Tuesday 22 October 2013

Wooden mast building glues, epoxy or phenolic?

Having made many wooden masts, plus supplied both the wood and glues to others doing the same, I have picked up a few tips along the way but one question comes back more than others.

Why should I not use epoxy to glue my mast together?



Well the decision is yours but first read some of the info in the links below:

Roy

This is what the well known wood/epoxy boat designer thinks on the subject.
With regard to which glue to use, many builders have moved over to epoxy because they think that it is the ultimate in glues. That is not the case, however. Epoxy works well most of the time but there are applications that phenolic or resorcinol glues are a better choice. I have a few words about glue selection on my website at http://dixdesign.com/FAQwood.htm . Additional to that info, epoxy can lose its grip on wood that is saturated with water. In contrast, the bond of resorcinol increases if the wood becomes wet. Resorcinol is my choice whenever practical for bonding important items and I prefer to keep epoxy for coatings and items that are not unlikely to become wet.

Regards,

Dudley Dix
Dudley Dix Yacht Design
1340-1272 N Great Neck Rd #343
Virginia Beach, VA 23454, USA
Tel (757)962-9273  Fax (888)505-6820
Email dudley@dixdesign.com
Website http://dixdesign.com/
http://dixdesign.com/FAQwood.htm



http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/birdsmouth/index.htm



We can supply both epoxy and phenolic glues of course.