Bedding Hardware

[Perry]

Any recommendations on bedding metal hardware like cleats and stem bands
on painted wood. I have heard besides fastenings that some use silicone
adhesive as well. Any thoughts?




--
Perry

[Mark Reuten]

Hi Perry,

The purpose of bedding metal hardware is to protect the wooden
substrate against condensation and trapped moisture and prevent water
incursion through the fastener holes.
The paint itself will take care of the first job up to a point but the
best solution involves using a heavier sticky material. 3M 5200,
Sikaflex 291 and other adhesive polyurethanes work well and may be a
good choice on parts that come under strain such as cleats but on a
wooden boat we often prefer products that are more easily removable.
Consider non-curing products like Boatlife (http://
www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2770&familyName=Boatlife+Life-Calk+)
which is a polysulfide or an oil based product like Dolfinite (http://
www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=4400).
Household window glazing compound or plumbers putty make reasonable
substitutes for Dolfinite but they may require a little thinning with
linseed oil.
I also know of a few old time shipwrights who have turned to mastics
used in exterior household applications.

[Tom Dacon]

I'll second Mark's suggestion to use Dolfinite.

Speaking from 35 years of wooden boat maintenance experience, you want to be
using something that's easily removable. You'll re-bed those fittings over
and over as the years go by. no matter what you use - don't ever think that
you're doing it "for the last time". Something like 5200 is so permanent
that it's nearly impossible to break the bond without doing damage to the
underlying finish if not the wood itself. Dolfinite stays nice and flexible,
both above and below the waterline, and is easy to clean up and easy to
re-bed.

When you assemble the fittings over the bedding compound, you need to be
careful not to squeeze it all out as you tighten things up. If you squeeze
it all back out, you might as well not have put any down there at all.
Tighten it up pretty snug, let it sit for a few days or a week, and then
come back and give the screws another quarter turn or so.

Like Mark, I occasionally use Boatlife too, and it seems to work OK as long
as you don't get crazy and try to use it on deck seams where it's completely
useless.

Tom


"Perry" wrote in message news:Perry....@boatbanter.com...

[Ratgrattysymn]

I have done a lot of glass bedding. What I wanted to know is what parts
of the action, and barrel do you bed for the best accuracy? I was going
to pillar bed it like the the original plastic stock, but there is not
much wood to work with.
Frank




--
Ratgrattysymn