Removing Cabin.

[Colin Burt]

Hi
I am replacing the cabin on my 22 foot plywood sloop that I got through the free section of the woodenboat classifieds. The cabin is made of planks toung and grooved together the lowest plank (all else removed already) is screwed and glued. My question is what is the best way to remove these pieces? I know that Epoxy can be removed with heat but how much? I do not know what kind of adhesive this is. The boat is pretty old (60s).
Thank you
Colin

[JimD]

Hello, Colin. Hard to tell from your description exactly what the plank is attached to or how hard it is to get at so pardon me for asking something obvious but just to get the ball rolling what are the screws made of, what condition are they in, and what happens when you try to back them out?

[ 12-17-2004, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: JimD ]

[Frank Wentzel]

Colin

Most epoxies have softening temperature around 140 F. That is below the softening temperature of most paints so you should have no trouble using a heat lamp or a hot air gun.

/// Frank ///

[Bruce Hooke]

It seems to me that epoxy was a whole lot less common in the 1960's than it is now, so there is a fair chance that the glue you are dealing with is something other than epoxy. Is there any color to the glue? If it is purple then it is, without a doubt Resorcinol. Are there wide spots in the joint that are well-filled with glue? If so then there is a fair chance that it is epoxy, because it is one of the only glues that fills gaps well, that is unless it was attached with something that came out of a tube, but that stuff was also a lot less common back in the 60's.

You may have to come up with some way to cut the wood off...

[Cullen T.M. McGough]

Unless you're anxious about surrounding wood/trim that you're trying to save, cut as much wood out as you can with a saber saw and then have at it with a chisel.

If you do it right, this will expose the screws which can be backed out, or twisted out with a pair of vice-grips. If all else fails and rust/electrolysis is not an issue, break 'em off and grind the shanks down.

Most heat guns put out ample heat to remove epoxy and other glues. However, some of these go brittle, not soft. Apply heat until the glue starts to bubble or change color. Don't forget to wear a filter mask- lots of nasty chemicals in there.

If you are trying to save the wood, (and first consider "time to lovingly remove crappy, water-stained old plank" vs. "making a new one") apply the heat gun uniformly along the whole seam. The idea is to heat up the entire seam without blistering one spot. I use my heat gun on "high" but I'm cavalier and we charge by the hour. ;) (also, if you do screw up and char the wood, a good sharp scraper will remove the damage. it sounds like you'll be in for a lot of repainting/sanding anyway.)

Any pictures?

Good luck!

p.s. "Patina" adds character. Hehe.

[Colin Burt]

Thanks for the replies,
I have not been having much trouble backing the screws out (bronze most in good shape). The glue looks brown to me (hard to see very neat job). Looks like I will try and use heat and then if that fails get to work cutting it out. The deck is Glassed the edge of which meets the same seam, if I try to use heat is it likely to cause permanent damage to the glues used for the glass?
Colin