Dolphinite Bedding Compund

[John Stone]

Dolphinite Bedding Compound is a regular part of my arsenal. Some people think because it’s old school it’s not as good as more modern bedding compounds. Or they think it’s only appropriate only on wood boats. Not so. It’s a tool, like any other.

Case in point. I remove the cleats from my coamings when I varnish. I bed them with dolphinite, which does not really harden. It’s perfect for bedding anything you need to be able to take apart.

I varnished the coamings this past week. They came right off. No prying or cussing or damage to the wood. Cleaned up the surfaces with mineral spirits. Today I reinstalled the cleats. I originally opened the can in Apr 2018. I have opened it several times since then. Today, I opened it and other then a light skim coat on the surface, which I peeled off and discarded, it was in perfect form. No tube of sikaflex, 3M, or boatlife caulk would still be useable. And while dolphinite is not the best choice for all your needs it is a good choice for certain projects. I use dolphinite on the dorado box lids, the craze iron, certain cleats, etc.

I purchase it in a quart then immediately dispense it into two pint size cans. I mark the lid with the lot number and date.

Right tool, right job.

[David Morton]

John is absolutely right about dolphinite. It is particularly good for bedding broad surfaces, i.e. the canvas covering the plywood foredeck of my 12 1/2. For smaller jobs, like re-bedding deck hardware, butyl tape works well, but I believe is more expensive.

[John Stone]

David
You are right about butyl for deck hardware. Great stuff. I have used and continue to use butyl rubber. Nothing else like it. I’m probably staying the obvious but I think butyl works best when you are securing the hardware with a bolt and nut—turning the nut and not the bolt. Used as such the butyl is compressed into the chamfered fastener hole. When used with a screw, as I attempted to do a few times, the rotating fastener twist the butyl out of the chamfered hole. Not saying it’s no good just saying it really works best when you are compressing the parts together without the fastener itself turning. Also, I think dolphinite is a better choice when you regularly have to take something apart like I take the teak cleats off to varnish the coamings. Butyl is very sticky...which is why it is so good. In fact, it can be ferociously sticky. If I used it on the heel of my bowsprit I’d never get the dang thing out of the heel cup.

I like them all: dolphinite, 3M 4000 (never 5200), sikaflex 291, and teak and mahogany colored boat life polysulfide. All good tools when used appropriately.