Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

I am considering epoxying rope onto the leading edge of the bow, daggerboard, skeg, and rudder on my dory as an alternative to brass rails for impact damage reduction.  Has anyone done this, or have any information pro or con?

Here is one builder's method, scroll down almost to the bottom:
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/howto/foiled/index.htm

Thanks!

Curt

830/997-8120

[email protected]

 


8 replies:

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RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

I can't think of any reason to do this for the foils (rudder & daggerboard). Unless you're planning to constantly run aground on rocks there's no point. For that matter, when you run aground, any damage typically happens in the lower couple of inches, so it's really pointless to rope the entire leading and trailing edges.

I've only ever had to fix my rudder's edge once, and that was the thin trailing edge, not one of the fat ones. I'd say that it's probably cheaper and a better use of your time to just fix the damage if it occurs, rather than doing all this elaborate preparation for something that may never happen.

As far as the bow goes, rope would leave an unhydrodynamic bump. A flatter material would be better for conforming to the original curve.

Have fun,

Laszlo

 

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

You might want to use the Rubstrip Kit with gaphite

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

   I embedded a 3/16 steel rod (it was all I had) for about 18” on the bow of my WD 12…with a little bit of grinding and thickened epoxy you don’t even know its there….and Yes I always paint my kayak’s (Fire Engine Red)

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

The first person I saw doing this with rope was the talented boatbuilder, Tom Lathrop, of Oriental, North Carolina.  That was about 25 years ago;  I'm not sure whether he originated it.  There's hardly every anything new under the sun...

Anyway, he'd use polypropylene rope epoxied to the stems of his boats.  He used peel-ply to get a perfectly smooth finish with the rope embedded.

It's not something you can combine with a varnished finish, but it's a brilliant way to work in an impact-absorbent leading edge.   

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

   Tom Lathrop is on the BoatDesign Forum, you could always ask him directly. He is very helpful and seems to truly love all sorts of boats. For a sample of his latest work Google Bluejacket Boats to see a somewhat bigger stitch and glue project than a CLC. Too bad they don't have kits!

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

John,

thanks for the info....good point on the peel ply, I think it was Joey that recommended that to me, so I ordered plenty on my last order for the daggerboard, skeg, and rudder (and I guess I could do a narrow piece on the bow too).  Do you have any suggestions on how to layer it up?  Meaning, do you suggest using peel ply on the first wetting out coat and burying the rope all in that first wetting out coat?  Or wet out first without the rope, then do a second coat with rope and peel ply?

Then, how many coats of epoxy would you suggest putting on top of that?

I'm getting ready to drape the cloth on the bottom of the dory today so I'm hoping to wet it out soon, so this is very timely for me.

Thanks!

Curt 

830/997-8120  [email protected]

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

   I am a little confused about this: is the rope saturated with the epoxy? Won't that make it just as brittle as any other material that has been soaked in epoxy and then cured. How do you create a flexible matrix that can deform and absorb impact without shattering? 

RE: Has Anyone Epoxied Rope On Leading Edges?

   

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/howto/foiled/index.htm  Scroll down to see the rope method. I wondered the same thing until I heard personal, and written testimony that it works. Like brass strips it distributes the force from the impact, but seeminly does dampen it a little...how I dont know if it's glassed but that's what they say.

  Glass cloth goes around the leading edge, with a 1/2" flat leading edge,  then the 3/8" rope is applied on top of that, then fill. Of course our bows have glass, and I will be glassing my daggerboard, skeg, and rudder then the rope, then plastic or peel ply wrap with resin to fill the gap between the rope and the glass.   I dont see it in that article, must be in another one that explains how the epoxy-soaked rope absorbs impact without damaging the wood it is glued to.   In some article I read the author said he tested it by whomping it with a hammer or something and it resulted in no damage...reminds me of the 5 mile an hour bumpers from years ago.  I've also read that you dont want to use double braid rope or any rope with a solid core, some people also dont like polypropolyne for multiple reasons, but a 3/8" single braid nylon seems to soak up epoxy nicely and is the rope of choice.

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