Replacing wooden bungs, any advice welcome...

[ahumphries]

Hi all. I've recently bought a 37 ft 1948 bermudan cutter, carvel mahogany on oak. Over time a large number of the fastenings have been replaced, but some of them better than others. A number of the wooden bungs over the heads of the nails have not been sealed properly, causing them to become loose, and water ingress around them has caused them and in some cases parts of the planking around the bung to soften. My plan is to remove the bad bungs, cut out any softness or rot around the bung (normally we are talking about an area of around 4cms square), then replace with a new hardwood bung. My question is, what should I use to inject into the area to seat the bung and make the area waterproof? Would you recommend epoxy or some kind of waterproof woodglue?

 

[sarabande]

have you used this site ?

http://www.woodenboat.com/

They might have some germane replies.

 

[Heigaro]

E.g. http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74082&highlight=wooden+plugs

Good Luck. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[nmiller]

As you are talking about 4cm square dutchmen, you need a good structural waterproof wood glue, epoxy or another appropriate glue depending on the quality of fit that you can achieve. Do not worry about popping them to reach the fastening later as with a plug, with 4 cm to go at, careful use with a chisel will uncover the fastening with out extending the damage into the parent plank, which is what the other posters are rightly concerned about.

 

[LittleShip]

Epoxy, I have tried other glues and still prefer Epoxy.

Tom

 

[Peterduck]

I would use epoxy to bed in the graving piece, and I'd toss up whether to us it for the bung [roll the bung in a layer of glue on a board so that the end of the bung isn't covered in glue] or whether to use beeswax, which I have also used successfully for sealing deck leaks. [Captain Tolley's isn't available here.]
Peter.

 

[ahumphries]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Andrew