Balsa cored hatches

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catalacmarc
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Balsa cored hatches

Post by catalacmarc »

On my 1991 pdq 36, I have never found any wood core, balsa or plywood until I took off a lock on the forward bow hatch. Given the corrosion, I suspect the lock is original and it was never bedded. The core of this hatch has rotted. I'll dig out the rot, dry out the core as best as I can and pickle any remaining wood with sodium borate powder then fill the void with thickened epoxy. Wierd that it is balsa cored and not foam.
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thinwater
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Re: Balsa cored hatches

Post by thinwater »

I found isolated areas of balsa in my PDQ 32, so not surprised. One transom, but not the other. Several bulkheads.

I don't know the hatch, but it is probably best to take it off the boat, remove the entire inner skin (discard), and then replace core as needed.

Image

Possibly a similar job on an F-24. Came out factory nice factory painting. Not hard. Notice that some of the original core was retained; it was dry and so well bonded that removal could have damaged the skins. The bad core practically fell out. A wire brush on a hand grinder is a good tool for this; it eats balsa without damaging the skins like a scraper can.
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The borax is a good idea, but I would go back in with balsa (except for the area right around the lock).
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catalacmarc
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Re: Balsa cored hatches

Post by catalacmarc »

I finally removed the balsa from teh hatch and replaced it with a foam core. Seems to have worked just fine.
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