bertram31.com

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this. I wouldn't use any thing else but epoxy if this was a piece for my boat, but I'm trying to be somewhat sympathetic to my employees concerns.

They want to use Titebond 3 in place of the epoxy because "the salesman said it's fine for the application".

We have this Teak project going through the shop for an outdoor kitchen. 25 door panels and frames that need to be glued up along with face frames and dovetail drawer boxes, cabinet boxes etc..
My guys are of course bitching about the hassle of pot life, clean up, dry time etc with using Epoxy as we have done in the past compared to Titebond 3.

Has anyone tried it with success?? Any long term use outdoors.

I already ruled out Gorilla glue because I don't like the glue line it produces.

Thanks
Ray

If it's outdoors & gonna' get wet, tell your guy's to get over it, charge the customer accordingly, and use epoxy. Prime with mixed, but un-thickened epoxy, allow it to tack up, re-coat with fresh mixed un-thickened epoxy and lightly clamp together. DO NOT clamp it hard like you would if you were using wood glue. Epoxy likes a little thickness.

Mix at the ratio called for, but if you do err, err on the side of the hardener. A little too much hardener will give you a more flexible bond, a little too much resin and it'll be as brittle as glass.

Titebond II and III are very good products and I've used them on teak, but only for very limited weather exposure and only on lap joint, tongue & groove, splined, etc. It'll be fine for your dovetail joints and other compound joints that aren't directly exposed to rain or sprinkler systems.

On the topic...I have read where guys where using "sandable silicon caulk" between the slats. So what is the band name for this stuff, and is it actually sandable?

I have used Boat Life caulk on the boat. It's sandable and stands up to the elements.

Flexible, too.

Capt Pat

Would you use epoxy for 1 piece covering boards on the gunnel? Do you also need to screw it from underneath, or is just epoxy good enough?

Thanks
Joe

scot wrote:On the topic...I have read where guys where using "sandable silicon caulk" between the slats. So what is the band name for this stuff, and is it actually sandable?

mike ohlstein wrote:I have used Boat Life caulk on the boat. It's sandable and stands up to the elements.

Flexible, too.

Boatlife, who make Life Calk, make a teak specific sealant called Teak Deck Sealant, its black and sandable. Comes in cartridge and chubb- sausauge tubes

I have only had to use it a few times, it works as advertised and has held up really well. Problem with alot of sealants is they can get trashed with bleaching and A-B cleaning the teak.

joe....the sideboards are held on with the rod holders but because of the compound curve i epoxied the transom board down......7 years ..no prb....no screws.

offshore31 wrote:Would you use epoxy for 1 piece covering boards on the gunnel? Do you also need to screw it from underneath, or is just epoxy good enough?

Joe, see the Teak Decking article first for many answers to epoxying down teak.

On side boards, where there is very little crown, I just epoxy them down. On transom boards, where the crown can be great, I screw from below. The screws only have about 1/4" bite into the teak and all cap boards that I lay down are 4/4" before final surfacing.

I mix off ratio, about 8% - 10% higher on the hardener side, for all decking and cap boards. The thickened epoxy is made with Cabosil only...

Br,

Patrick

Capt. Pat,
The cabinets are on the second floor of a huge brick porch in a gazebo like area with 4' brick walls to enclose 3 sides and a standing seam roof over it. I'm sure they will still get plenty of weather but not directly exposed, that's why I'm even considering the Titebond 3.
Good to hear though you have used it with success.

There is really no high strength issue here it's all decorative components. Any staples or fasteners are all Monel or 316L.

Still on the fence, we are doing some tests this afternoon...

I also never knew the Epoxy ratio leaning toward hardner would give a more flexible product, always thought is was reverse...

learn something new every day on here..

Thanks
Ray

Randall, that looks terrific.

Capt Pat/Randal, thanks for the tips

I still want to know where he found room for that dryer and water heater on the B25 :)

i did mine 11 years ago and just learned that capt. patrick uses cabosil i did not know better so i set mine in high density filler . i wanted the covering boards to go all the way from outside to inside so i built the area adjacent to the "lip" with strips of mahogony and epoxy then made those facy double miters at the port and starboard stern. what a ridiculous amount of wasted labor. i saw the miters on the back of a rybo and had to have it. i mitered 6 pieces of pine to get the trible angle right. i held the covering board down by 40 # 10 ss screws and washers then 6 rod holders and fuel fill,waste fitting.i wish i had done the inside piece like jp that is the real deal and dug`s cockpit floor. just love teak on the 31 bertram

funny bob....mine started out with the teak wrapping 90 degrees into the cockpit but i like just the flat pieces better. i had to fill a zillion screw holes in the gunwales.

randall you are the master of wood .i have alot of experiance with molding in my house and family .i also invested in a compound angle chop saw .i rounded the outside edge then steped back-----damm it now i can`t make the inside teak pieces.my son wanted the traditional padded coaming so i rounded the inside edge then i changed my mine and could not fix it .so day i might go to the white coaming but they have a short life and green mold problem in the cockpit.i use walterk method to keep teak clean usually twice a year and raybo marine suggested the boat life teak colored but use the boatlife teak primer first .this is use for the fine line between the teak and that little strip of glass above the rub rail.

Before I started doing the teak work on "Phoenix" I called the tech help people at West Systems and MAS Epoxy about their recommended gluing procedures.

Both recommended that before doing the actual epoxy application I flood the surfaces to be glued with solvent, then wipe dry, to remove some of the surface oil present in teak. West said either denatured alcohol or acetone could be used, but MAS Epoxy said to use only denatured alcohol, because often the acetone we can buy in the big box stores is recycled, and might contain some oils of it's own.

MAS Epoxy says that their epoxys no longer have an amine blush, because they are using a new catalyst formulation, but did admit that the products that were sold by some of the (now defunct) Boater's World stores might have been made with an old formula that did produce the blush.