77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

[fishbone77]

Hey, I'm restoring a 77 skeeter that my father-in-law gave me. It sat outside for several years and not suprisingly, after tear-down, the transom and the floor were both rotten, so I removed them and would like to rebuild them this summer. I'm on a limited budget, so I was wondering if there were any good marine epoxies on the market for a lower cost than West System or ADTECH...

I'm wondering if anybody has used MAXBOND low-visc. epoxy for something structural, like transom repair, and what kind of results they had?

At this point, my plan is to laminate exterior grade plywood together with epoxy and shape out the new transom; seal it with 3 coats unthickened epoxy, glass the interior side of the transom with 2 layers of 17oz. fiberglass cloth and mat (alternating). I'll epoxy the transom to the outer shell, and fill any gaps around it with an epoxy/filler mix. Then, planning on glassing along the interior transom seams (where it meets the hull). Any tips or pointers welcome!

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Welcome to iboats Dry Dock..

No I haven't used the MAXBOND, but why do you need it. Just use polyester resin for the whole transom repair, it's what your boat was made from.

To laminate the two pieces together epoxy is okay, but I just use a layer of CSM between the layers with poly, and clamp it slightly till it cures (You don't need heavy clamping, just enough to hold it good and flat) Once that has cured you can do the same to attach it to the outter skin of the transom. You may need several layers of CSM there, it all depends on how flat the outter skin is on your application.

Note: Have everything ready before you proceed (matt cut, clamps ready, wood prepped, etc) since you're on a bit of a time limit once you mix the resin. Good to make a trial run without resin to make sure you're ready.

 

[proshine43]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Hello cadwelder. I have used maxbond epoxy, but only for nonstructural. I used uscomposite for the transom and stringers and im using maxbond for things like filleting, and the bottom of the deck sealing and minor things like that. Its a little more thick than i would like so i thin it out a little with acetone. Hopefully others on here have more of an opinion than i do but so far its holding up.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

I'm in that other thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=442241

And I probably made or am in another Maxbond thread somehwere on here IIRC.

I used Maxbond low-viscosity epoxy when I replaced my deck. I also used it for a lot of silica-thickened fills and fillets. I did not need to replace my transom, but if I had I would not have hesitated to use it. Especially at about 1/3 the cost of epoxy resin at local West Marine.

I too found it necessary to thin ~25% with solvent when sealing wood, and ~10% when glassing. Do not mix up more than about 1 qt of it at a time, or it will get very hot, burn you, and set up instantly.

The catalyst (yellow part) is much thicker than the resin, so warm the bottle it in a bowl of warm water first. The resin (clear part) can crystallize if it gets too cold, but a warm water bottle soak fixes that.

 

[proshine43]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

I wish i would have read this about 2 weeks ago. I just threw out a bottle that was hard cause i left it out in the cold. I agree with your description, i never thought about warming it first.

 

[fishbone77]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Hey guys, thanks for all the input. After reading some of the other forums, it seems like the question of polyester vs. epoxy is kind of a divided topic. I guess Cadwelder, the reason that I had settled on epoxy was just that somewhere I read that epoxy binds better to wood and that there would be less problems with any wood shrinkage? I live in Michigan, so this could be significant - is that true? Some other things I gleaned:

1) polyester is less expensive (nice!),
2) polyester may be a little more complicated to work with in terms of having waxed and unwaxed types,
3) polyester can be used with all types of fiberglass mat (vs. epoxy that can't)

We're not here to solve the world's debate about polyester vs. epoxy, but it sounds like you guys have done this before - can anyone confirm if I understand this right? Like I said before, for me cheaper is better, but I'm also a beginner so I don't want to bugger up the project and end up spending more in the end...

 

[tschmidty]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

There are pro and cons, and I will use both for different applications. Bottom line epoxy is better but more expensive. It bonds better, is stronger all around, doesn't shrink (which can cause cracking which is why you have to use cloth for the most part), but it is more expensive and is overkill for many applications.

