Rebuilding the Mast Step (Part 2)

December 31, 2018

I'm currently working to close up the open areas of the deck / coach roof, and today I brought the work closer to that end by focusing on the mast step / mast support beam.  The integral support beam (a glassed-in beam as seen from within the cabin) runs athwart ship, or perpendicular to the length of the Allied 24.  In previous work, I laminated a new center portion of the support beam with 1708 biaxial cloth, a piece of 3/8" G-10, bedded in thickened epoxy.  Today, I wanted to focus on the portions of the mast support beam to the port and starboard side of the center section / mast step.

I began by transferring the camber of the deck onto a piece of cardboard; I accomplished this by using a small compass, following the overhead curvature.  The purpose of this was to create a template to then apply to a piece of mahogany; the mahogany hardwood would serve as a filler for the rather large opening in the deck.  Along with thickened epoxy and biaxial cloth, the mahogany would provide structural support to this critical area of the deck.

Back in the shop, I applied the templates and shaped the mahogany to fit the port and starboard sides of the mast support beam.

My next step would be to wet the mahogany out with West System epoxy resin without thickening agents, otherwise known as "neat epoxy".  I set them to the side and focused on the prepping the cavities...

I mixed a few batches of thickened epoxy, made my way over to the boat, and pushed this thickened mixture into the opening of the mast support beam.  I focused on the outboard edges of the opening at first, and then applied a bed of the thickened epoxy to the bottom of the opening.  I made my way back to the shop and mixed another batch of thickened epoxy, grabbed the mahogany filler pieces and headed back to the boat.  I placed the mahogany structural pieces into the previously applied epoxy, firmly pushing and bedding them into place.  I then applied additional thickened epoxy to fill the gaps surrounding the mahogany.  This would be the extent of the work today, and I finished it off with laying out some peel ply fabric.  Tomorrow will be fine tuning the day's work, and finishing off the support structure with a layer of 1708 biaxial cloth.  I may get to installing the new G-10 mast step core material, depending on time available (post new year's eve celebration and all).

Total Time Today: 2.75 hrs