EPOXYWORKS Number 21, Summer 2003 Cover story: The Swift Solo is a single-handed skiff built by Bram Dally. The cedar-strip core of the Swift is one successful step in the development of the perfect combination of skins and core. Dally discusses his quest to find the stiffest, most durable hull for the speedy skiffs. Cover photo, © Dennis Williams. Also: Meade Gougeon weighs in on the factors contributing to stiffness loss in small boats and Test Engineer, Bill Bertelsen adds data to the discussion. More testing examines epoxy's compatibility with pigments, stains, chopped strand mat and exotic woods. And, we'll take an in depth look at repairing holes in fiberglass boats.

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There will be a test
Why we test. Inquiry and testing have been an unbroken tradition at GBI for 35 years.

The importance of stiffness in small boat performance
Meade Gougeon's overview of the factors affecting the loss of stiffness in composite boats.

Building for long-term competitive performance
Bram Dally discusses his quest to find the stiffest composite for the Swift Solo's hull.

Custom fiberglass boat repair
Repairing damaged fiberglass boats for the Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

Woods of the world adhesion testing
A look at some of the worlds most exotic wood from an adhesives point of view.

Chopped stand mat & epoxy
Normally used with polyester resin, can it be used with epoxy?

Epoxy adhesion over stains
A closer look at the effect of wood stains on the adhesion of epoxy to wood substrates.

Adding pigments to epoxy
Examining what pigments can be used to color epoxy and how they affect adhesion.

A better way to prepare laminates
Norton's rotary wire brush works better than sandpaper for some fiberglass surface prep.

Furniture repair with G/5
Using G/5 Five-Minute Adhesive to repair stripped fasteners in particleboard/fiberboard.

Repairing machined holes in fiberglass
The repair method depends on the hole diameter, the laminate thickness and the consequences of the repair's failure.

Repairing a cracked plaster ceilinge
Using epoxy to bond cracked and loose plaster back up to the lath.

Fence construction revisited
Examining a wooden fence five years after it was built using only epoxy as a fastener.

Installing a basketball goal
Answering the question of how to bond anchor bolts into concrete.

Testing bolts bonded into concrete
The testing behind the answer of how to bond anchor bolts into concrete.

Building photographic darkroom sinks
A photographer builds his own custom darkroom sinks with WEST SYSTEM epoxy.

The three lives of Cosmic Muffin
Restoring a wooden boat that used to be a Boeing Stratoliner owned by Howard Hughes.

Published twice a year by Gougeon Brothers, Inc., Epoxyworks (Product number 000-605) is a magazine about building, restoring and repairing with epoxy. It offers helpful tips, the latest techniques, projects you can build, readers' projects, and news from the Gougeon research and test labs. A free three-year subscription is available for residents of the U.S. and Canada.

Editors: Kay Harley, Jennifer Jones
Graphics: Michael Barker
Assistant: Kristen Lore
Contributors to this issue: Bill Bertelsen, Bram Dally, Meade Gougeon, Kay Harley, Jennifer Jones, Brian Knight, Bruce Niederer, Tom Pawlak, Spiros Polemis, Rich Simms.

Copyright © 2003, Gougeon Brothers, Inc. All rights reserved.
This page is maintained by Gougeon Brothers, Inc. Last Modified November 5, 2003.
Reproduction in any form, for commercial purposes, is expressly forbidden without the consent of the publisher. EPOXYWORKS, WEST SYSTEM, Episize, Scarffer and are trademarks of Gougeon Brothers, Inc., Bay City, Michigan, USA.