Filling holes in transom
 

Greetings Pilgrims,
Kind of a basic question and probably been awswered a million times but here it is:
I removed a bunch of stuff from the transoms and wonder how to best seal the holes. Holes range from #6 x 1/2" screws from clamshells, to 1/4" holes all the way through from dive ladder. Oh, yeah, also 1/2" holes from trim tab hoses, and a bunch of #12 x 1-1/4 from the tab mounting plates.

Obviously I'll be fighting gravity while filling the holes ,so I was thinking I could make little half cups from modeling clay and attach them to each side of the transom to eliminate running and sagging, thereby keeping the holes flooded with some neat or slightly thickened epoxy until it sets. Any thoughts on this method?

Anybody know a better way? Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrims.:cool:

We pilgrims like to over bore and hide the pencil.

Provides gription and isolation. His great words.

Zig is all about class 4 climbing.

Snow machines,
Love em,

Cheers,
GFS

Gillie, how about using some of the large plastic soda straws (~1/4" dia.) with the flex joints near the top? Turn 'em upside down and use most of the straw as a reservoir. Drill the beginning of the smaller holes out enough to jam the straw in. On the bigger thru-holes, you might be able to tape over the outside of the hole and use some masking tape to hold and seal the soda straw feeder on the inside. Use a plastic syringe to fill the straws.

Just a thought. Let us know what you come up with and how it works out! Denny

Use dremel to bevel the fiberglass so there is a sloping edge to it.

On smaller holes I use a syringe to inject the thickened cabosil as deep as I can into the hole then cover with tape till it cures. Remove the tape.... sand and apply system 3 quick fair.

On large holes first clean the hole with acetone. Then coat the inside of the hole with a good coat of resin...then bury the pencil like "Gofast" said but make sure you first inject some cabosil into the hole and then coat your pencil with cabosil to ensure that there are no voids..... then bury it! Tape it till cured then sand and do the quick fair over that.

Or what ever else works as I'm sure there is more then one way to fill a hole.

Happy Thanksgiving BTW

strick

What strick said. Overbore, bevel,hot coat, inject cabosil (I use a large hypo from the farm supply), insert hot coated dowel.

If you mix your cabosil thick enough it wont sag.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/new-six10-epoxy-adhesive/

Go out and buy a tube of Wests six ten....this will do the job. No muss no fuss.:D

I had this idea too, haven't tried it yet but wanted to put some Get Rot in there first and its real runny

We had some concrete work done, spalling repair and we had to use fiberglass re-bar in some situations in place of steel re-bar. I'm thinking that would be good to use as a filler instead of a wood dowell for larger holes.

They make empty caulking gun cartriges. Mix whatever goop it is on your choice, (mine is an epoxy mixture), spoon it in the cartrige and pump untill your heart is content.

Thanks for the feedback. I've tried all but the 2 caulk gun methods. The Six10 sounds pretty clean if the nozzle is small enough for the smaller holes. I'll probably bore them to least a 1/4", anyway. Likely have to use several methods again. Lord I make a mess w/ epoxy.

Still drying out holes with alcohol and hair dryer. Got a feeling some may be too wet and to seal properly.:(

I measured the end of a new West 610 nozzle and it's .220". There are lines to trim for the bigger ones behind it. The next one is .275". I really like the 610 stuff.

Alcohol, heat, and patience. Does the transom have a trim piece on top?

You can over bore farther and try to get to a good core. Little bites.

Any hollow sounds with a phenolic hammer?

Thanks for your tip on heat and gel coat.

No phase shifting here.

Cheers,
But a pilgrim

Filling transom holes w/West Systems Six10
 

Per Island Trader's suggestion I used a tube of Six10 epoxy to fill some holes in the transom and was left with these impressions:

1. Excellent product for the task. Nice thickness somewhere between mayo and peanut butter. As reelescape1 mentioned the nozzle tip is less than 1/4" making it very functional.
2. Very easy to use. As Terry said, "no muss, no fuss." And no clean-up.;)
3. The tube comes with a cap in case you don't use it all, but you'll need a new static mixer nozzle. The run a couple of bucks a piece.
4. The tube does not go very far - only filled 34 holes 1/4" x 1-1/4". Near as I could tell, little less than half the caulk tube is actual product.:mad:
5. Very expensive $22 +tax @ West Marine.:eek:

All in all, it was quick and clean but I'll need another tube. I think Caymanboy's approach of mixing your own epoxy and spooning into empty caulk tube will save a lot of money. On the other hand if you want to get something done during lunch hour, its pretty convenient.

What you said, I agree 100%...

When you are getting to the end of the project sometimes quick and easy is the best way. I have used over 10 tubes of the stuff :( but the result is stellar.

What I find is that when you need a glue job that you didn't really plan for, you reach for the six 10 and before you know it, its empty.

This is a good emergency repair kit to have on board at all times :cool:

for little holes, especially flat one on deck, those pre-mix glue tubes are very handy. But for anything bigger than 1/4", I use empty caulk tubes and fill using epoxy/filler mix.

With an empty caulk tube, you can fill it with a VERY thick glue. The epoxy glue products that mix within the tip can only be so thick or they will not be able to squeeze through the mixing tip. If you fill the tube yourself, you can make the epoxy putty thick enough to stick on the ceiling :)

below are 1-1/2" holes filled this way. The holes were pre-wet out with un-thickend epoxy (soaked into wood a bit), then I filled the holes with the putty dispensed from a caulk tube. Putty was thick enough I could put it to the back of the hole (backside of hole had tape over it) and squeeze the putty in so that it was backing its way out of the hole - no air pockets. Putty was thick enough that even at 1-1/2" it did not sag out.

filler mix was wood fibers, silica, and chopped glass

http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/us..._shine_521.jpg
http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/us..._shine_523.jpg
http://gallery.bateau2.com/albums/us..._shine_537.jpg

for little holes, especially flat one on deck, those pre-mix glue tubes are very handy.

I've seen the sixten as low as $ 12.42 a tube I have a account with Port supply (West marine) that price is if you buy 6 or more and 13.50 if you buy one. Great product
if anybody here on the cape needs anything let meknow I'm getting really good prices a west marine maybe we can work something out for ya

That is a good price. I don't understand? Is port supply a west marine? Crap I would buy a couple at 13 just to have around.

Yes port supply is a division of west marine for charter or boat yards it's a wholesale deptartment and pm me we can work something out the more i spend the better my pricing gets

Yeah, I'd take a case at $13 ea., too.
:cool:

I will do a physical check and see what I need and do a guess at what shipping would cost and see how it works out then pm you.

Thanks for the offer.

Do you have a local west

Yes sir. Just don't have port supply account

Use mine

Heynow,
Check your private messages...:cool: