Rhodes 19 Stringer replacement

[rshowarth]

I just read: "Just do it"....

Well I started my rib/stringer replacement today.

I am starting with two stringers in the aft portion of the cockpit. I used a blade on a grinder to cut through the fiberglass tabbing over the old stringers. The #10 stringer (all the way aft) was rotted through and through.

The #8 stringer came out relatively intact, allowing me to trace it's shape.

I purchased a "rib kit" from Stuart Marine, the current manufacturer of Rhodes 19s. They are made of White Oak, like the originals. The Stuart stringers have a half moon shaped cut out, one each side of the bottom of the stringer. The original O'Day stringers appear to have a wide V shaped cut out in the bottom of the rib which fit over an inverted V (^) of fiberglass in the bottom of the floor.

It appears to me that the cutout is meant to "hold onto" the inverted V in the cockpit floor. Does this sound right? Shall I fill the area of the half moon with epoxy thickened with chopped glass? or just West System 405 filler?

I took some pictures and hope I can post the links properly. Please let me know your thoughts.



Above is a picture of the stringers along the centerboard and forward to the mast step.

Below is the mast step




Here is Stringer #10:



Stringer #10 removed:





Stringer #8 removed and the inverted Vs:



Old O'Day #8 Stringer and the New Stuart #8 Stringer:





I cannot seem to get the Thumbnails to show up on the message.

[rshowarth]

I tried to post the pictures as thumbnails since they are smaller but they do not seem to show up in the message (at least on my computer).

I tried to resize the pictures so they were less than 800 pixels wide, taking Tim's advice, so that when someone clicks on the picture link they would not have the problem of scrolling back and forth to see the picture. I seemed to do it with Microsoft Picture Editor, but after uploading to FreeWebHosting they are the original larger size.

Can someone help with suggestions?

[Duncan]

I just read: "Just do it"....

Well I started my rib/stringer replacement today.

I am starting with two stringers in the aft portion of the cockpit. I used a blade on a grinder to cut through the fiberglass tabbing over the old stringers. The #10 stringer (all the way aft) was rotted through and through.

The #8 stringer came out relatively intact, allowing me to trace it's shape.

I purchased a "rib kit" from Stuart Marine, the current manufacturer of Rhodes 19s. They are made of White Oak, like the originals. The Stuart stringers have a half moon shaped cut out, one each side of the bottom of the stringer. The original O'Day stringers appear to have a wide V shaped cut out in the bottom of the rib which fit over an inverted V (^) of fiberglass in the bottom of the floor.

It appears to me that the cutout is meant to "hold onto" the inverted V in the cockpit floor. Does this sound right? Shall I fill the area of the half moon with epoxy thickened with chopped glass? or just West System 405 filler?

I took some pictures and hope I can post the links properly. Please let me know your thoughts.



Above is a picture of the stringers along the centerboard and forward to the mast step.

Below is the mast step



Here is Stringer #10:



Stringer #10 removed:



Stringer #8 removed and the inverted Vs:



Old O'Day #8 Stringer and the New Stuart #8 Stringer:




I cannot seem to get the Thumbnails to show up on the message.

Me either, but that should do?

Looks like a very solid structure!

Since you have a template (the old stringer), I was thinking that if you put it underneath and tacked a couple of small plastic sheets (plastic scrapers or something) to the inside of the "V", that could make a mold?
Put more plastic on top of the old stringer (to keep the glass from adhering), put the new stringer on top, and fill the gap between the "U" and the "V" with the mixture of your choice?
I hear plain old auto wax will work as "mold release", so it probably wouldn't hurt to wax the plastic parts just in case?

[rshowarth]

Duncan-

Thank you for your help.

I just got off the phone with David Whitttier of Stuart Marine. He advises the half moon or V notches are meant to be Limber Holes to allow water to pass under the stringers. He does not know why the O'Day worker would have filled those in with fiberglass. He recommends grinding down those inverted Vs to allow water to flow underneath the stringers.

How did you get the photos to show up in the post?

[Duncan]

Duncan-

Thank you for your help.

I just got off the phone with David Whitttier of Stuart Marine. He advises the half moon or V notches are meant to be Limber Holes to allow water to pass under the stringers. He does not know why the O'Day worker would have filled those in with fiberglass. He recommends grinding down those inverted Vs to allow water to flow underneath the stringers.

How did you get the photos to show up in the post?

Hi Read
No problem, I was looking for a distraction! Rather than fool with the thumbnail code, I just downloaded your originals, sized them, and reposted.

In the process, I managed to figure out your project a little bit, but knowing me, I probably will forget by the time I do something similar!

It's amazing the theories we can come up with when things look funny, isn't it? Limber holes makes lots more sense, though - ;) .