On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 09:29:01 GMT, "Stevens" <tropicrows RemoveThis @dodo.com.au>
wrote:
>Hi there,
>
>
>
>I need to fit a new rubber strip around the gun-whale of a fibreglass boat
>that I have been restoring for some time. I removed the old strip, removed
>all the old resin holding in place, and cleaned up the joint where the hull
>and deck join. I don't how many types of these strips there are, but this
>one is pushed over the fibreglass join and is held in place with epoxy or
>polyester resin.
>
>Now for the question what method/process should I use to fix the new one in
>place. The last thing I want is to stuff this up and end up with resin
>getting onto the newly painted hull and deck and the rubber strip not
>looking good. All help with this matter will be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
>Regards Bruce.
>
If you can, try and dry fit the whole thing and see where the problems
might be- going around corners or whatever.
Put bits of tape with pencil markings or snips cut out, like a dress
maker does on both the hull and strip to align the fit for length. If
it fits snug into a inner rail guide or something and has no puckering
problems and looks fine when it's dry fit, then you don't need any
clamps or at least clamps that don't exert much pressure.
If you have the extra material try testing different glues because I'm
not so sure that epoxy will bond rubber to fiberglass.
If you need to clamp I'd probably use some thin strips of ripped scrap
lumber and lots of those orange hand clamps to hold it while the glue
dried. If the rubber rail doesn't deform when you clamp it (as it may
actually be a hard plastic or something) you wouldn't need the strips-
they're just in place to distribute the clamp pressure more evenly.
Tape off the newly painted work beforehand and watch for drips as the
clamps are fitted. Don't use old yellow masking tape, use that blue or
green painters tape or you can lift fresh paint pretty easily, which
is a very saddening experience. You can tape up a diaper with plastic
sheeting if you're really worried. This is niggle work and goes better
with two people. You can thicken epoxy if necessary with talcum powder
or exotic fillers so it doesn't drip as much.
You can also use West System G5 5 minute epoxy or similar to hold
specific problem areas in place while the other adhesive dries. You
could use G5 for the whole thing, I guess if you had your moves down.
This is very usefull if you have a section that can't be clamped or
fastened for whatever reason. It can also be mixed in very small lots.
Before you perform the work try a full dress rehearsal from start to
finish where all the tools and helpers and clean up stuff and
everything you can think of is logically at hand and laid out in order
of use.
Few battle plans survive the first 15 seconds of engagement anyway so
you'll have plenty of room for panicked improvisation as well, of
course. Good luck, how I envy you.
>> Stay informed about: fixing a rubber gun whale strip 
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