Fixing timber battens to the inside of a GRP hull

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Pinnacle

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Need to fix/glue some hardwood battens to the inside of the hull so as to have something that I can screw the edge of a piece of plywood to. The join is not going to be perfect ( lots of curves and angles ) so I need something that will fill the joint as well as glue the two materials together.

What would the panel recommend I use?
 
Pinnacle said:
Need to fix/glue some hardwood battens to the inside of the hull so as to have something that I can screw the edge of a piece of plywood to. The join is not going to be perfect ( lots of curves and angles ) so I need something that will fill the joint as well as glue the two materials together.

What would the panel recommend I use?
Click to expand...

I have used car body filler.
Surfaces must be clean and dry and if warmed with a hair dryer or hot air gun the work can be held in place by had while it sets.

If really necessary the battens can be glassed over with a singe layer of glass mat or tape.


More recently I have used "Sticks like sh*t" or something similar but not yet in a position report on the long term effectiveness.
 
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I know they can be a bit more expensive but I am a great believer in Sikaflex adhesives. Sikaflex EBT is available from builders merchants Screwfix etc. has great initial grab, very durable and retains some flexibility in use, available in white as well as grey and black. The ubiquitous 291 is also effective but not the best for your application.
Mask the surrounding area and the outside of the battens to ease clean up operations.
 
I've used both Sikaflex and (not on the same job) epoxy thickened with microfibres, as those are the sort of goops I have to hand. But I can well believe that a suitable comedy-named builders' adhesive would do the job.

Pete
 
All the inside of my hull, lockers, etc. are flowcoated so everything is white, hence my preference for sikaflex in that colour, it just looks better. But if you are going on to uncoloured raw GRP the brown stuff that sticks and looks like **** may be tidier, and it will probably last almost as long.
 
Pinnacle said:
Need to fix/glue some hardwood battens to the inside of the hull so as to have something that I can screw the edge of a piece of plywood to. The join is not going to be perfect ( lots of curves and angles ) so I need something that will fill the joint as well as glue the two materials together.

What would the panel recommend I use?
Click to expand...

Not sure whether you're planning on vertical, or horizontal, battens.

Horizontal often makes for easier bends, if that's possible for your project.

Quite right...that's not what you asked, but it just might be relevant.
 
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Sticks Like Sh*t is viscous but it can still be relatively runny where gravity may be an issue. I have found viscosity varies so maybe its age related i.e. older tubes thicken up a bit compared to fresh batches. Thickened epoxy can at least be made gravity proof if that is important. If you are ever likely to remove the baton then go with Epoxy as it can be sanded / planed; removing anything stuck down with Sika is just a big hassle.
 
Thanks for all the comments. Perhaps I should have said the job is to be done in the bottom of a cockpit locker, so appearances are not particularly important ( although I don't want it to look like a bodge! ). So, a couple of tubes of it sticks like s**t it is.

Thanks.
 
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