How to fix my hatchboard. I broke off one edge.

[esarratt]

I dropped my hatchboard and broke it. It is teak.

The hatch was sitting on the stairs I use to board the boat; the boat is on the hard. The hatch fell about 10' to the ground.

The break is pretty clean.

I can do anything if I try. I don't mind spending the money on the proper tools or taking the time to do it right.

What way do you recommend that I fix the hatch?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by esarratt

I dropped my hatchboard and broke it. It is teak.

The hatch was sitting on the stairs I use to board the boat; the boat is on the hard. The hatch fell about 10' to the ground.

The break is pretty clean.

I can do anything if I try. I don't mind spending the money on the proper tools or taking the time to do it right.

What way do you recommend that I fix the hatch?

Hi, not too difficult, need a doweling jig, epoxy glue and four clamps. Drill for three dowels, glue on both faces of the break and in the dowel holes, clamp on a level board with some nonstick freezer go between under where the join is going to be, bring the pieces together using 2 clamps, clamp the resulting almost repaired board to the board using the other 2 clamps, clean up any squeeze out, open a beer or beverage of choice and return in 24 hrs to unclamp and refinish.

[mvweebles]

There are a few options - as previous post states, dowels work but i could never get them aligned perfectky. Biscuit cutters are better but you probably don't want to buy one for a single project.

I would probably just glue-screw it - the slightly uneven edge will align itself just fine (might help for dowels too). Get some long #6 stainless panhead sheet metal screws. Pre-drill three holes and countersink the heads. Glue with Titebond II wood glue. Fill the countersink holes and you're done.

https://www.mcmaster.com/92470A162

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Hi, not too difficult, need a doweling jig, epoxy glue and four clamps. Drill for three dowels, glue on both faces of the break and in the dowel holes, clamp on a level board with some nonstick freezer go between under where the join is going to be, bring the pieces together using 2 clamps, clamp the resulting almost repaired board to the board using the other 2 clamps, clean up any squeeze out, open a beer or beverage of choice and return in 24 hrs to unclamp and refinish.

Thanks. I had been thinking biscuits or dowels.

[5BTM]

No big deal.

Wipe the broken parts with acetone to remove oil, Titebond3 glue, clamp.

All you need is bar and c-clamps.

It should look like this.

[Oeanda]

If the pieces fit together cleanly now and don’t have old glue on the edges, I think I’d just re-glue it as is, possibly with a couple stainless screws, inserted horizontally through the busted off piece. Clamp, pre-drill with a 3/8 countersink bit, separate, apply glue, clamp and screw together, then plug with 3/8 plugs whenever.

Invest in some squeezy clamps regardless! There’s life before squeezy clamps and life after.

[Bowdrie]

Dowling is better than screws, and alignment for them is easy if the job is broken down into two processes.
Keeping the parts aligned on a flat surface glue them back together with epoxy.
Use one of your "throw-away" brushes to brush acetone on the joining surfaces shortly before gluing, allowing time while you're mixing the epoxy for the acetone to evaporate.
After the joint is cured, THEN drill for your dowels.
Epoxy NEEDS a bit of clearance to work well, (it's a physical bond, not a chemical bond,) as such, high clamping pressure is to be avoided when you do the part-to-part glue job, actually little pressure is required, just enough to close the joint.
In the same vein, drilling holes for dowels the same size as the dowel defeats the purpose, (driving in the dowel simply removes the epoxy and runs the risk of splitting, due to hydraulic action in the thin wood).
Drill the holes ~1/32>3/64ths oversize.
Coat the dowels liberally with your epoxy mix, putting some in the holes also, (for both glue operations you'll add some thickener, not much, you're looking for a consistency of ~warm Catsup/Ketchup, and with a twisting motion insert the dowels.
If you measure carefully the dowels will sit a little below surface and you'll simply let the epoxy be the covering plug.
It's easy, it's very strong, and no chance of misalignment or splitting.

[stormalong]

As Uncle Bob said in his response you need a doweling jig. It self centers on the board. Hold the two boards together and draw perpendicular lines across the joint. Do at least four dowels. Then align the jig with the lines you drew and drill for the dowel pins. You can drill blind hoes so you won't see the repair. Just gluing without reinforcement would be weak and be likely to re-break. Teak is hard to glue well. You can see in your pictures that the original was made tongue an groove for strength.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-c...xoCX30QAvD_BwE

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by 5BTM

No big deal.

Wipe the broken parts with acetone to remove oil, Titebond3 glue, clamp.

All you need is bar and c-clamps.

It should look like this.

Thanks. Yes, I had also thought about just gluing it.

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by stormalong

As Uncle Bob said in his response you need a doweling jig. It self centers on the board. Hold the two boards together and draw perpendicular lines across the joint. Do at least four dowels. Then align the jig with the lines you drew and drill for the dowel pins. You can drill blind hoes so you won't see the repair. Just gluing without reinforcement would be weak and be likely to re-break. Teak is hard to glue well. You can see in your pictures that the original was made tongue an groove for strength.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-c...xoCX30QAvD_BwE

Thanks. Yes, I was thinking blind dowels into the broken edges of the two pieces in the old tongue and groove joint.

I have already found a harbor freight with the jig.

I'll post pictures of my progress.

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Teak is hard to glue well.

So is there a specific epoxy or glue made for teak?

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by esarratt

So is there a specific epoxy or glue made for teak?

I don't know. I suggest you call West System epoxy or Jamestown distributors and get their opinion.

All I can say is that I have had mixed results gluing teak. Even with the "proper" preparation.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by 5BTM

No big deal.

Wipe the broken parts with acetone to remove oil, Titebond3 glue, clamp.

All you need is bar and c-clamps.

It should look like this.

I recommend this method, except use epoxy glue because of the teak wood. Wipe the glue surfaces with acetone just before gluing to remove the oil and promote adhesion.

There is no need for dowels, biscuits, dominos for strength. They can aid in aligning but the method shown by 5BTM works well and is much easier. Use plastic wrap between parts you don’t want to glue together.

[esarratt]

Before I acetone wipe, my hunch is I need to clean up the wood fibers a little bit with some sandpaper?

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by stormalong

I don't know. I suggest you call West System epoxy or Jamestown distributors and get their opinion.

All I can say is that I have had mixed results gluing teak. Even with the "proper" preparation.

I actually found some epoxy specific to teak.


Good idea on calling West and Jamestown. I always do get a few more tidbits of information talking to tech support.