Following on from my two little mini-rants yesterday I decided I’d do two experiments. Recap: Decking that should not be in close proximity to water for prolonged periods of time, and running out of hardener constantly. Yes, that’s me holding up the boat’s navigation lights as protective goggles. What of it?
Experiment 1
Objective: To determine whether the decking will in fact survive if exposed to water for prolonged periods of time.
- Determine the salt content of sea water
- Create a saline solution that matches sea water
- Submerge a sample of decking in saline solution
- Observe the reaction of the decking to the sea water over a period of time
Keep an eye on the “Is My Deck Still Hard?” counter on the side blocks
Conclusion: Currently undetermined.
Experiment 2
Objective: To determine whether the hardener from a different brand of fibreglass will successfully work on an unrelated tin of fibreglass filler
- Scoop out a blob of fibreglass filler without using hardener as a control
- Scoop out a second blob of filler and add hardener to this blob
- Leave the treated filler for a periiod of time and then determine whether the hardener has worked.
Conclusion: I think we can class this as successful, it looks like the filler has hardened, albeit a little slower than I was hoping. It could very well be because there wasn’t enough hardener in the filler. I think we’re safe to use different hardener.
Methodology of both experiments below:
And the conclusion for both: