BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - re-coring deck and ballast work

Bruce

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:05:04 -0400, wrote:

On 19 Jul 2007 19:42:04 -0500, Dave wrote:

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:35:27 -0400, said:

In theory an extremely low viscosity hygroscopic compound will do the
job, but as you can note from my OP, I'm skeptical that such a compound
exists.

Hoo boy! Are you just a little skeptical about the tooth fairy as well? How
about the Easter Bunny?

Really!

Just for openers - if the balsa is still wet, why would it absorb something as
thick or thicker than the water that is already saturating it?

Um.....I think you need to look up "hygroscopic."

Um, I think you need to look up a lot of other terms, including saturated, and
blind faith. Wet moldy rotted balsa is not going to accept much of anything,
regardless of how much you wish it would. This idea of a miracle potion is not
new, and it has been proven to be a complete waste of time money and effort. It
simply doesn't work. If it did, thousands of boats with soggy core would have
been saved from the chainsaw. Show me ONE that has been saved by this method.

The problem is that by the time the decks get soft you probably do not
have any structural material, to amount to anything, left between the
upper and lower deck skins. What you have is a mush of rotted core and
nothing is going to give it any structural integrity. Of course, if
you catch the problem before the core actually rots and is simply
saturated with water there are a number of methods of attempting to
dry out the wet wood.

One can apply a vacuum and I even read an article about someone who
took the door off a microwave oven, disabled the door disconnect, and
laid it face down on the deck. The problem is that none of these
methods are very successful and can result in additional damage to the
deck..

The only real answer is to remove the core and replace it with
something. Whether this be wood, foam, or even epoxy resin, makes no
difference you must, somehow, provide a bond between the upper and
lower deck skins or you do not have the original designed deck
strength.

Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

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