replaceing keel

davlacey

i want to replace the keel on my boat i took the old one off it was rotten and seperating from the hull. what would be the best thing to use for bonding it? i dont want to have to use long bolts cause i just got the hull watertight i have a pic of what i want to do cheers.

fergal.b

I would go with thickened epoxy, mark out where it's going and rough up the area with sand paper going over your mark about 1/2 inch , coat the keel and hull with the thickened epoxy and put it in place "use weights if you have to" where you came out the 1/2" mask it off along the line and 1/2" up the keel then fill the edges plenty of epoxy and run a spoon along it to give a smooth finish up to the masking tape when your happy remove the tape before it sets.



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davlacey

would epoxy be strong enough? would i need to cover the keel in woven roven or just give it a few coats in epoxy.seen bonding paste but i already have epoxy so ill just use that

fergal.b

It should be strong enough without the cloth although I did bolt mine on as well. If you do wood to wood with epoxy the join should turn out stronger than the wood itself.




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davlacey

it will be wood to fiberglass there is no wood in the stem. ill see what happens i might put a 3" overlap with cloth where it meets the hull just to be sure

fergal.b

If you are going to glass it you will still have to put a curve of thickened epoxy along the keel where it meets the hull as the cloth doesn't like sharp angles. Again like above mark out you want the cloth to finish on the hull with wide masking tape and let the cloth run half way over it then while it is still green "about an hour or two after it's done" run along the masking tape with a sharp blade and peel it away, this should leave you with a nice clean finish.



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davlacey

yea cheers ill try that ill put up a pic when its done. im going to be fiberglassing in ribs and stringers what would be the best way to hold them in place till the fiberglass sets? the boat is upside down so its going to be tricky i bought some fiberlass tape thinking it was sticky but all it is a strip of woven roven

fergal.b

As it's upside down could you prop them up with sticks off the ground and use clamps on the sides. Long reach clamps are easy to make and should work well.