Dynel and Ply Deck---Seam Look??

[OEX]

I am going to lay a ply and Dynel and Epoxy deck on my 34 gaff cutter. I am not too happy about it since I have a lot of deck and it will always look like dynel or canvas---both of which do not fit the boat's style. So I was thinking of making the ply look like a laid deck--workboat non-sprung type. I would just run lines on the ply, etc and then dynel, etc. But my question is can I get the dynel to reflect the "seams" under it without issues of adherence and cloth bunching, etc---any clues??

Cheers, Bruce

[WFK]

Hi Bruce........

Lets face it, ya got a plywood deck and no matter what you do, it's still going to be a plywood deck. On a catboat restoration we had an owner that had the same concerns and what we did was put down the non skid in a sprung deck fashion. It actually came out pretty good.

Bill

[OEX]

How did you do it? Just taped the deck or.... How does Dynel and epoxy sit into contours if I wanted to try it?

cheers

[WFK]

Good Morning Bruce,
First off, we didn't use Dynel, we used a cloth called "nexus" or also called "Xynole". It shows no, or very little texture. After the cloth work was completed, we gave the entire deck a coat of paint, and taped any place we didn't want nonskid, including what would be considered caulking seems between the planks. We used a tape called "fine line", a tape that goes down to 1/8" widths and takes radius's very well. Our second coat of paint was the nonskid areas (planks)with the nonskid being applied with a salt shaker. After this has dried, the non skid is throughly cleaned followed by a third and final coat over the entire surface.

Bill

[DougWilde]

I've sheathed a hull and deck with Dynel.
It can be made to easily conform to just about any contour or corner or edge when wetting out. But it has a wicked weave to fill. Knock down some with sandpaper, then fill with a fairing mix of epoxy, topped off with straight epoxy. Drive the reaction with heat in order to prevent print through later in the summer, after the sun has beat down on your deck.

I like WFK's suggestion.

Doug Wilde

[OEX]

I am going to experiment with Xynol and see how it works---I'll get pix and comment up after I am done. What mix of Epoxy worked best?

[WFK]

Bruce, that particular re-fit was some 20 years ago and don't remember the brand of epoxy. I use WEST now and like it's characteristics just fine. Incidently, I see the boat often and the decks still look great.
I think you'll like the xynole. It's more an abrasion cloth than strength, but it's still plenty tough. What needs to be remembered is to do what's called a flood coat, .....a second coat of epoxy to help fill in the weave. We also found after experimenting that there was no need to have any lap joints in the cloth. All of this helps to make a cleaner appearence.

Bill

[OEX]

thanks---time to experiment!
cheers, Bruce