Chain plates. Mark? Mike? epoxy cure time

[JMetzner]

Mark & Mike,

What did you guys use for chainplates on your boats? Where did you get them here in FAI? I was finishing out the cabin to prepare it for painting and got to thinking about the chainplates while epoxying the partners in place.

Mark, you're right about the kiddos as motivators. Heck they got me restarted too!! Topsides are all fiberglassed and a second coat of epoxy is on. Now going to work on paint while the epoxy cures.

Anyone happen to know how long I have to wait for the epoxy to cure before I can paint? I'm using RAKA epoxy. I checked their online manual, but it doesn't give a length of time to wait. 30 days sticks in my mind for some reason, but I'm having trouble believing I have to wait that long.

Thanks,

John M.

Fairbanks, AK

[Mark Gudschinsky]

John,

If you fax a sketch to Wilbur Brothers Sheetmetal or Holiday Parks Sheetmetal either can make the parts in what ever material you'd like.

They also can sell you the metal if you want to do your own work.

I also fabricated mine [Took a few pieces of harder metal from the shop and beat the heck out of them with a hammer and drilled a few holes]

They work well but they were made in a rush to get on the water . I will probably redo with appearance in mind this winter.

[John Teetsel]

From the Glen-L site, an excerpt from their epoxy manual.

Before doing any finish work or applying finishes, allow the last coat of epoxy to cure 5 to 7 days at 70oF, longer at colder temperatures. Wipe down the hull with a water/ammonia dampened rag or sponge. This will eliminate the greasy feeling amine blush to make final finish sanding easier and minimize clogging of the abrasive.

They sell a 5:1 mix ratio that has a pretty severe amine blush. The West System manual only says to allow it to "fully cure" before washing and painting but never defines a time frame. West is also a 5:1 mix with similar blush characteristics.

I

[Frank Hagan]

I only waited a week or so to paint with Raka epoxy. I did do a "scratch test" prior to painting to make sure the paint was compatible and would stick.

Scratch test procedure:

Paint a small area with the paint to be used. It need only be a few inches across. When the paint is fully cured, use a straight edge and razor blade, and score it with 8 to 10 horizontal lines 1/8" apart. Then, score it with 8 to 10 vertical lines 1/8" apart. You now have a scored cross-hatch pattern in the paint. Take a strip of cellophane tape and lay it across the cross-hatch pattern, and burnish down about an inch of it with the back of your fingernail. Make sure its sticking good, and then rip it off quickly.

All the paint should stay on the boat. If you have an adhesion problem, you'll get some of the paint coming off onto the tape (it is normal to be able to see the cross-hatch pattern in the tape adhesive, but not the actual paint being removed.)

[Mike Pennington]

John,

Even though you epoxied in your garage and I assume it is warm, I would wait at least a couple of weeks. Let the stuff set up. You have the time so I wouldn't rush it. I used the RAKA and only waited a week or so. I did not have any problems, but that was in the middle of summer.

Chain plates, I just bought some stainless steel 3/16 inch strap, you can custom make them, depending on what you want to put in the boat. I think the backing plate on the interior of the boat is the most important thing. They need to have a solid anchoring, one tends to hang on to the stays a lot in going forward, though I haven't had any trouble, I just see the chain plates as a possible wear point.

If I were to do the job again I would keep the portion above deck short, less to trip over. With a nice large eye hole for the stay, I used turn buckles to tighten the stays and some times they get hung up when I lift the mast.

[capt jake]

OK, I'll jump in here; I had teh chain plates made at a local fabrication facility, they were relatively cheap (SS).

Painting over epoxy; definitely wait a few weeks to let it cure. Heat it (gently) if possible to help in the process.

I fussed with my finish for WAY TOO long and had it nearly perfect (One little run). After having out in the sun, in short order i had print through from the fabric telegraphinbg through the paint. I really noticed this the other night when I finally got the boat in the shop to work on it.

I had teh same thing on the strip kayak after only 1 hour in hte sun, I saw print though. Same amount of intense finishing. Smooth as a baby's b... and 6 coats of marine varnish, OOOO, AAAH!

I have been told, and probably will do this next time, put it out in the sun to heat it up and settle all of the epoxy out (print through is from the epoxy finally curing up and shrinking); then go back and do 'another' fill coat! I know one person who will paint it black, then put it outside to accelerate this process (this is in the NW, where ambient temps are not what they are in say SO Cal).

Just a few thoughts!

[waynemunro]

I used the same Ronstan chain plates that John has ordered, seem to work fine, thin enough that I could just bend them by hand to the right angles. I figure they are probably as strong as the wire I am connecting to them so should be ok. Have had no trouble with them in practice.. they seem almost made for the weekender.

Mostly an ease of purchase decision for me, as I could just pick them up on the way home from work from the local boat shop.