Epoxy versus Resorcinol

[James Attianese]

I was wondering if the people with older boats constructed with epoxy have had any problems with delamination. Larry Pardey seems to be worked up about the longevity of epoxy. He has an article on his website here http://www.landlpardey.com/Tips/2009/June.html#tip2 He recommends using Resorcinol glue for structural uses. I think epoxy and fiberglass are fine for the hulls. I am planning to build wooden masts for my Tiki 38 and was wondering if I should glue them with resorcinol instead of epoxy since they are not covered in fiberglass. I haven't seen any complaints about epoxy bonds on any Wharram forums so I'm thinking that Larry Pardey is blowing it out of proportion. Gluing a 30 foot mast with resorcinol seems pretty complicated since you have to get the fit, temperature, and clamping correct in order for it to work. I'm just looking for reassurance before I start since I don't have any long term experience with epoxy.

[Ann and Neville Clement]

We have wooden masts on Peace. They are too heavy for us to lift, let alone carry. I suggest alloy for weight saving because we could easy pick up alloy masts and carry them away. There are so many builders on this site, you could all club together and order together for cost saving.
But if you just must have wood, I will say that ours are put together with resorcinol and they were made by Noble Masts in Britain. I put a thin layer of glass on them and we painted the masts. I am so glad we did it that way. The thin glass protects the wood from chafe from the gaffs and the painted surface is easy maintainence. Varnish needs to be redone frequently in tropics and climbing masts with brush in hand is less fun than kicking back with friends in the cockpit as you sail along or just watch the days go by.
Ann and Nev

[James Attianese]

Ann and Neville

Thanks for the reply. I'll keep the Aluminum option in mind, I guess I have more research to do.

Jim

[boatsmith]

we built our mast of vertical grain douglas fir. We are sorry we didn't go aluminium, lighter, cheaper and long term less maintenance. David www.boatsmithfl.com

[Joe Swetish]

What is a good source for an aluminum mast?

Thanks!

[Ann and Neville Clement]

Jacques knows the place to contact.

[Tom]

I can think of two old guys I know that used epoxy to build their masts back in the 70's.

On one boat, a ketch rigged ferro cement beast, the main mast was lost in 2005 after a rigging failure. Bad tang! This mast was laminated pine (he's cheap) and was solid. My friend towed the pieces back at 2 knots and we glued up another mast, also solid laminated pine, using epoxy. Anyway, that first mast had lasted about 30 years, probably with it's original coat of paint haha
His mizzen is still fine...but he never uses it the lazy bastard.

Another friend of mine built a beautiful 70' wooden gaff rigged schooner in Africa about 30 years ago. He used a swiss epoxy for his masts and has never had a problem with them. They are varnished and not especially well maintained.

With both boats, the epoxy is protected from UV, and the wood was cured properly prior to glueing.

My cedar is still drying for my masts, then they will be glued up with epoxy, glassed and painted.

[Manos Amanakis]

Hello all

I am about to assemble the wooden masts of my Tiki 31. I am using scarf joined Douglas Fir to achieve the acquired length. Since the temperature is low for using epoxy and for a faster assembly I am thinking of using polyurethane glue (mercola marine glue) which is also expansile and appropriate for small gap filling. Do you think I will have any problems with that both during the assembly and long term? The plans also suggest to coat the wood with epoxy on the inside before the final assembly. Does anyone know if epoxy works well combined with polyurethan glue and if not what can I use to seal the wood of the inside surface of the hollow masts ?