was and there sure are a lot of them. Thickness isn't important, 1/8 maybe? 3/16?

I cut most of the strake off the bow section of my zodiac repairing holes and figured I would just slap a big sheet over it rather than thy to replace the old material. it needs to be 18"x18" or so.

Thanks,
Jason

[GQMF]

Here... I'll make it even easier for you... they also have Neoprene which is (I thought) what the backside of Hypalon fabric is anyway... though EPDM is more durable I think... click here! or click here! you just use the standard 2K hypalon glues for it... enjoy, Peter

[jyasaki]

Sheet EPDM is available (I think) at McMaster-Carr.

jky

[Boatnomad]

Someone somewhere sure was desperate to cover their bow

[Bigtalljv]

thanks guys! Any idea on the right hardness for this application? I imagine it's medium to meduim hard (40A or 50A) at the most. Seems like the hard options would be too inflexible.

Thanks,
Jason

[jyasaki]

Sounds right to me. Though with a proper glue job, I doubt it would be a problem either way.

jky

[GQMF]

I would think harder than that would be ok as well; It's still EPDM; it's not like harder means it becomes a hard brittle sheet suddenly... in the end you're only trying to bend 18" over a 50cm dia tube... on top of that; the softer it is the easier it will scuff and thus go ugly on you I'd think...

[Bigtalljv]

i ended up emailing the technorubber people and they were willing to sell me a small amount. Very happy!

Jason

[GQMF]

Glad to hear; they seem to be good people... pls update with the result... I will probably be following suit soon if you like the result... thanks, Peter