by David N. Goodchild

I had the need to make a sump cover for the rope locker on board TOAD HALL. I wanted to use plywood and I knew that it would need a liberal coating of epoxy
to seal it from the water, especially on the endgrain.

The piece of plywood that formed the cover over the sump was pierced with a large number of holes of course to provide the drainage to the sump but prevent small parts from falling in. I was at a loss for a while to figure out how I was going to effectively seal the end grain exposed by the holes with the epoxy. The holes were only about 5/8" diameter and getting a brush in there was  problematic. I was sure that the end grain in the holes would not be completely sealed and before long I would be faced with delamination.

Here is my solution.

The plywood was 3/4". I cut off a number of pieces of copper pipe to about 3/4"
each. I wasn't too fussy about the length, just approximate. This was 1/2" copper pipe and the O/D of that pipe was just about 5/8". They made a nice snug fit in each of the holes. I coated the inside of each hole with epoxy as best I could  pressed into each hole a piece of the copper pipe. When it all cured up, the pipe was irretrievably inserted into each hole and effectively sealed it. I then took a belt sander with a course grit and ground down each piece of pipe to a flush fit to the surface of the plywood cover.

A couple of coats of epoxy on the plywood (paying special attention to the side end grains) and the job was finished.

I am confident that these holes at least will not be the source of water ingress to the plys and the cause of delamination.