Hello all,
I am working on a Vhull boat and am trying to raise the top section from the
bottom section to repair some flooring.. we have raised most of the top
section off but have come to a halt when trying to completely seperate the 2
sections. The back of the boat has soft yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or
absorbant on it. We are trying to find a way to dissolve it or free it so we
can raise the top half of the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how
to accomplish this.

thanks

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 16:27:15 -0400, "James & Julie Fields"
wrote:

Hello all,
I am working on a Vhull boat and am trying to raise the top section from the
bottom section to repair some flooring.. we have raised most of the top
section off but have come to a halt when trying to completely seperate the 2
sections. The back of the boat has soft yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or
absorbant on it. We are trying to find a way to dissolve it or free it so we
can raise the top half of the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how
to accomplish this.

thanks



Not really practical - do the chip, grind, saw, smash thing. can you
get sharp chisel in there? - use it at an angle.- for funny shapes
heat and heat bend a cheap screwdriver, or broken saw blade.
Can you get a drill bit ( rotary grinder) in there?
Run a skillsaw down the edge?
Sometimes its easier/cheaper/quicker to smash something in an area
least exotic - or the least tricky shape to repair later. So by being
in control, as in putting in a score mark, or saw cut, you direct the
break line - its better than just letting it smash where ever it
chooses. There will be a neat tidy way of doing it somehow.
The window guys - have a heavy knife they smack with a hammer.
My favourite tool - is the angle grinder, nothing much beats it.

If you put a charge out rate to your time - it draws the line on quite
a few exotic methods and brings up the timeline - While you can be in
and out of there without to much fuss. ( but you should have a good
toolbox) - so money invested in tools -or time wasted? - its a trade
off thing. Most guys just grind it out - As in playing with chemicals
can give you more grief than its worth.

The more tools in the kit, the better. Another useful tool for such surgical
demolition projects is the Fein multimaster detail sander with a HSS 'cast
cutter' blade.

Bruce Taylor wrote:

--On Monday, July 07, 2003 4:27 PM -0400 James & Julie Fields
wrote:

[...] we have raised most of the top section off but have come to a halt
when
trying to completely seperate the 2 sections. The back of the boat has
soft
yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or absorbant on it. [...]

While it sounds slightly different (I've never heard of a soft epoxy!) I
recently had a similar joy with a Wellcraft "restoration".

After removing the various screws holding the rubrail to the shoebox hull
joint and removing the screws under the rubrail, I still could not separate
the hull halves near the stern.

It turned out that the builder had adding some lateral plywood bracing
between the two sections aft, and had also built a 'step' on the transom
with gobs of epoxy on top, onto which the upper hull had been lowered. The
plywood laterals were then globbed with epoxy as well.

To deal with the lateral bracing, I wound up using (abusing!) a Sawzall
with a long blade, working up from the bilges. When I ran out of room to
swing the saw up, I had to use a large hole saw to create access holes on
the inner topsides for some drilling to start further sawzall action. FYI:
The epoxy was loaded with silica, which just ate up the sawzall blades, so
I mostly tried to cut the plywood whenever possible.

The 'step with gobs of epoxy' was dealt with by whacking at the plywood
step with an improvised chisel: about 3' of 3/16" mild steel with a chisel
edge ground in (and renewed often). That and some sawzall action finally
broke the step loose. Again, the epoxy was about indestructable.

Once the hull halves were separated I cleaned up the damage. The access
holes were later covered with standard 6" screw-in covers. Actually, the
holes worked nicely when lifting the upper hull -- I just ran a 4x4 between
the holes.

A small angle grinder is essential for this sort of work -- but I had
problems using it in the above separation. Lying on your back in a cramped
bilge compartment and using a grinder is a really nasty experience, even
with a moonsuit! Wear a *good* respirator and goggles!

