Subject: laminating keel timbers (and CPES)
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2000

Hello,

I am preparing to laminate up the keel timbers for my 30' sailboat from 1-by or 2-by stock. I had planned to soak all the lumber with CPES and then glue them up with resorcinol/Aerodux 500, but after asking around, it seems that the CPES might reduce the adhesive qualities of the resorcinol, so now I'm leaning towards gluing up the bare wood and THEN coating it with CPES. Later on the entire keel and deadwood assembly will be sheathed in epoxy and fiberglass.

Would you recommend doing it this way, or would it better to CPES the laminates before gluing them together?

Thanks for your advice.

Seth W.

Seth,

Absolutely DO NOT treat the area to be glued with CPES. All adhesives (including epoxies) want their own grip on the wood. Laminate first with the resorcinol, and then treat with the CPES. Your instincts are correct.

This is less a critical issue with epoxies, because you have chemically similar substances getting together. But resorcinol is not an epoxy, as you know, and we have no information at all on how the two compounds would adhere.

(note: the CPES will adhere quite well to the cured resorcinol.)

Doc