use nylon ss lock nuts Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: casioqv@usermail.com Date: 7/11/17 9:05 AM (GMT-08:00) To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: M_Boats: Rebuilding bow ring reinforcement This polyurethane bow eye wedge could be an option to replace the wood backing if damaged: https://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm/product/1110/plastic-backing-block-... Sincerely, Tyler ----- Original Message ----- From: jerry@jerrymontgomery.org To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2017 8:01:46 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Rebuilding bow ring reinforcement The wood backup is there for two reasons- to spread the load, and to give the structure a bit of compressibility, which will keep tension on the U-bolt and keep it from unwinding. I think there has been very little problem with it, in fact this is the first time I've heard of a problem, but like all exterior hardware it should be pulled off every few years and rebedded. -----Original Message----- From: John Schinnerer Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2017 6:03 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: Rebuilding bow ring reinforcement My question would be, why was there a chunk of wood used there in the first place? Rather than just bolting it to the fiberglass, maybe with some kind of resin-based stiffener. If there was a good reason why the wood was used - flexibility? Shock absorption? spreading the stress load? etc., I'd consider that when repairing. If no functional reason - maybe it was just quicker and cheaper as a spacer - then your idea might be fine. I think you mean fumed silica or amorphous silica though (the powdery forms)...'colloidal' means a suspension in a liquid, which probably wouldn't mix well with the epoxy... :-) cheers, John S. On 07/11/2017 03:48 PM, Dan Farrell wrote:

I recently discovered that the wood used to reinforce the bow ring if my '79 m-17 had been ruined by water intrusion.  The fiberglass over it's top had collapsed.

I've removed the damaged fiberglass and the wood pulp, and was planning to glass over the area little by little from the bottom up, filling in the space formerly filled by wood with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica.

Does this seem like a poor plan to anyone?

Dan Farrell M17 #301

-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com