What to use & how to do it

[fyshndad]

The story is here http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...26#post2613026

The Question is what do I use to PATCH the chips in the gelcoat?
One thing I did not mention in the story was that the keel got ground off about a 1/2 inch on the end tapering about a foot toward the bow and I think it will neeed to have some glass built back up on that section
The rest of the damage is just a bunch of chips that should be able to be filled in

ADVICE??? Suggestions????

[Orca]

A good read - http://continuouswave.com/maintenance-logs/epoxy/ .

[Lead Bouncer]

For what its worth, Gelcoat is resin with color. They add parafin to the mixture for the surface cure. Mixing is a technical procedure, that you may want an eye dropper or similar to measure drops in small quanitities.

Being that his project was nine years ago, you are in for a shock. I bought from Fiberlay in Seattle, off Idaho Street?

premixed gelcoat with color was 50 bucks a quart in 2007. They had surplus gelcoat from other orders and mixing errors that sold for 25 bucks.

I guess if you have to build up keel youll go thru some cloth or matt. You may have to do several layers. I made the mistake of not using a parafin sealer and so the sanding process was gummy at the surface. But there is a catch 22. If you use the parafin so the resin is hard at the surface, you have to remove the parafin by sanding and perhaps hot water (ask the pros) before you can put down another layer.

I bought a belt sander to do my drift boat. I went thru a lot of belts. Without parafin, the surface is hard but not cured, so it will build up on the sandpaper in chunks, similar to clay.

There are several types of resin, so let them educate you. They have the good resin. The hardware stores have so so resin. Youll go thru a lot of cheap paint brushes and you may want a smaller roller for air pockets. Even plastic buckets will add up, cause you may only get one mix.

Now Im mad. Ive been trying to forget that whole summer!

[Chesapeake]

Hank,

Its not that hard to do.

They make 2 general types of polyester resin. Laminating resin (layup resin), and general purpose type resin. The general purpose and Clearcoat resins will have wax or something to help them cure. Reason being the resin wont cure if exposed to air. This is helpfull when laying up layers of fiberglass because it allows the uncured surface layer to bond into the new layer. The wax rises to the surface of the resin and acts as a barrier to the air allowing the resin to cure.

You will want to stay with the Polyester resins.

It would be much easier if you could turn your boat upside down. Working upside down on the bottom of your boat will be very tough and neer impossible to get a nice finish.


West marine will have what you need or if you want to order it online Fiberglass supply in Bingen will likely have the best prices. You can rebuild your keel with woven roving or one of the cloths easy enough.

Make sure to mix accurately. The biggest thing with fiberglass is learning when its as good as its going to get and leaving it alone.

If you have structural damage then you will need to do some different things.