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Re: Cork deck

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 3:22 am
by krusher74
GeoffreyLevens wrote:I was thinking for sealing cork could squeegee on thin coat of epoxy and it should soak in before it sets. Alternate, the cheap and dirty, would be gentle use of heat gun ("borrowed" hair dryer) to melt some paraffin in. Either I hope! would leave it feeling still pretty soft and cork like but be much more water resistant. Never done it though so anyone who does, please report!
I would have though a coat of epoxy would make it hard and crispy, like vanishing it :?

I like the soaked in paraffin idea :D

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 5:17 am
by GeoffreyLevens
krusher74 wrote:
GeoffreyLevens wrote:I was thinking for sealing cork could squeegee on thin coat of epoxy and it should soak in before it sets. Alternate, the cheap and dirty, would be gentle use of heat gun ("borrowed" hair dryer) to melt some paraffin in. Either I hope! would leave it feeling still pretty soft and cork like but be much more water resistant. Never done it though so anyone who does, please report!
I would have though a coat of epoxy would make it hard and crispy, like vanishing it :?

I like the soaked in paraffin idea :D
Might make crisp, I would test very small scrap 1st. I was thinking it would soak in, esp if really pressed w/ squeegee and sort of "wrung it out" on application. The paraffin is super low cost, quick and easy though. I have used it that way to water proof a plypo board and it worked great. Only down side was it tended to collect lint and dirt! Was a wee bit sticky.

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 5:19 am
by karuhi
you could try lanolin - sheep's wool oil, a guy in aussie (grant newby ) oils his timber boards with it. also has the added benefit of going sticky in salt water.

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 5:21 am
by GeoffreyLevens
karuhi wrote:you could try lanolin - sheep's wool oil, a guy in aussie (grant newby ) oils his timber boards with it. also has the added benefit of going sticky in salt water.
I like that idea! Not a petro synthetic either; we already have enough of that sort of thing all around...old hippy that i am

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 3:59 pm
by OG-AZN
I thought cork was impermeable, or at least extremely water resistant? I used cork for fishing floats, but I never saw it suck water even with rigs where the lead weight keeps the whole rig submerged and the cork is used just to keep the hook off the reef. The old skool cork automotive gaskets worked pretty well too. Seems like cork needs to be exposed to some moisture to keep it from getting dried out and crumbly - think old wine corks or long forgotten fishing floats. The few boards I've seen with cork decks didn't feel like they had any sealer. I've seen cork turned into "tiles", and they're coated with some kind of hard durable sealer.

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 2:13 pm
by krusher74
OG-AZN wrote:I thought cork was impermeable, or at least extremely water resistant? I used cork for fishing floats, but I never saw it suck water even with rigs where the lead weight keeps the whole rig submerged and the cork is used just to keep the hook off the reef. The old skool cork automotive gaskets worked pretty well too. Seems like cork needs to be exposed to some moisture to keep it from getting dried out and crumbly - think old wine corks or long forgotten fishing floats. The few boards I've seen with cork decks didn't feel like they had any sealer. I've seen cork turned into "tiles", and they're coated with some kind of hard durable sealer.
maybe i'm wrong then an should just get some stuck on a tried out. :?

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:06 pm
by Poobah
The difference between solid, raw cork and the typical cork sheet, is like the difference between a wooden log and a sheet of particle board. The cork sheet is usaually made from tiny bits of waste from the wine cork and flooring industry. It's the tiny voids between the cork particles that will take on the most water...as well as tiny organisms. On page 2 of this thread, I mentioned sealing:

I seal the top of the cork with a drying oil, varnish, or both. Initially I wanted to prevent marine growth down in the nooks and crannys of the cork. I had a couple of boards where only the rails of the cork were sealed. They picked up noticable water weight. So I sealed them with Watco oil, and then sanded them lightly after the oil was dry. This allowed little bumps of cork to swell up. So now I try to strike a balance between bare and oversealed cork for the sake of traction. Something I haven't tried yet...sealing the cork deck with white latex paint or primer, then sanding it lightly to expose some of the cork. I did something similar by using a black oil-base stain under two coats of varnish, and then sanding the areas where I wanted the most traction.

I suppose I could have been more clear about the process of sanding back on the sealer. I sanded enough to expose the cork chunks, but not so deep that I removed all the sealer in the cracks/grout lines. Then after some time in the ocean, the exposed cork bits will swell slightly to give you texture. I haven't tried it with paraffin. I think car wax might be worth experimenting with, because you could sand that slightly to expose cork in select areas. Plus the car waxes have a higher melting point from the carnauba wax...check the label.

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:28 pm
by krusher74
Upon some extra data research i did today the corecork NL10sample i got has <4% water absorption, so will get a sheet and try so out. :o

http://www.matrix-composites.co.uk/prod ... recork.pdf

Re: Cork deck

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:01 am
by matt23
Cork_deck_misty_paipo.jpg




Not had any trouble with absortion on this. I used yacht glue but I reckon a thin layer of epoxy resin is better for sticking it down. The yacht stuff expands and can get messy.