King Starboard

[Hirilondë]

King Starboard - the marine polymer. Heehee, I get a kick out of the new marketing slogan on the protective film these days. What makes it a "marine" polymer? (my guess is: cause they say so)

Several posts as of late have mentioned using this product as part of the task at hand. I thought it might be a good idea in this light to discuss the material, its characteristics and worthy applications. Like many new products, King Starboard has been billed as the material for way too many applications.

When it first came out people were saying it was going to replace wood. I have even had a customer ask me to replace all of his exterior wood trim with the stuff. Bleah!

It is relatively hard, dimensionally quite stable, quite resilient, UV resistant, easy to cut, can be sanded but not to a fine finish, can be routed and needs no coatings to finish it. It is not particularly structural, sags when unsupported, sags even more when warm, nothing sticks to it and therefore can't be glued or bedded with much if any success.

I am a carpenter. I love working with and admiring wood. I must say however that King Starboard does have applications. The key is to realize its limitations.

I like to use it for:

- false bottoms and shelves in lockers
- mounting brackets and shelves in the bilge for the likes of pumps and filters
- mounting boards in electrical spaces
- custom plates, glass, cups etc dividers and such
- escutcheon plates for instrumentation to cover old holes (1/4" black does this well)

In these applications I can make the piece relatively quickly, install it and then I am done. It allows me to perform tasks in a very reasonable amount of time which is in the best interest of my customers for such tasks.

I feel it should not be used for:

- backer plates
- any trim that needs to be bedded to be waterproof
- any shelf or such that spans any substantial distance
- any application where you might step on it
- any application where you need to glue to it (mechanical fasteners are the only type that work)

It can be cut with a saber saw, band saw, circular saw and a table saw. It can be sanded, but needs further attention to leave a nice finished edge. I like to use a round over bit on a router. This leaves a nice shiny smooth finish. I use a cabinets scraper to smooth out straight cut edges and soften corners that aren't going to be routed.

I had to address this material. It does have its place on boats. But I hate to see folks taking the marketing peoples word that it can be used everywhere.

[Rachel]

I get a kick out of the many distributor catalogs that call it "Marine lumber." As if. (Although, as you say, it does have some good uses.)

Thanks for the review.

Rachel

[jpmathieu]

WHAT !

You mean I shouldn't use it when I replace my bulkheads.

Shucks, I was just ready to order $3000 dollars of it.

[FloatingMoneyPit]

How does the stuff handle drilling? Does it chip easily, or drill cleanly? Does it need to be tapped, or do self-tapping screws hold well (in a pilot hole)?

[Ceasar Choppy]

You can drill a hole in it easily, and you can use a self-taping screw in that hole.

I sometimes use it for mounting plates on deck: under deck mounted hardware or, for example, under the Edson steering pedestal. As Dave says, it routes fairly easily to get a nice radius. While varnished teak looks great as mounting blocks, are you really gonna chase after those small little pieces when it comes time to varnish? I just wish they would make the Seafoam color in 1/4".

I was talking to someone who wanted to use it for a throughull/seacock backing plate and hopefully disuaded them. While it would appear to be suitable because it won't absorb water, it does contract and expand alot more than the metal throughull/seacock depending on ambient temperature and would probably not take long to leak.

It is also HEAVY.

[Hirilondë]

You can drill a hole in it easily, and you can use a self-taping screw in that hole.

Yup, most of the time I use self tappers.

If you use it on deck for mounting plates make sure you coat the threads of your fasteners well with bedding. The bedding won't stick to the Starboard and may leak/wick underneath.

I would never, ever, ever use it below the water line for anything that penetrates the hull!!!! Nothing sticks to this stuff and you would be looking for a leak. If you need a fairing block or backer plate use almost anything else.

[Mark.Wilme]

Just to reiterate it is as slippery as stink very little sticks to it well including 5200. There is a special adhesive you can buy but..... well, I wouldn't

I did make a nice set of hatchboards on our old boat out of 1/2" KS and am making a stern rail mounting plate for my MOB strobe out of it too.

[Tim]

There are plenty of good ways to use Starboard, or UV-stabilized UHMW polyethylene, on board. I think the key is ignoring the hype and realizing the important limitations to the material, and then using it accordingly.

As with most "miracle" solutions, it isn't. But it can still be handy for a lot of things.