Mast step top edge damage

[raymie]

Hi, I have a problem with the mast step edge of my laser. There is a section of about 2" long on the top edge of the hole that i have repaired with fibreglass but keeps coming away. Does anyone know the best way to deal with this? The rest of the edge is ok and the boat is pristine apart from this. I am staring to get a bit worried that it may be more of a problem than i first thought. R.

 

[49208]

A pic would be helpful, and also describe what your repair technique was and if what type of resin you used... Normally you should be able to grind away to bare glass, clean with acetone, and build it back up with mat/resin for a perm fix.

 

[Al Black]

Raymie, if you want to follow 49208's advice I have mat and resin which you're welcome to use, so long as I can come along, drink Tartan and offer unhelpful advice!

Enjoyed the Sunday afternoon blast and I've got a few folk lined up (mainly rowers!) for the naming party this Saturday!

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Orrabest,

Al.

 

[sidewinder]

I made a similar repair recently. I used a technique similar to the one shown on Governails website.
http://schrothfiberglass.com/maststep.htm

Grind it down fill it back up. I only did about half way around my step hole. I've sailed on it twice and so far I'm not seeing any signs of cracking.

There's no doubt you can make it strong, it's making it pretty that is the hard part.

 

[raymie]

Raymie, if you want to follow 49208's advice I have mat and resin which you're welcome to use, so long as I can come along, drink Tartan and offer unhelpful advice!

Enjoyed the Sunday afternoon blast and I've got a few folk lined up (mainly rowers!) for the naming party this Saturday!

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Orrabest,

Al.

Thanks Al, There will probably be more tartan drinking than fixin but i'm ok with that if you are. This recurring mast step things got me worried tho. When i bought the boat the guy told me it had been repaired but i didnt think it would be as much of a problem as it has been . One of the guys at the club suggested araldite? would make sense as it normally bonds very effectively to most materials, any advice on that? I know pics would be helpful, the damage is right on the edge of the hole and is 40mm x6mm all on the edge.

 

[raymie]

I made a similar repair recently. I used a technique similar to the one shown on Governails website.
http://schrothfiberglass.com/maststep.htm

Grind it down fill it back up. I only did about half way around my step hole. I've sailed on it twice and so far I'm not seeing any signs of cracking.

There's no doubt you can make it strong, it's making it pretty that is the hard part.

Thanks for the advice sidewinder. I have ground the mast step at 45 degrees from the damage (took more advice from a former laser builder, not laser direct!) and filled with west system resin and matt and then gelcoat the top and sanded to a finish. Had it out last night racing and it has held so far, so fingers crossed? R.

 

[sidewinder]

I'm glad you tackled the project.

For future reference, I've heard gelcoat does not stick very well to Epoxy. You may experience some of that gelcoat popping off.