What to use to bond deck to stringers? Plexus?

Am just about ready to lay my deck back in place after redoing the stringers, and am wondering what the best structural adhesive putty is to use. I'd love to use plexus but it's crazy expensive and I don't even know where to buy it. The boat is just a small 15' tunnel hull skiff. Also the stringers are foam core, so I will not be screwing into them at all... Bonding putty only. Would it be sufficient to just whip up some putty with polyester resin and a filler like silica fumes or microspheres? Or would an epoxy putty be preferred?

 

If you have left over poly I would mix up some putty using milled fibers and some cabosil.

 

Sparky is correct, a simple structural putty is all you need. No spheres, use silica (Cabosil) and milled fibers. The silica controls viscosity, the fibers improve bond strength. There are also some "premixed" products that can be used, with a caulking gun. These tend to be polyurethanes or epoxies, not as cheap as mixing your own, but convenient to use.

 

You could also use hull and deck putty but it would be more expensive for the small project you have. I'm finishing a kit boat and I will use H&D for bedding bulkheads and filetts. I'm an weekend boat guy so I will bite the bullet on the expense as it will save me a lot of time mixing putty to the right consistency numerous times.

 

I used Plexus for half of my flats skiff, and decided it was out of control expensive because I had to put so much down to ensure was making good contact. I then switched to thickened epoxy with wood dust, fibers and cabosil. Both methods have held well.