hdco1313
New Member
First post here in the forum. After getting tired of recruiting crew for my catamaran, I recently bought a used Laser and with the tips from posts here, completed the first repair--fixing a delamination in the bow hull/deck joint from someone ramming a dock or something long ago.
Here are the steps:
--Dug out old, rotten foam with a cordless Dremel (great tool for 70 bucks) and the round ball bit.
--Sanded inside of slot so epoxy would stick.
--Cleaned with acetone
--Put down a first layer of WEST with some high-density filler, but left it fairly liquid so that it would fill cracks down deep. Waited overnight for it to dry.
--Roughened new epoxy layer with dremel and sanded the sides. Blew out debris with canned air and wiped out remainder with wet rag.
--Taped inside and outside with clear packing tape and cut tape down so that it stuck up about 1/2" above the joint.
--Mixed another batch of WEST 105, added more high density filler this time, and added chopped fiberglass cloth. Packed mixture in the joint with the tape forming a mold.
--Waited overnight, removed tape and used rough-sanding wheel on Dremel to remove about 3/8" of the excess built-up resin. I was surprised by how easily it sanded.
--Used flat sander to get it down to the height I wanted--just covering the intact parts of the joint and building up the flaked away parts.
--Hand sanded the inside and outside edges with a sanding block to take off the sharp edges.
--Completed job with light sanding using 600 to smooth it all out.
It's not a work of art, but feels very solid and strong.
Anyone who has researched these jobs on this forum will no doubt recognize every step...so THANKS LASERFORUM!!!
Here are the before and after pictures (I hope...have not posted here before so not sure the pictures will attach)
Here are the steps:
--Dug out old, rotten foam with a cordless Dremel (great tool for 70 bucks) and the round ball bit.
--Sanded inside of slot so epoxy would stick.
--Cleaned with acetone
--Put down a first layer of WEST with some high-density filler, but left it fairly liquid so that it would fill cracks down deep. Waited overnight for it to dry.
--Roughened new epoxy layer with dremel and sanded the sides. Blew out debris with canned air and wiped out remainder with wet rag.
--Taped inside and outside with clear packing tape and cut tape down so that it stuck up about 1/2" above the joint.
--Mixed another batch of WEST 105, added more high density filler this time, and added chopped fiberglass cloth. Packed mixture in the joint with the tape forming a mold.
--Waited overnight, removed tape and used rough-sanding wheel on Dremel to remove about 3/8" of the excess built-up resin. I was surprised by how easily it sanded.
--Used flat sander to get it down to the height I wanted--just covering the intact parts of the joint and building up the flaked away parts.
--Hand sanded the inside and outside edges with a sanding block to take off the sharp edges.
--Completed job with light sanding using 600 to smooth it all out.
It's not a work of art, but feels very solid and strong.
Anyone who has researched these jobs on this forum will no doubt recognize every step...so THANKS LASERFORUM!!!
Here are the before and after pictures (I hope...have not posted here before so not sure the pictures will attach)
