Gotta check out the West stuff.

Houses do move, just not as much as cars.

I will zap a few digitals and do a little brief on the current Abatron project, unlelss somebody else has something ready to go.

Dennis - i dug into the rot to the point that I started to reach a reasonably hard substrate, not back to solid wood. I should have made it clearer.

I have used a borax based insect and rot repellant to treat car framing when I had it open for repairs. Too soon to tell how well it might help forestall problems - just 5 years.

dave

Great idea on the photos. I will have to dig around and see what I can get.

Goodness, what a lot of heat, if not light. I have used Abatron with good success in the past. I have a part with insect damage, somewhat deep and with lots of nooks and crannies. Have given the area a good dose of the liquid Abatron. I am doubtful that I can force the Abatron wood filler into all the empty spaces. I think using a urethane foam, the kind that expands in seconds, to get into the tight spaces, ,leveling it off after it expands and skimming with the Abatron filler would be a good idea. Strength isn't an issue here. Then finishing the whole thing off with another coat of the liquid. Anyone tried something like this?

I have used urethane foam for quick and dirty nonstructural repairs covered with a skim coat of Bondo. I wouldn't want to trust it for anything that will have to take stress or last for a very long time.

You can thin the wood epox with abosolve into a toothpaste like consitency and force it in.

dave

Good point Dave. I should have said that a moving RR car experiences lots of dynamic loads or stresses versus the comparatively static loads in a house.

What attracted me to the West System was its use in major repairs on wooden boats (AKA upside down railroad cars) and I have experienced great results. However it appears from the claims on their web site that the Abatron System may be even more flexible and worth some further investigation. Have you purchased a stock product or have they produced something custom for your local conditions such as temperature and particular application on your structure?

It sound like you are keeping busy. Are you and/or any of your local contingent planning to visit ARM/Train this fall?

--Richard

Hi Richard - just use the stock product line. It seems to have a wide range of climatic useability. I need to try West and see how they compare on the next project - whatever it may be.

Pleasantly busy at this point, thanks. Largish half-time project finishing up in late September, then a big full time push on a Birney replication by December. I am my contingent, and plan to be at the meet at this time.

dave

I have used both Abatron and the West System and both work well.

With Abatron Wood Epox it is a little simpler to just knead the dough. After totally curing, it can be sanded, somwhat shaped or machined, and drilled to hold screws. As mentioned previously their Liquid Wood is a clear thinner liquid which we have used as a 'primer', and ALSO used to blend with the Wood Epox to form a thinner sort of batter like filler for pouring into a cavity. From the above perspective there is less you can do wrong.

When I last used West, there were a range of products which were thin liquid resin mixes, such as used for embedding fiberglass sheets on boat hulls. You could choose a product and then each product had a range of ratios of hardener to resin to vary curing times. At that time they did not offer a dough type product, but you could buy a filler such as cabosil and mix your own into the catalyzed resins.

Any of the clear, thin liquid resin mixes have an almost zero surface tension - that is both good and bad. It allows those resins to creep into almost any cavity or pinhole; but at the same time follow a crack in a joint and weep out before it cures. Many times folks come back the next day to find a hardened puddle on the floor and an open repair cavity. Seal all potential openings with tape, and we have had some success damming up the ends with modelling clay or Play Dough.

So, in summary I would not say West would not work, but perhaps requires more experience and some 'touch' to get consistently good results. In the Midwest, at least, the chain of Sherwin Williams Paint stores has the Abatron, or can order it for you.

Bob Kutella