deck repair question

[thedink9]

Fellowship
I was a bit surprised that your deck plywood meqasured 3/8 to 1/2 inch. I just took out all the core material out of my tank and livewell hatches and this material measured 5/8".
I have a CSY built 23' '85 and am about to start the deck rebuild. I'm wondering if the deck thickness is 5/8 or thinner, as you found in your boat. I assume you have a potter era hull! I'm going to reuse the top skin .

How far under the gunnel (past the point where the liner begins to turn up does the wood go? You indicated you filled this void with thickened epoxy. Didn't this mixture tend to run out?
Dink

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Ha Dink
I cant say for sure how far back the end cut balsa will go back it seems to just follow the 4 x 4 squares so if they needed to add one more block they did. As for the epoxy filler I did that for two reasons first to connect the bottom of the deck lamination to the top inner liner and to prevent any water seepage from contaminating the deck by coming in that way. I just dug out approx ½ “ of balsa behind where the top layer of glass was cut out and used a putty knife and filled it in with a thick (peanut butter thick) layer of epoxy filler. As for the thickness of the deck plywood and balsa most guys said on the Potter’s it is ½” but I measured several of them and it always showed just a tad less than ½ but bigger that 3/8” remember I built up the bottom layer of lamination with extra glass and did not use the old skin that’s why I said maybe I would use 3/8 if I ever did it again. You want the deck to remain at the same height when you are done so it will match the two lips you created when you cut out the deck portion.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[thedink9]

Fellowship
Did you level the lower skin with thickened epoxy and add a layer of glass for added strength before you began to add the wood back into the deck? If so, what type of glass cloth did you use, both under as well as over the wood before you built up the outer skin?
Dink

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Ha Dink
I did use epoxy (not thickened) and the quality of the glass is not a big deal I think I used 18 oz woven glass that I bought by the yard and I think was 36” wide just cut it up as needed. What you want to do is get the wood to lay down flat on top of that bottom layer of glass with little or no places that would produce big air bubbles because of a sagging layer of glass. Now on the top of the plywood I used the same 18 oz but then finished it with a layer of mat I think 7 1/2 oz so I didn’t have as much hills and dales for the fairing process.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]