Windlass shelf

[Laysula]

My wlndlass sits on a shelf in the anchor locker. Unfortunately this has gone rotton and needs replacing. Currently the shelf is 30mm plywood sheathed in fibreglass and glassed in. I am currently chopping it out for replacement. The question is, what do I replace it with? Is there something better than marineply or do I do like for like? If i go like for like should I sheath it with fibreglass or epoxy or would I leave the underside bare to allow it to breath?

 

[AMOREST]

You can get fibreglass sheet look - up G10 Glass sheet. Very strong and very stiff - can be epoxied into place and machined / drilled / cut for the windlass.

 

[simonfraser]

You can get fibreglass sheet look - up G10 Glass sheet. Very strong and very stiff - can be epoxied into place and machined / drilled / cut for the windlass.

can this be cut with normal hand tools ?

 

[AMOREST]

Yes. Easy with a grinder and slitting disc. Hole saw for the chain hole.

 

[Wandering Star]

You can get fibreglass sheet look - up G10 Glass sheet. Very strong and very stiff - can be epoxied into place and machined / drilled / cut for the windlass.

That looks perfect for fabricating a windlass shelf in my own chain locker - didn’t know the stuff existed!

 

[AMOREST]

I had some issues with my windlass shelf and re enforced it with G10 plate. Here is a picture from underside - The brown goop is epoxy resin to bond to the windlass shelf. The white trunking is the windlass cables. If you’re bonding in a new shelf - use glass tape - and epoxy resin. Use big fillets of epoxy. Messy job but rock solid. Plenty of YouTube footage.

 

[Poignard]

If the existing ply shelf has lasted a long time, why not replace it with the same construction?

If you sheathed it with fibreglass cloth and epoxy, and made sure all edges are sealed against water ingress, it ought to last a very long time.

 

[Laysula]

Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered some marineply. The G10 looked good but I couldn't find it in large sheets and it seemed prohibitively expensive.

 

[ylop]

Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered some marineply. The G10 looked good but I couldn't find it in large sheets and it seemed prohibitively expensive.

Yes I looked at the same for a similar job a few years ago - I never found anything the right size and stopped looking when I saw the price of bits half the size I needed! I did consider fabricating a sheet myself but in the end took the view that ply done properly would probably last 20+ yrs. My old one was not fully sheathed (perhaps with some logic that it could breathe?) but the replacement was completely encapsulated.

 

[Poignard]

[...]. My old one was not fully sheathed (perhaps with some logic that it could breathe?) but the replacement was completely encapsulated.

Good point.

I wondered about leaving the underside of the shelf unsheathed but, since the glue layers between the cores are not permeable, only the bottom ply would be able to breathe anyway. So there's nothing except a slight reduction in cost and labour to be gained by not encapsulating the shelf completely.

 

[mjcp]

G10 for the win. This is for a new seacock. It’s going to be glassed in, don’t want to have to deal with remediating ply in XX years time if any moisture seeps out/in.

Easily worked with bandsaw, hand tools and drills etc.

M

 

[Malish]

That looks perfect for fabricating a windlass shelf in my own chain locker - didn’t know the stuff existed!

there is also GRP flat bar, which looks good value: GRP Flat Bar - Pro Quality - Fast Delivery - ECF