Cracks in mast

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seasolutions

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afternoon all,

after much deliberation, I have decided to coat my mast with sikkens novatech/novatop.

before i do so I need to fill some small splits running along the grain about halfway up the mast.

these are not big enough to be structural problems, I just need to keep the water out.

I was planning to use red lead + putty, but note that the sikkens data sheet says:

"We do not recommend the use of linseed oil putty or modified non-setting compounds in conjunction with our wood protection systems"

has anyone used tried this? any problem? or can anyone recommend a suitable alternative?

thanks in advance
 
I assume your mast is a grown pole. I don't think I'd use epoxy in the circumstances - it's just too inflexible. 'Shakes' down grown poles are not at all uncommon and I think I'd be tempted to just leave them. On the other hand, if your mast is laminated and you've got cracks - then they're probably along a glue line and the only long term fix is to split down the glue lines and re-glue - then I'd use epoxy to reglue. Cracks in these circumstances are usually the result of old glue 'dying' and resticking sections just makes the inevitable total split and re-glue more difficult. Old waterbased glue has a finite life.

Cracks across the grain are much more interesting! OF
 
Sikkens paints go over red lead putty on my Sunbeam hull with no problems at all, just let it dry a bit.

I would fix small cracks in the wood of the mast with SP106 epoxy, with fillers as suggested above, and not expect any trouble.

I have also used Balcotan glue to fill small cracks, as it expands, and likes water, and sands well too.
 
I would leave them. Just really work the varnish in if your worried about water getting in. Even then I wouldn't be concerned though. Water is unlikely to sit in the cracks and being a mast there's plenty of air circulating around it to dry it out.
 
Cracks in grown spars move all the time, any attempt to glue with epoxy or similar is doomed to failure & will exacerbate the problem.
Simple & cheap remedy is to use either a mixture of beeswax & tallow or a non setting oil based mastic such as Evo mastic. Both will give & can be topped up as necessary.
Plus they smell nicer!
 
It's a laminated mast, but is solid. The cracks are in the timber well away from glue lines, ie. shakes in the wood not cracks in the joints

thanks for all the advice
 
flexible polyurethene, such as sikaflex? I can see the logic but surely if the split closes it will only compress the sika so far, sika wouldn't ooze out in the way putty would? or are you thinking of a different type of goo?
 
seasolutions said:
flexible polyurethene, such as sikaflex? I can see the logic but surely if the split closes it will only compress the sika so far, sika wouldn't ooze out in the way putty would? or are you thinking of a different type of goo?
Click to expand...

unlikely the splits will ever close up far you need to stop water ingress arbor used to do one that sets really quit soft but really sticks to the wood. The thing about polyurethane is it uses moisture to cure so any damp left in the bottom of the crack just serves to stick more, most other things dont like to stick to damp only IMO just what i would use . Suspect from reading your description and from others take on it will only probably be cosmetic.
 
Thinking aloud and conscious of the possibility of being shot down...

I would seriously consider routing out the shakes to the full depth of the lamination and fitting a graving piece of similar timber. Bedding it down with thickened epoxy adhesive should, IMHO, take care of both cosmetic and structural issues.
 
VITALBA`S mast is I think laminated Sikta and as far as I can tell solid. I found a couple of shakes fairly close together only about 4 or 5 inches long which did not worry me initially. However on closer investigation prior to varnishing I found that water had got in and caused rot to start to run round in the softer fiberous material between the annular rings, but this was only really evident after a mild excavation and certainly did not show on the surface.
My advice to any one with the shakes is to make sure there is nothing lurking under the surface and then keep the water out (and that applies to the Whisky too !)
VITALBA
 
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