would it work to epoxy new stringer wood into existing tabbing?

[madstories]

I am about to replace stringers in my fiberglass boat. I am desperately running out of time to work on it and I have come up with an idea to save some time. I would like to use epoxy to glue new wood back into the existing tabbing after I remove the wet wood.
Does anybody know any reason why this should not be done this way? Any tips?

 

[tpenfield]

Those time-saving ideas usually lead to an extended timeline on a project. You challenges will be:

Difficulty in getting the existing tabbing 'clean' and 'prepped' enough to accept the epoxy bonding
​Difficulty in getting the existing tabbing to secure to the new wood stringers so that it bonds well
​If you plan on using polyester resin for the remaining aspects of the rebuild, epoxy and polyester don't usually get along and you will have to take extra steps to get the poly to adhere to areas where the epoxy is located.

​Other than those things, it is a slam-dunk

 

[GA_Boater]

I would like to use epoxy to glue new wood back into the existing tabbing

Glue is the right word for what you are wanting to do. The existing tabbing is saturated with cured resin and new resin won't penetrate the cloth, which is where the strength comes from.

 

[madstories]

So as far as prepping the surface, It is coming off pretty clean. I think sanding the inside would be significantly less work than grinding it all away and starting from scratch.
To secure the tabbing to the new wood, i was just thinking of strips of 2x4or 2x6 running lengthwise on both sides and then clamping them together.
I dont think the epoxy will be exposed when finished. The epoxy will only be on the insides of the tabbing. I will then go over top of the old tabbing with polyester fiberglass to cap off the top of it as I would have to cut off this part to get the old wood out.



Difficulty in getting the existing tabbing 'clean' and 'prepped' enough to accept the epoxy bonding
​Difficulty in getting the existing tabbing to secure to the new wood stringers so that it bonds well
​If you plan on using polyester resin for the remaining aspects of the rebuild, epoxy and polyester don't usually get along and you will have to tak

 

[madstories]

Glue is the right word for what you are wanting to do. The existing tabbing is saturated with cured resin and new resin won't penetrate the cloth, which is where the strength comes from.

Wouldnt it be a stronger fix with epoxy? I'm only going off of what I have learned in my research not by experience but I thought that epoxy was a superior glue compared to polyester resin. Even if I was starting from scratch using polyester resin wouldn't the epoxy stick to the wood better? I don't think there is any problems with the way the current tabbing attaches to the hull, and since epoxy sticks better than polyester I can see this fix working out stronger. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[GA_Boater]

I can't comment on poly vs epoxy.

But one more thing is after the wood is removed, the tabs are very brittle. The chances of you prepping the tabs for any "gluing" without bending and breaking the tabs is very slim. Any breaks or fractures in the original tabbing will weaken the end result.

To secure the tabbing to the new wood, i was just thinking of strips of 2x4or 2x6 running lengthwise on both sides and then clamping them together.

The prep for this still involves grinding the tabs to expose raw material or the joint has a good chance of failing because of poor bonding. I don't see any time saving in what you want to do.

 

[kcon]

I think for it to work, besides the prep work and careful grinding between the tabs, you'd have to use a copious amount of epoxy (which isn't cheap) - After setting the epoxy bedding between the tabs then laying the wood down and setting it, I'd apply more layers of tabbing (maybe first cut the existing tabbing down to half the height of the wood, then putting new tabbing up to the top of the wood) and have that fresh tabbing expand out 6" - 12". All in all you're probably better off grinding down the tabbing and starting fresh.

 

[ondarvr]

It can be done, but....

In a normal rebuild the quality of the original work is poor, so trying to save it is a waste of time, so it's easier and quicker to remove the entire stringer and old glass.

The next thing you run into is getting the new wood bonded to the old stringer, the inside surface of the old stringer should be clean and well sanded, and with the old stringer being narrow and tall it's not easy to get in there and do the job well.

Sometimes these things matter and sometimes they don't, same with the type of resin, about 90% of the time you could use either resin and it won't make a difference, maybe 10% of the time epoxy would definatly be a better choice.

 

[Scott Danforth]

a 4.5" carbide blade in a 4.5" die grinder makes quick work of removing the old tabbing. so does a sawzall or a multi-tool

a 24 grit disc on the same 4.5" die grinder makes quick work of removing a layer of gel, resin and glass to properly prep the surface

wear PPE, remove the old, build up the new.....go boating

 

[Woodonglass]

This has been asked multiple times and in my 8 yrs in the forum I?ve never seen it done let alone being faster kinda like the sayin Why do we never have time to do something the right way but...We always have time to do it over

 

[Dennischaves]

Well after doing my glastron and seeing how they were built i would never try this
Just cut,grind and do them over the right way