Polyester works quite well and there is no reason you can't use it everywhere. For transom bonding, I think polyester works just fine. For my floor, I used epoxy because I didn't want to use as much cloth and I was concerned about the flexing of the floor where the more brittle nature of polyester had me concerned.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Both resins will work and hold up for a very long time, in the end it won't really make a difference in which one you use.

 

[fishbone77]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Polyester works quite well and there is no reason you can't use it everywhere. For transom bonding, I think polyester works just fine. For my floor, I used epoxy because I didn't want to use as much cloth and I was concerned about the flexing of the floor where the more brittle nature of polyester had me concerned.

Thanks Tschmidty and ondarvr for your replies,

I had one question - Tschmidty, you mentioned that you used epoxy on the floor because you could use less cloth - What are the differences in the layup if you use a polyester resin? I'm working on a 1977 skeeter bass boat and will need to replace the transom and also the floor.

Also, I looked up US composites polyester resins last night (not sure if I'll use them yet, but wanted to do a little research) and to my understanding "wax" is a sanding agent that is added only with the final layer of your polyester resin? Do I need to do this and sand between every layer of fiberglass? Or just on the top layer?

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

The wax is added for curing. The wax comes to the top to seal off air so the resin will cure tack free. I never used waxed resin at all....

Ondarvr nailed it, both resins are okay.....so it's a cost thing now....guess who wins...

 

[tschmidty]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

As far as layup, it's really up to you. With eopxy, you should be fine with one layer of cloth and two coats of epoxy on top, and two coats of epoxy on the bottom. With poly I'd double the cloth and maybe do another coat, although you don't want to get the poly too thick without cloth since you are almost doing more harm than good because the poly is more likely to crack that way. But as said, poly will work fine.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Agreed with all here. I chose epoxy because:

• It's easier for a newb to use (no need to worry about wax)
• Takes fewer rounds of layup (less time and labor)
• Sticks to anything (in case I came across prior repairs that had been done with epoxy)
• I non-skid painted my deck (instead of gelcoating)
• Also, I used some of it to seal wood for making cushions.

EDIT: it also doesn't smell bad!

 

[fishbone77]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Thanks guys,

I appreciate the advice and input - will post again when I start glassing - have to wait for some better temps up here...

 

[fishbone77]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Hey All,

I realized that it has been quite a long time since I last posted on this thread, and wanted to share my results. As a newB, ended up going the epoxy route - I used Maxbond epoxy and purchased my fiberglass cloth locally. I'm near Detroit, so I went to Michigan Fiberglass - the guys there really had some good advice, and recommended that I use a combination fiberglass cloth - it was 17oz woven, with a layer of chopped glass on the other side. This worked pretty well, however, I agree that even the low-visc Maxbond was pretty thick for getting a good wet-out with my combo cloth. This lowered my epoxy economy - ended up using more epoxy to get a complete wet-out. I still have a bit more fiberglassing to do this spring, and am planning on continuing to use Maxbond low-visc, however will probably go for a plain woven cloth instead of the combo - hopefully this improves my wet-out a bit.

Thanks again to everybody for their input! I have started a more general thread about my project "77 skeeter restoration" and invite anyone interested to check it out - and of course to offer any advice/wisdom from past experiences!

Keep your lines tight,

Fishbone77

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

You typically don't use CSM mat with epoxy. Epoxy does not contain styrene which is required to break down the fibers in the mat and create a good bond. I will cause you to use almost twice the amount of epoxy that you need. They did not give you correct advice or material. You only need to use Cloth with epoxy.

 

[fishbone77]

Re: 77 skeeter rebuild - MAXBOND epoxy for transom repair?

Yeah, I was really surprised when he recommended that - I had heard of it used with a polyester resin but never with epoxy - unfortunately I took him at his word and plowed ahead - I got good saturation of both layers of cloth - hopefully I didn't compromise my structure - needless to say, only regular cloth in the future!