Stanchion Base Repair - Another Approach

Dana, #99

On my boat the sentence: "there probably isn't much core there to begin with since its on the outer rim of the deck and the core probably starts just inward of the stanchions" - was pretty much the situation that I found.

My solution was to use a small diameter hole saw (3/4" - 1" diameter) to cut out the top layer of glass and balsa core only. It was then a simple chore to excavate the remaining core out from between the two glass layers. I excavated beyond the bolt circle of the stanchion bases. This cavity was then filled with epoxy thickened with 404 high density filler. To my mind this seals off the bolt holes from the core as well as providing a solid base for the stanchions to be secured through.

I have an additional plan in the works- it has always bothered me that the majority of the hardware is bolted directly to the deck- that is, flush with the deck. Water constantly sits on or runs over and around the fasteners and their mounting holes. Sealant or caulking is all that keeps the water out. Obviously, this is what causes most deck problems in the long run.

I have been molding glass and epoxy pads of various shapes and sizes to install to the decks. I have settled on 3/8" thick as a good number. These pads are then epoxy bonded to the deck. This results in a solid waterproof base (or boss) for the hardware to be mounted to. All hardware is now 3/8" above the deck surface. I believe that this will also add more overall strength to those areas of potential strain.

I firmly believe that this will be one of the biggest improvements to the chainplates on #99 as well.

I have also molded similar bosses for the gas filler plate, water fill plate and holding tank pump out plate as well.

I use epoxy since that is what I have. Polyester would work too- but I would still want to bond the pads to the boat with epoxy- so why not use epoxy from the start? I also use 1708 Biaxial cloth glass. Five layers of 1708 yields a blank that finishes to 3/8". Other scrap glass; cloth, matt or roving would work also- these types of glass require more layers which means more cutting of glass pieces. Your choice.

Mold selection is the fun part. I measure the base of the part to determine the rough pad size needed. With notes and tape measure in hand a trip to a budget store with a kitchen supply section will provide all sorts of potential molds; plastic containers, baking tins, tupper style tubs of different diameters or shapes, etc. Household disposable pots, butter tubs, yogurt containers, coolwhip tubs, etc. may work also. I found an oddly shaped plastic tub that worked nicely for the A4 shifter plate base. A plastic stick butter container made perfect chainplate blanks.

The important thing is to measure the inside of the container to determine the size needed. Also, you need a smooth surface along with a pleasing radius at the bottom of the container- 1/4"-3/8" works well. Inexpensive metal baking pans work also- I used an 8" x 8" metal cake pan for the mooring bitt base.

Once I have chosen the containers to use as molds I make a cardboard pattern of the glass shape needed to fill the mold. This makes it easy to mark the cut line on the glass with a sharpie or marker. Heavy duty shears suitable for glass cutting will make the job much easier. I mark on the cardboard pattern the number of glass layers needed and the final part name. It is essential to precut all of the glass layers needed for each molding run. You do not want to be cutting glass layers while your resin it hardening in the pot.

The chosen mold should be cleaned, polished with auto paste wax (min three coats) a spray with kitchen non stick coating helps (Pam or equiv). The more identical molds you have the more parts you can produce at one time. I needed eight round pads for the bow and stern pulpits. One mold would require eight sessions- two molds four sessions, etc. Epoxy pot life requires that you work quickly- slow hardener helps this process.

Pour just enough resin into the mold to coat the inside- rotate, tip, etc, to do this. Lay in a layer of precut glass and saturate with resin using a cheap disposable brush. Repeat until the mold is properly filled.

Once the glass blanks are molded, cured and popped from the mold- a large bench type belt sander will simplify the finishing of the bottom side. It is useful, if not messy, to size the pads to a common thickness - 3/8" works well for most- my chainplate pads are a bit thinner- the mooring bitt base is closer to 1/2"-5/8". Epoxy does like not to be molded much thicker than 3/8" in one shot- the resin can cook if much deeper- again, slow hardener makes the resin more tolerant. Any imperfections (and there will be some) can be touched up with epoxy filler later.

I like to predrill and counter sink the mounting holes in the pad prior to bonding to the boat. In this way, the pads must be positioned exactly in place so that the final part will assemble to the boat correctly. Prior to pad bonding, I make certain that I have previously drilled oversize and epoxy filled all through deck bolt holes- this ensures that all fasteners will be fully separated from any deck core. The same approach is used for the larger through holes needed for deck fills, chain pipes, vents, etc. I like to use correct size heavy duty hole saws.

I am installing pads to the cabin top also. Winch base pads, under rope clutch pads and line organizer pads are in the works. I had significant core damage on one side of the cabin top- this should prevent any future issues.

The final object is to finish up with an array of waterproof molded deck pads that look like they came from the factory.

A sample of Dana's craftsmanship