Removing epoxied bungs (below waterline) and painted bungs on topsides
March 17, 2002

 

We're at a stand still until they get her jacked up and in the "what's a good project in the meantime" category, Dave suggested I go ahead and expose (but don't remove) the screws on the frames that will have to be replaced.
In a nutshell: In what I hope was the worst strategic error we'll make, early on (before comprehending just how huge a project we were looking at) we started refastening. Dave could tell you exactly, I've blocked out most of it, but we did somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the starboard side below the water line. Because the bungs came out a little rough and because we just knew they'd never be coming out again, epoxy was the googe of choice. Hopefully, this is the worst we have or will do.
So not only am I removing epoxied bungs, I'm removing fresh (roughly a year old - never been in the water) epoxied bungs. The good news is I am getting it down to a bit of a science.

 

This picture shows the six rows of screws removed. The second row from the right was done previously and almost a whole day to painstakingly drill a pilot hole in the center of each bung and then insert a screw and manually back the bung out. I've had this work before, but it seemed to cause more damage to the surrounding wood. The method of choice both above and below the water line turned out to be a forstner bit.

The discoloration around the bung on the left is CPES (Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer), which we religiously apply to any bare wood.


 

Above the waterline I had quite the system with the Multi-Master (80 grit) sanding down to the bungs and then back around with the Forstner bit. When the going was good, I probably was averaging a minute per bung.



Below the water line was another story because of the epoxy used to reset the bungs when we refastened.

Again, the bung on the left was removed by drilling a pilot hole and then backing what we could out with a screw and painstakingly picking out what was left with a sharpened screw driver and awl. There's a little damage on the lower right of the forstner'd one, but it's from removing it the first time.


Biggest lesson - next to NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EPOXY BUNGS- is not to predrill for the forstner bit. The pictures on the right show two bungs where I was a little off center with the pilot hole. Dave said just go down a size with the forstner bit, but this just makes a perfectly off center hole and I've still got the epoxy problem..



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