Keel crack repair using G/flex
Bill Baxter
FWIW I offer the following excerpts from the Persistence Log, spring of 2016:
“The keel crack is open from forward to aft on both sides. I have been patching and over-painting for years, but the 2015 summer on the hard opened it up in a major way. It's time, anyway, the ablative paint builds up over time, and we need to clean the entire bottom and start over. But first, the keel joint. Resident guru tells me “Eh, not so bad, 3-4 days, a little sand blasting, a little G/flex, a little West, some priming and a lot of dollars” will fix my fin keel up to the turn of the bilge.”
“The work on the hull has progressed, and the keel crack is ground, (not sand-blasted after all), filled with G/flex by West, a very strong and flexible version of West epoxy, thickened with colloidal somethings or others, then covered by a layer of FG cloth and then by a top coat fabric called a veil. Tomorrow, all will be filled and faired using thickened West epoxy. Then primed with an epoxy paint by West. Then the AquaGuard bottom paint.”
From West Web site:
650-8 G/flex Toughened Epoxy
A toughened, versatile, liquid epoxy for permanent waterproof bonding of fiberglass, ceramics, metals, plastics, damp and difficult-to-bond woods. With a modulus of elasticity of 150,000 PSI, it is a bit more flexible than standard epoxies and polyester, but much stiffer than adhesive sealants. This gives G/flex 650 the ability to make structural bonds that can absorb the stress of expansion, contraction, shock, and vibration. It is ideal for bonding dissimilar materials. It can be modified with West System fillers and additives, and used to wet-out fiberglass tapes and fabrics.
I have been assured that this keel crack repair will last at least five years, and at haul out this fall it looked good, despite some entirely unintended exercise this season on rock bottoms in the North Channel of Lake Huron. I include some pix of the repaired keel before launch.
Bill Baxter
Persistence NS30 #507
Penetang, ON
Island_Moose
Exact same issue when I hauled Wireless out 2 years ago. I removed all of the old filler around the keel joint, then filled the crack with flexible caulking, and then faired the works with thickened epoxy.
Jim Johnston, 1985 NS30U "Minou", Ottawa
William Baxter
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Jim Johnston
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