Installing Bungs - glue/epoxy??

[Guy LaHaye]

I am new to the forum and spent a few hours browsing thru Building/Repair and was unable to answer my question.
Just about everyone I talk to has a different opinon for installing bungs in planks, using adhesives from glue to epoxies. I have personally used varnish on a previous smaller project and this worked very well. I am currently in the midst of a complete restoration of an 18 foot 1964 Greavette Sunflash, and will soon be ready to begin installing the planks. I have yet to decide which method I will use to install the bungs. Originally, there seemed to be some type of glue that I noticed in the holes at the screw heads during the disassembly process.
I am hoping to get some kind of consensus from this forum.

Thanks, Guy

[Jack Heinlen]

The traditional choice of the pros, for years, was shellac, though varnish has worked for me also. I don't like real glues, especially epoxy, because it fills the heads of the screws, and makes removal hence a PITA.

I say stick with proven methods. If the bungs are well made a bit of shellac or varnish makes a good seal, and allows you to get the screw out, if need be.

[Duncan Low]

Guy, having used both epoxy and glue in the complete restoration of my '52 CC Riviera, you really don't want to use epoxy on the bungs. In my experience, the epoxy is stronger than the surrounding wood and with the wooden boats, you are going to get movement. Consequently, if bungs start to become "proud", they create a bigger hole than what you started with. With regular glue, they may become loose and have to be replaced, but the hole is not damaged. That has been my experience. I am sure there are other opinions.

[nedL]

I'm on my soecond rebuild of a boat I've had for 27 years, first time around I used varnish on some plugs & epoxy on others. I'm now cursing myself with the epoxied ones for all the reasons mentioned above. This time I'll be using only varnish! ;) (Bungs/plugs must be one of those regional things, when I was hanging around the boatyards of the Jersey shore as a kid if you called them 'bungs' you were showing off your lack of knowledge. - Bungs are in wine casks & beer kegs! :D )

[Thad Van Gilder]

I dunno...I have always called them bungs... "plugs" are a lubberly term.

That said, I always use varnish.

-Thad

[westinghouse]

Yeah, if your going to epoxy plugs you might as well trowel in cab-o-sil. Varnish is a good way to go.

Interesting point about bungs vs plugs. Here's some more:

3. a. Naut. A nickname for the master's assistant who superintends the serving of the grog.

Looking at the OED online, bung has about forty meanings: while none of them refer directly to the plugging of holes (be they screw holes or holes in the hull) there are several uses of the word referred to in a nautical context, taken from such sources as George Nares' Seamanship . True, the meaning of bung can be seen as most directly referring to wine casks through the safeguard of the a priori.

I refer to plugs for screw holes as well as those used for holes in the hull as bungs, but I'm really just a chowder when it comes to this sort of thing.

Eli

[cbob]

Guy, For below the waterline, afloat year round, I prefer in the following order, rescoercinol(NLA), Epoxy, and in a pinch Gorilla. I have no experience how shellac or varnish would perform in a BTWL application. My cockpit sole 1/2 in. teak over ply set in Smith's Hardwood Epoxy, now for about 15 years, the bungs are set with the same Smiths H W and what happens is the epoxy wears more slowly than the teak, so leaves slightly proud rings above the bungs/sole surface. Not unsightly here and adds to the non skid effect. Would not be so good on the main deck for instance, but on many boats with bunged teak over ply, agressive sanding to produce brightness, which won't last, produces bung waferization and subsequent outpopping which lasts until the teak and possibly the ply is replaced, IMHO. Luck, cbob

[Dave Fleming]

I dunno...I have always called them bungs... "plugs" are a lubberly term.West Coast Boat Yards = plugs


That said, I always use varnish..Workboats = Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue
Yachits = Varnish

[nedL]

Dave, So you mean west & east agree on this one! :D

[Guy LaHaye]

Hey all, I would like to thank all of you that responded so quickly to my query. Based on the responses and my case, I will "stick" to using varnish for installing my "bungs". This boat, when completed will be a day tripper that will be trailered and will not be left sitting in the water for any length of time while not in use.
I am still having a hard time calling them "plugs", as when I think of plugs, I think, hey I have a leak, lets plug it!

Thanks again, I appreciate the dialog.
Guy

[JimConlin]

Cabinetmakers call 'em plugs, hence the term "plug cutter".

[Concordia..41]

I'll probably be blackballed over this, but of the hundreds of screws we removed from the bottom of SARAH there was one group that was newer than the rest, and which we believe from our research was done in the 80's. That bunch was epoxied (and while removing epoxied bungs is an acquired skill), the screws all backed right out with the threads looking like the day they were placed.

We've refastened for the most part using epoxy - nothing like having to take out your own epoxy bung :mad: when something has to be redone...

Right now I'm undecided on how to do this next vast majority. Duncan's comment made sense at first reading (and promised to cause me much loss of sleep), but SARAH has epoxy repairs to worm damage in her stern post and along the water line that have held for decades. Also on her rudder, the bolt heads were completely sheathed in epoxy, and there's no damage to the surrounding wood from variances in expansion. :confused:

Ok, go get the tar and feathers....

- M

[Tom Robb]

Having removed about half of the bungs on a wood hull, I now have a very strong preference for varnish over anything more or less permanent :mad:
The poor sap who has to remove that epoxied bung - who may be you - will curse the stuff and perhaps you too.

[ 01-25-2005, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: Tom Robb ]