Hi, Ferro Owner Here !

[Boracay]

I had a quick look through the article.

Regrettably I did not see the name of the epoxy adhesive used.

There hare many different types of epoxy. One specifically formulated to bond wet cement to old, fully cured cement would be necessary in your case.

I did a Google search using "epoxy bond wet cured cement" and quite a few commercial epoxy bonding agents came up. It could be well worth your while to investigate some of these.

[ozskip]

Epoxy sticks to ferro like s$!t to a blanket as long as it is sound,clean and dry,will be hard wearing and not let if done properly.As the repair is the capping and very thin i would just do the repair in epoxy.You will need to do something with the rusty enpose steel needle is good do not use phosphoric acid in any form.Should be a simple enough repair.
Greg

[billy4184]

Hi Boracay, yeah I noticed that too, would be good to know what kind since I'm sure there's some good and bad types. However IMO the main thing would be to get a proper key. Dad has done some repairs on the boat and while some come out without much help there are others which seem to stick like anything. I have a few windows and bulkheads to repair so I will probably try a few things. I asked Dad about epoxy, and while it would probably not be an issue on the windows, he said it is good to have the concrete `breathe' and also the epoxy might have different expansion characteristics. I reckon that the best repair is one which is most similar to the original, but if it doesn't stick well some epoxy might be the best.
Hi Greg, how come phosphoric acid is bad? Thats what I've been painting the steel with before repairs. Thanks for the advice guys.
Cheers

[ozskip]

Phosphoric acid has an appetite for calcium,lime and rust and will cause the hull to degenerate.
Greg

[billy4184]

Hi Greg, thanks for taking the time to give some advice. I haven't heard of phosphoric acid being bad for concrete, except that it can be used to etch it which I guess could create a small separation between steel and concrete, which would definitely be bad. What are your experiences exactly? Is there something else that you would suggest?
Cheers

[ozskip]

I use a needle gun and it has always worked very well.I have done a same repair on a boat and that was 3 years ago with no problems.Treat with por15 then use expoxy.
Greg

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here and I hope you can get the old ferro in sailing shape soon. Its given your family good service.
kind regards,

[billy4184]

Thanks SkiprJohn, here's hoping

[billy4184]

Just got the book `Ferro-Cement Boats' from Hartley, not bad but a little disappointed at the lack of detail. Reads a bit more like a history book than a manual. Good book though, but experience I guess is what will teach me the most.
Cheers

[smallyachts]

Originally Posted by billy4184

Just got the book `Ferro-Cement Boats' from Hartley, not bad but a little disappointed at the lack of detail. Reads a bit more like a history book than a manual. Good book though, but experience I guess is what will teach me the most.
Cheers

Billy,

There is a far superior book for Ferro construction.

"Ferro-cement Design Techniques and Application" by Bruce Bingham

It is the "bible" for Ferro boats.

[billy4184]

Hi smallyachts, thanks, will look it up!
If it is as thick as a Bible then it is for me. Hartley didn't go into much detail on their website, saying its all in the book. And the book doesn't have much either that everyone on this forum weren't able to teach me. With their reputation I was expecting a million and one tricks for fixing up a ferro
Cheers!

[smallyachts]

My main copy of the book was actually purchased from an ebay account out of Sydney about 7 years ago. I have talked with several ferro owners from down under and they all either had or had seen a copy of the book, so it should be pretty easy for you to find one down there.