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Has anyone here used Hull & Deck Putty to bond balsa core to the hull. I was going to just wet it out with resin but for $45 a gallon I'd like to use this for more than fillets. I was told to use this to bond the core. Any tips on laying it down.
i may have done it all wrong but i bedded my balsa into a layer of wet 1.5 oz mat. Thats how Allison did it from the factory, at least in 1970. That being said, i dont think they achieved any better tan about 70-80% contact. Lots of voids found where the mat and balsa had never made contact. I put a lot of effort into trying for more contact and im sure i didnt get 100% but better than it was.
I did used hull and deck putty to bed the stringers and to form fillets. Really made the job go a lot smoother even though it added a little more weight. One thing that helped me with the putty was to put a little gel coat pigment in at the same time you put in the hardener. Makes it much easier to tell if everything is mixed thoroughly
Per recommendation from Joe at Mertons I wet
out the hull with no wax laminating resin and coated the underside of the balsa section going down as well. Then applied the hull and deck putty and used a notched trowel to spread it out. The placed the section in place and firmly pressed around it to ensure it was making good contact with the hull. Weight it down real well and let it cure. Once everything was down the putty is great for doing fillets along the stringers and edges of the core, made getting the glass over the sharp edges super easy.
i don't recall where you got your stuff, but Mertons is a great place for advice on materials and mixing measurements based on the weather. I too had to do mine outside in varying temperature conditions and he shot me in the right direction to get the most working time on the materials before they cured.
Just saw the attachment of the gallon pail,
exact same stuff I used.
a lot of guys lay down glass on the hull first, but I think the resin and putty works just as well and if your broke like me it's a little cheaper and still works just as good!
awesome....thanks guys. I also got mine from Mertons but it was last season so I couldn't remember the layup procedure. I've used Cabisil, for gluing and fillets, but never Hull and deck Putty. it sounds great for bedding the core. working outside im at the mercy of new England weather. I already fumigated my house once going glasswork in my attached garage..... I wont do that to my wife again haha.
I used the hull and deck putty today....I am a big fan. I did a small trial section of core near my drain plug, wet out the bottom of the core, laid down the putty with a notched trowel and away I went. It worked well but the putty is. Very thick. When I did the larger section of core I thinned the putty with resin.....worked awesome, it mixed much easier with the MEKP and it felt like the core really bonded. Weighted down with some cinder blocks and called it a day.
Eric, Sound's like your making some progress. :thumbsup:
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You can see with the thinned out hull and deck putty, it beds really well, and saturates the balsa with resin. Also used some cabisil to glue in some wood for sponson drain plugs.
Looks Good Eric, be sure to give the drain plug hole a good coat of resin too. :cheers:
In the future, you can make your own bedding matl. Use gp resin, cab-o-sil and q-cells. Use mostly q-cells initially and then make it more putty like with the cab-o-sil. Also sold as fumed silica.....Have made my own for years. You added resin to the filler you had. Was too dry. Common problem.....
Great to know, I will keep that in the file of boat knowledge for sure. I really like working with cabosil as it is, so using that as a bedding material must be bulletproof. In fact I just glued and filleted in my sponson in ribs with it. Thanks again.
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sorry for the slow updates, I put a fresh layer of glass over the pad and up the sides of the hull up to the sponson's. up under the bow in next then its time for the stringers. I plan on bedding them down with cabosil than using the hull and deck putty to do my fillet's.
also I will say.....before laying down the fresh glass I rolled on a thin layer of resin just to soak into all those opened up fiberglass pores from all my grinding....then I did the normal lay up. I do not plan on putting core anywhere but the pad. which is done. the rest will be stringers. I did continue the balsa core up under the bow to its original spot.
Very Nice Work !! Looks like it is laid down nice and smooth :thumbsup:
James
Thanks a lot James, with good prep work its really laying out nice.
Looks like you are doing a great job! :thumbsup:
Bob