Boat Building Materials

 

A work in progress.

Adhesives
A quick word on adhesives. I get a lot of questions regarding what I like the best. I tend to like 3M marine products- they have quite a broad selection of adhesives and sealants for different applications. For gluing things together, use 3M 5200. This is some strong stuff! Just remember that if you use this junk, you'll never get the parts apart again unless you break them. The only real drawback to the stuff is that it takes a week to cure. If you need it to cure a little faster, you can get 3M 5200 fast cure. It is quite a bit faster- about three days to cure rather than 7. For a little less hold, you can use 3M 4200, which is basically a weaker version of 5200. For general sealant, use 3M 101. It is not intended to be used as an adhesive, however.

Silicone should be avoided for use in construction, for the most part. Silicone sealant is intended to form a gasket between two materials that are held under tension with each other by some mechanical means. Many people mistakenly use silicone as adhesives, with some really bad results. Silicon is just not strong, and doesn't stick with too much voracity.

Epoxies
Now for resins. I like, and use, West Systems brand resins. They have got several books out there that explain the use of their products quite thoroughly. I would recommend that anyone that is considering a boat building or restoration project to get ahold of these books- you will find them at the your local West Systems dealer, or you can get them directly from the company. They run about four bucks each.

You should also get ahold of the technical manual, which is available free of charge from the company or it's dealers. The manual goes into which fillers, hardeners, etc. are to be used for what type of projects.

You can get equally good results from any of the better epoxies out there, I hear lots of good stuff about System 3, Epiglass, etc. I personally don't care for epiglass too much, it has a rather long cure time and appears to be far more temperature sensitive than west systems does.

For many applications, Vinyl-esters are ok, but at the price you are just as well off going with epoxies. 3-M marine makes a good vinyl-ester, one of the few companies that sells it in small quantities. DO NOT use polyester resin- It doesn't stick too well to wood, and it absorbs water which could cause rot. Sure, you'll save a buck or two, but it won't last long.

Fillers
You will probably need a filler of some sort during the construction process to fix a mistake, or simply to fair the hull before you finish it. The type of filler that you use is dependant on the desired result. You will probably find it cost effective to used whatever type of epoxy resin you are using for the general construction with an appropriate additive. The different companies make fillers for different applications, e.g. for faring, structural repairs, etc. Refer to the companies technical manuals for more information.

Auto body fillers, such as bondo, are not suitable for boat building or repair work. They are usually polyester, which, as mentioned before, absorbs water. Some of the marine fillers out there are made of epoxy or vinyl-ester resin, either of which is suitable. Be forewarned, though, that some of these fillers are very difficult to shape after they cure.

Wood

Plywood

Fasteners

Hardware