: I did seal my slots, but I used varnish because I was worried that epoxy
: might close them up to where I could not get the webbing through.

:Also,
: one of the big selling points of using silicone RTV to attach the loops is
: the ease of later deck refinishing. If I epoxied them in, they wouldn't be
: easily removable. I do agree that the epoxy would make the slot &
: webbing dead waterproof, my wooden blocks sure are!

A few tests will show you how wide the slots must be cut so that they can be sealed with epoxy and not close up. The epoxy should be only a bit thicker than the varnish layer as you want it soaking into the wood pores to seal them. Whatever epoxy stays above the wood adds little.

Don't be afraid to cut slightly larger slots and then plug them with the epoxy-saturated webbing. First, the larger slots are easy to machine with a drill and a chisel. Drill out the ends of the slot and use a chisel to remove the waste in the middle. If you are working in cedar you could carve out the waste with an x-acto knife.

To later remove webbing which has been epoxied into place you need merely add a little heat. You can heat up that old chisel you have, and when it is good and warm it will melt right through the plastic webbing, poking the waste through the slot. The epoxy softens when it gets hot, too, so you'll clean out everything n seconds. The slot should cool in a minute and be ready for you to immediately install a new webbing part with a bit of fresh epoxy to seal it in place.

A small soldering iron, such as those used for electronics work, with a 1/8th inch tip will do the job of cleaning out the old webbing and slot just as quickly. Plunge it in and slide it along the slot. Some of the more expensive of these have temperature controls, but with the cheaper ones you don't have to wait for it to warm up completely, either.Plug it in and startto use it as soon as you can, then turn it off between uses. Tightly covering the tips with a small piece of aluminum foil keeps the tips from getting coated with molten plastic.

The epoxy that has soaked into the wood at the slot should not leach out as the heat used is so little, so concentatedon the webbing, and of such short duration, so you won't compromise the sealing of the wood. Just be careful you don't damage the finish of the rest of the boat.

Hope this helps

PGJ