What to do?

[Stan Derelian]

The picture shows the problem. The old cutlass bearing bolts had to be drilled out. The holes are uneven. How to fill them? The general opinion is that the keel is gumwood--it is very hard. Do I clean out the space and glue in a plug, and then drill new holes, and if so, what kind of wood can I use besides gum?
Another thought has been to use one of the epoxies (Marine-tex, splash-zone and either embed the lag screws before it goes off, or drill as I would do for wood).

Thanks. http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid58/p737a1ddac79eb9f3cad47ca31de4746a/fc672371.jpg

[Ron Hotchin]

Stan, I HAVEN'T actually tried this myself, but a local boatbuilder uses the following technique. If the wood is dry, use epoxy with microfibres, stiff consistency so it won't run and put some in the holes with a piece of dowel or whatever, enough that the hole is filled when the screw is inserted. Put some wax on the screw (he actually sprays on Pam). Put some wax or electrical tape on the side of the bearing flange that contacts the wood, and anything else you don't want the epoxy to stick to. Place the flange where you want it, and secure it to the keelson with duct tape or anything that will hold it in place while the epoxy sets. Insert the screws and tape the heads to the flange to hold them in place. When the epoxy sets, the wax coating will allow you to back the screws out, remove the flange and do any needed touch up. If the wood is wet, I believe you will need a specialty epoxy. Hope this helps.
Ron

[paul oman]

Ron is correct. You can cover the bolt with grease, petroleum jelly, etc.

You don't need special epoxy, but one that is 'fiber reinforced' and will bond to damp surfaces would be better, but I wouldn't kill myself tracking it down - use what you might have.

paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html (http://www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html)

[NormMessinger]

In the recent issue of "Epoxyworks" the Gougeon Bros describe how they hung a huge ballast on a boat. The bolts were set in epoxy and had no nuts on the top side. If that will hold up many tons of ballast it will hold in you bearing. Go light on the grease so you don't cast faulty threads.

[Don Maurer]

How about using a machine screw with a threaded sleeve? Grease or wax the screw and screw it into the sleeve. Then epoxy the sleeve into the hole using thickened epoxy. You can then remove the screw as many times as you want without damaging the threads.

[Alan D. Hyde]

If I were going to pursue Don's suggestion, I'd either use a threaded sleeve that had an exterior that was grooved perpendicular to its length (to resist pulling out) or I'd try to devise something similar on my own, without compromising the strength of the sleeve. I wouldn't use a nice shiny smooth sleeve...

Alan

[BradW]

Alan may have a good idea. You could have a shop machine inserts made of the right material. They might look a lot like these inserts used in the plastic molding biz:

http://www.emhart.com/products/dodge/images/umold.jpg

Knurling of the outside is easily done with a special tool which most machine shops should have.

[Dan McCosh]

Geugeon makes a filler for this purpose--I think it's called high-density filler. Pack it in, and then drill and tap it.

[Bob Adams]

The problem with doing the "pack it in " method is it will be very hard to avoid air pockets in the filling.