Re: [Paddlewise] Attaching D-rings

At 08:56 AM 3/4/00 EST, DANJW_at_aol.comwrote:
>In a message dated 3/3/00 9:20:04 PM Central Standard Time, 
>n.v.rob_at_deltanet.com writes:
>
><< Bill, would the epoxy pads be suitable for plastic boats?
> 
> -Nick
>  >>
>Plastic is easy, just rough up the area (with sand paper) that you want to 
>mount the pad with D-ring to, an use an adhesive such as Vynabond, slap it 
>down and let it set up. Excellent holding power. 
>
> - Dan
 
Hi List,

I'm not familiar with Vynabond, so I won't comment there.  I have been
impressed with ability of the epoxy supplied with the pads to bond to
fiberglass (as in my boat), painted aluminum, a carbon/epoxy structure and,
most impressive, to the plastic material of the mount.  BTW, the mount has
ridges on its glue side to help the epoxy bonding process.

Lately, I've learned a little about epoxy bonding.  In addition to surface
preparation (cleanliness, godliness and all that), it is important to have
a defined space for the epoxy.  Bonds fail when you clamp two pieces
together simply because you squeeze out all the glue.  Many successful
epoxy joints are realized by adding glass beads to the epoxy which
maintains an epoxy bond line when items are clamped together.

What has this to do with bonding to plastic boats?  I'll get to that.

My limited experience with observing plastic boats (both mine and those of
others) is that the appearance of the surface can vary from on boat to the
other.  I suspect that there are differences in the material (cross-linked
vs. linear PE vs. ???) and I suspect that some adhesives work better than
others for different cases.  Therefore, for bonding to plastic boats, I would:

1.   Test my proposed glue on both the mount and an inconspicious area of
the boat.  After curing, really yank on that sucker.

2.   Be sure to use a pad that has ridges on the glue side so that a better
bond is achieved.

Good luck,

Bill Leonhardt
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