I already know this was an ill-conceived project, but I am too far into it
to abandon it.
I found a pile of pretty nice 2x6 PT abandoned in the street. I planed
them, routed a glue joint edge, and glued them together. My plan was to
then paint them with truck bed liner (polyurethane) paint, put some foam
floatation under them, and use them as a dive platform. The glue seems to
be strong enough, but they flex pretty bad (whole thing is about 4' x 6') so
i also threw in a bunch of pocket screws. Didn't help much; so I am
thinking about painting it, and then putting on two aluminum angle irons.
If I screw the center down securely, and use slots up to 1/2" long at the
ends, will that accomodate the expansion? The angle irons will make it
easier to attach the foam, so maybe I can justify it that way.
Any other ideas, other than throwing the whole thing out and using plywood
like I planned before finding the PT?
Thanks. I hope you could make some sense out of my jibberish.
BTW, I glued up some boards and anchored them in the lake last October; just
to see if the glue would hold together. They seem no worse for wear; though
they aren't floating very high!
I'm thinking this is floating in the water?? If so, you won't have to
worry about expansion /contraction--- WAIT, you said you were going to
add foam-- SO, it will be above water & will get wet ONLY when you dive
from it (or it rains) . The angle is a good idea. If you want to make
it sturdier, you can screw some 2 x 4's or 2 x 6's to the bottom in
addition-- plut in slots for the expansion & contraction also. BTW--
the plywood ( I think) is not a great idea- Even PT will delaminate
faster than the 2 x wood you have already spent time on. What kind of
glue did you use? Also, you can use the 'great stuff'-- or other
brand-- foam in a can to glue your foam sheet to the underside
"Phil at small (vs at large)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm thinking this is floating in the water?? If so, you won't have to
> worry about expansion /contraction--- WAIT, you said you were going to
> add foam-- SO, it will be above water & will get wet ONLY when you dive
> from it (or it rains) . The angle is a good idea. If you want to make
> it sturdier, you can screw some 2 x 4's or 2 x 6's to the bottom in
> addition-- plut in slots for the expansion & contraction also. BTW--
> the plywood ( I think) is not a great idea- Even PT will delaminate
> faster than the 2 x wood you have already spent time on. What kind of
> glue did you use? Also, you can use the 'great stuff'-- or other
> brand-- foam in a can to glue your foam sheet to the underside
>
I used titebondII. It seems to have held up.
You might be on to an idea though. If I put it in the water, it should
absorb a lot of water. If I then let it air dry for a few days and coat it
with the polyurethane paint, it should expand as much as it is going to, and
be pretty stable. I can then attach the angle iron directly, without long
holes. It will be too cold in the winter to drive the moisture out, and too
humid in the summer. But there might be a problem with paint adhesion.
Hmm.