REMOVING CABLE TIES IN STITCH AND GLUE??

[Rob Blackburn]

I am building an Oarling dory and have used plastic electricians cable ties to stitch it. I did the first seam at the bow as a test run and all worked well. I pulled about 20% of ties out at 24 hour mark..all came out easily but this morning at the 36 hour mark the epoxy had hardened more and half the rest have snapped off as they are held in too tight.
Should I drill them out and fill the holes or should I sand over and leave as I am putting 2 layers of glass over it? I favour the sand glass but could they work out over time? Seems unlikely but am now rethinking the rest of the boat.
Maybe I should go and get some wire and replace them.
What do you reckon?
Rob Blackburn
Lennox HEad
Australia

[Bruce Hooke]

For future joints one method I have used is to tie the panels together and then just apply thickened epoxy between the ties to hold the panels in place. Once this cures I can remove the ties and then fill in the gaps.

I do like wire because it offers more adjustment options. If I need to pull the panels together a bit more just press down on the wire where it crosses the joint between the panels on the outside and the panels move closer together. Easing off a little is just a matter of untwisting the wire a little bit.

[John B]

why take them out ? the reason I used them is that you just slice em off and leave the plastic in there.
nice fibreoptic effect in the sunlight too. LOL.( I don't use the black ones.)
I haven't noticed any working around them in the kids dinghies, they are bright finished so I'm sure it would show( and they get fairly hammered).

[RodB]

Pre-waxed tie wire works great once you learn how to twist it tight with vice grips without breaking it ...and removal is quite straight forward. Cut close to the panel on one side of the twist, grab with vice grips and use the vice grips as a lever to pull the wire out...slow and easy like pulling out a nail with a hammer. If you have any problems removing the wires you can heat them with a soldering gun and the wire comes out slick as you please. At least with wire you can really vary the tension of the twisted wire to get perfect alignment of panel edges before bonding... very adjustable.

I like the idea of cutting the wire ties flush and leaving them in... but tie wire is a very good way to go.

RB

[ 06-21-2005, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: RodB ]

[Old Sailor]

I've built a Mirror dinghy, a Mirror 16 and two mirror dinghy RC models using copper wire. Just smipped em off and sanded down. I like the wire because you have better control.
Old Sailor

[Steve Hornsby]

I would leave them in. I can't imagine they could ever work themselves out against the glass. If you really wanted to be sure, you could drill out 1/4 inch and force (putty knife) remaining hole/space with thickend expoxy and wood flour or fairing compound. That way, they would be below the surface and glued in along their whole length. I'm also inclined to think that if you flushed them off and knifed a little epoxy in the remaing space, you'd be fine.

I just finsihed my Oarling. Its fast and fun to row.

Steve

[DerekW]

On a boat now several years old, stored outside in very variable weather, I've left them in with no problems; no sign of movement. Don't worry.

cheers
Derek

[David W Pratt]

With copper or steel wire, untwirl it and heat with a propane torch. The epoxy softens and the wire can be pulled out with pliers.
Good luck.

[Rob Blackburn]

Thanks for this... I won't worry. Have gone and done the tab method for the rest of it and am waiting now for it to harden up to take some of them out. The first lot I won't worry about..
It is hard to get the time to have a good go at this sort of thing but my mate across the road reckons "the delays are the best part of the journey...you can spend even more time in the shed that way"

Thanks again.

Rob