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question regarding glassing "keel ropes"


gray duck

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I have used it on rudder tips and center boards. I don't see why it would not work on small boat keels. I use any old line that's not good enough for first line work on a sail boat anymore. My favorite is a double braid dacron. Soaks up epoxy well and when scuffed in grounding the fuzz can be slicked down quickly. Stay away from kevlar if you can. Impossible to finish slick. Good luck PeterP

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Very similar to Peter's comments. I used some double braid dacron.  I routed a groove in the leading edge, tho not too deep.  Maybe a half or quarter of the rope depth?  I don't quite remember.  Then I coated the groove with epoxy and also soaked the line in neat epoxy before putting it into the groove, and made sure all the drips were caught, etc.  I assume this would work on bow or keel; it certainly has worked on my centerboard and rudder.

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  • 2 weeks later...
4 hours ago, gray duck said:

thanks for the replies - seems to make more sense to me to put rope on top of the fiberglass ,cuz it is sacrificial

I dont see how it matters, before or after in regards to wear and repair. What ever you wear away does not expose wood, and you can fill it back in after the damage. Wraping glass around a nice round leading edge would be a lot easier to get fair. I would do the glass after.

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On 7/9/2021 at 12:49 PM, Paul356 said:

  I assume this would work on bow or keel; it certainly has worked on my centerboard and rudder.

I bet it does work, but I still wouldn't do it. A SS, Brass or Bronze chafe strip is even more durable and easy to replace waaaaaaaaay down the road when needed.

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I have set the rope in thickened epoxy with a few small wire brad or tack thru the rope on the edge to temporarily hold it in place. Dry fit the length of the rope before starting the job of course. While wet just cover the rope with more thickened epoxy and then work a layer of biaxal glass covered by a layer of finish cloth or a couple or three layers of finish cloth tape over the edge and shape the round using the uncured thickened epoxy and glass. With the glass overlaying onto the board, you will not have a problem with the edge, or moisture in the end grain even if you rub the glass over sandy or oyster bottoms. Just keep tabs on the edge from time to time.  If you use a good primer over the glass work that will be hidden like Interprotect 2000, this further creates a bullet proof arrangement.

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23 hours ago, Paul356 said:

I wont argue that, except I had a terrible time with my lightweight  brass keel strip buckling as applied so wish I'd put something heavier on.

Bending half round or half oval is tricky.  Hollow is even trickier.  It wants to kink.  I bend my pieces over a mold before drilling holes.  This helps a lot!! I bet a 3/4" flat stock would work well too. Just file the exposed corners a little after installing.

 

https://www.mcmaster.com/bronze/easy-to-machine-architectural-385-brass-bars/

 

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