Question for the group -
Would you think its ok to encapsulate large blocks of
Aluminum in
Epoxy in at the base of the
Mast Compression Support ?.
On my particular sailboat it is a known problem that the support under the
mast compression post in the
bilge could compress overtime and 'sink down' a little (on my
boat its about 3/8"-1/2"). The manufacturer put
marine grade
plywood on-end built up and fiberglassed in and its pretty solid, but over time the
wood eventually gets some moisture (even encapsulated in fiberglass) and starts to give a little - The manufacturer even admits it and has a "tech-note" on repairing it.
In the manufacturer tech note they advise removing the
wood and replacing it with chop strand and resin mix. I don't have access to a "cnopper gun" and the area is fairly large (8.5" L x 13" W x 8.5" H)
Some people have said they epoxied in layers of 1" G10 FR4 Glass
Epoxy
(basically blocks of solid epoxy) but that is a LOT of G10 - Probably about $700 is G10 alone , not counting epoxy and glass.
I have heard of people replacing the
marine plywood with some solid wood like oak or something like that (even had a marine
repair facility say thats what they wanted to put in there). I know it would be far superior to what was in there but its still "wood" and even if I really encapsulate the hell out of it, there is always a chance of
water ingress over time and getting to the wood no matter what you do.
Now to the question. I have a friend with access to solid blocks of
aluminum at a great
price (free or a case of
beer ?) that I was thinking of being used as some of the 'solid filler' that I would try to encapsulate in my compression post base. Would anyone see an issue with that ?
I understand that I would need to do a really good job prepping the material to get the epoxy to adhere (I was thinking of 'G-flex') and think I could make it
work, but what do people think about the "Long Term" effects of aluminum encapsulated in epoxy ? Does anyone think there is a chance the aluminum could get compromised and deteriorate and crumble - How does it stand up in an oxygen deprived
environment ? (all one needs to do is look at a aluminum
beer can after a few months in the warm wet
bilge -- they go eventually)
Thanks in advance for anyones thoughts and inputs - or other ideas .