Good morning everyone. I’ve been reading countless posts about repairing these deck hatches. Ive got both hatches on my marlin cleaned up and ready for fiberglass. I have some questions about what layers and when. I plan on using epoxy resin and I have divinycell for the core. Being that I’m using the foam, I feel like I should be adding a layer of 1708? to the hatch first then epoxy the core down right after? Once that cures, I was planning on a layer or 2 of 1708 on top of the divinycell? I’m new to this and the more I read, the more confused I get. Hoping someone with more knowledge can point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Repairing deck hatches
- Thread starter Boosted1
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The reason for the layer of glass between the core and the hatch is primarily because this is a "new" build and the entire hatch isn't beign done all at the same time. It's to take up any irregularities between the hatch and the core. Lightweight mat is all you really need.
You don't need to wait till it cures - put one layer of 1708 over the core and you're good to go.
You don't need to wait till it cures - put one layer of 1708 over the core and you're good to go.
Thanks. I was planning on just using lightweight mat as my first layer then after I removed the old wood core I realized how thin the hatch really was. I figured a layer of 1708 or something similar would help thicken and stiffen the hatch up before I epoxied the core down?
It wouldn't hurt (other than cost and added weight) to use 1708 between the core and the hatch - but it's truly not needed. I can understand that someone new to this type of thing would think the opposite - but it really isn't needed. The strength of a hatch is not so much from the thickness of the material - but primarily from the separation of the two layers of the glass (the topside and bottom side of the hatch).
Aquanut2
Well-Known Member
I’m repairing the deck hatch over the fuel tanks and the smaller one over the aft bilge. Mine were spongy and when I pulled them up to replace the fuel tanks I saw the bottom separated and the wood was saturated. They came apart very very easy. So now I’m gathering info and materials so I can glass the new core back in.
Hookup1
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Consider a simple vacuum bagging process to squeeze everything together. Not that difficult.
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Fishtales
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I did a layer in between that was saturated with resin and also applied it to the back side of the coosa that I used. Made a sandwich and placed some weight on it. After a day i did two layers on top and called it a day.
I wanted to clarify something regarding my last sentence in Post #2. A better way (clearer) to say what I did is that it's not "required" to let the core cure and THEN put the 1708 on - it depends largely on how confident you are that the core is in full contact with the hatch and will stay that way while it cures. Otherwise, yes, weight it down and at least wait till the epoxy gets good and tacky.
IF you can apply the 1708 when the "drying" epoxy gets to the tacky stage, that will create an even better bond. However, epoxy is so tenacious that it's absolutely not a problem if you wait till it's fully cured.
Oh... this kind of goes without saying, but make sure you do this project on a perfectly level surface!!! Use a straight edge in multiple dimensions to verify.
IF you can apply the 1708 when the "drying" epoxy gets to the tacky stage, that will create an even better bond. However, epoxy is so tenacious that it's absolutely not a problem if you wait till it's fully cured.
Oh... this kind of goes without saying, but make sure you do this project on a perfectly level surface!!! Use a straight edge in multiple dimensions to verify.