TOPIC: gluing plywood to fiberglass

This may be basic, but I will ask it anyway. Behind the inside portion of the deck, there was a 2" strip of 3/8" plywood. Was is the operative word, because it has rotted and needs to be replaced. It appears that the plywood had been adhered to the deck piece and that a fiberglass flap had been used to hold it in place. My plan is to glue and clamp the new plywood to the glass. I was planning on using a two part epoxy. Is that the right stuff or is there something better?

Epoxy is probably your best bet. I'd thicken it with some cabosil or another material to make it a little thicker, it'll be easier to deal with, and it'll fill some of the small gaps better.

thetudor,

if it was me, i'd use MDO plywood & "paint on" a coat of UNthickened epoxy & then "trowel on" a thick mixture of pulverized lime/epoxy "creamy peanut butter" on that & just before it dries completely, "paint on" another "coat" of UNthickened to seal it all PERMANENTLY.
(Joe Yucha of Historic Alexandria Seaport's Foundation taught me that trick)

just my opinion, satx

My current Glastron project has those "backer boards" too Todd. They help strengthen the edge, and in my case there is trim work that goes around the inside, I think it gives the screws for that more "substance" for mounting maybe? I coated mine with resin (poly), then used a layer of csm between the wood and the glass and clamped them in place overnight. The trim screws will secure them in the end, but I don't think you could rip them out now if you wanted too!

As with so many things we do, there's usually two or three (or four!) ways to go about it I guess. Whichever way you go, remember to leave a little lip (reveal) of glass at the bottom to mount the edge trim to if you plan to use any.

I'm thinking that in the vein of several different ways, molecular glue like Gorilla glue has some promise for this type of joint. With a fairly new product like Gorilla glue, it is hard to know when it would be better than the generally accepted method, and when it would not.

Here's what I did/am doing. I used 3/8" microlam maple-faced plywood (bought from a company going out of business years ago). Adhered it with a straight epoxy. It seems to be adhering fine. I will coat the exposed wood with epoxy, probably with lime mixed in, to seal everything. Before that, I am going to verify the amount of lip that I allowed is adequate and trim out any extra with my Multimaster. I think I'll be good with that.

There's a pic on my projects page.