I'd point you towards some detailed pictures, but the website is
presently backlogged by about a year (I'll be catching up in August or
September, I hope!) http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/blt/index.html

Best of luck,

- Bruce

James & Julie Fields wrote:

Hello all,
I am working on a Vhull boat and am trying to raise the top section from the
bottom section to repair some flooring.. we have raised most of the top
section off but have come to a halt when trying to completely seperate the 2
sections. The back of the boat has soft yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or
absorbant on it. We are trying to find a way to dissolve it or free it so we
can raise the top half of the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how
to accomplish this.

thanks

epoxies soften with heat and can then be chipped away. Might try a heat gun...

paul oman
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html


--


================================================== =====
PAUL OMAN ----- Progressive Epoxy Polymers, Inc.
Frog Pond Hollow - 48 Wildwood Dr - Pittsfield NH 03263
603-435-7199 FAX 603-435-7182 VISA/MC/Discover
http://www.epoxyproducts.com
Boating site: http://www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html
================================================== ======

I've tried many, many, solvents on epoxy. (Pardon the spelling.
It's late and my spell check doesn't do basic chemisty.) The only
thing that I found that seemes to work consistantly is something like
the Butyl Lactone solution used to remove flux from circuit boards. It
doesn't seem to dig into phynolic matricies, but most epoxies I've
tried it in fell right atart. DO NOT get this on anything that you
want to keep and re-use. Small drops ate clean through a plastic
windshield I wanted to keep, Caused latex gloves to stick to my hands.
It also ate my blue tarp and made a glob out of it. Test it on small
areas first. Some substances it turnes to goo, while others it caused
to become embrittled and crazed. It seems to clean up with acitone or
soapy water. It becomes terribly exothermic when reacting with basic
compounds. (LIKE SOAP)
Good Luck.
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 16:27:15 -0400, "James & Julie Fields"
wrote:

Hello all,
I am working on a Vhull boat and am trying to raise the top section from the
bottom section to repair some flooring.. we have raised most of the top
section off but have come to a halt when trying to completely seperate the 2
sections. The back of the boat has soft yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or
absorbant on it. We are trying to find a way to dissolve it or free it so we
can raise the top half of the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions on how
to accomplish this.

thanks

The short answer is almost none. Fully cured epoxy is one of the most
solvent resistant polymer systems known. It can be softened by very
strong, but difficult to handle, solvents like dimethylformamide, but
because of its high molecular weight and inherent chemical resistance
it is practically not removable by chemical means.

http://www.hisglassworks.com/pages/attack.html seem to think
otherwise. A hot air gun can also heat epoxy to over 225 C which will
soften it to the consistency of brown sugar.

"FCC Director" wrote in message
...
| I've tried many, many, solvents on epoxy. (Pardon the spelling.
| It's late and my spell check doesn't do basic chemisty.) The only
| thing that I found that seemes to work consistantly is something
like
| the Butyl Lactone solution used to remove flux from circuit boards.
It
| doesn't seem to dig into phynolic matricies, but most epoxies I've
| tried it in fell right atart. DO NOT get this on anything that you
| want to keep and re-use. Small drops ate clean through a plastic
| windshield I wanted to keep, Caused latex gloves to stick to my
hands.
| It also ate my blue tarp and made a glob out of it. Test it on small
| areas first. Some substances it turnes to goo, while others it
caused
| to become embrittled and crazed. It seems to clean up with acitone
or
| soapy water. It becomes terribly exothermic when reacting with basic
| compounds. (LIKE SOAP)
| Good Luck.
| On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 16:27:15 -0400, "James & Julie Fields"
| wrote:
|
| Hello all,
| I am working on a Vhull boat and am trying to raise the top section
from the
| bottom section to repair some flooring.. we have raised most of the
top
| section off but have come to a halt when trying to completely
seperate the 2
| sections. The back of the boat has soft yet dense "epoxy" type
sealant or
| absorbant on it. We are trying to find a way to dissolve it or free
it so we
| can raise the top half of the boat. Does anyone have any
suggestions on how
| to accomplish this.
|
| thanks
|
|