At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Nothing new to report I'm afraid, but I don't want this thread to get lost on this massive site. So hopefully you can all give me a little advise. Although it will be a couple of weeks before I start the buffing/polishing steps I would like some input from all of you on the best products to use. I was originally thinking of using products from 3m, starting with : -
3M Perfect-it III Fast Cut Plus Compound (50417)
then
3M Perfect-it III Extra Fine Compound (80349)
and finally
3M Perfect-it III Ultrafina SE Polish (50383)
followed by a couple of applications of wax.

I have been trying to do some research on the best products/methods but because there is so much to choose from i am unsure of the way to go. Also, it has been stated elsewhere that the products I have mentioned is for colour/darker finishes. Is there any truth in this?

So please, some advise on products and method will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

I think you might look into some 3m Imperial compound/polish.

What grit are you bringing you gel to ?

YD.

PS. dont worry..I have this thread in my Sights .

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

I think you might look into some 3m Imperial compound/polish.

Thats what I am thinking, not the cheapest of materials but I've not heard of a bad word said about these products.

What grit are you bringing you gel to ?

I plan on working up to 1200g, Some people have stated I could probably get away with 600 - 800g then a course compound. But I would hate to use the compound then realize more sanding steps need done.

PS. dont worry..I have this thread in my Sights .

It's always good to know I have professional looking over my shoulder making sure I dont screw up, Pity your not close enough to grab a sander, but I'm sure your doing your fair share where you are, You probably have two sanders surgically attached instead of hands. What a great idea that would be, be back soon gonna make some enquiries lol

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Imperial is some Very good stuff..I dont even need to polish in most cases after Proper use.

I would Lightly sand with 1000 or 1200 ( quick .. should only take you an hour or so on the whole thing ) just so you dont have to buff so hard lowering your possibility of "burning through" the gel.

No .. Its actually one sander surgically on my left hand..then on my right hand is like a hardware store LOL ..

YD.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

imperial is some very good stuff..i dont even need to polish in most cases after proper use.

I would lightly sand with 1000 or 1200 ( quick .. Should only take you an hour or so on the whole thing ) just so you dont have to buff so hard lowering your possibility of "burning through" the gel.

No .. Its actually one sander surgically on my left hand..then on my right hand is like a hardware store lol ..

Yd.

LOL

Cheers for the advice YD.

Now that the boat is outside all future work is weather dependant and the weather has really sucked the past couple of weeks, so I have just been doing some work on the cap - Removing all windows and fittings and more sanding. I'm surprised I have a boat and not a pile of dust with the amount of sanding thats been done so far. If only someone warned me before I took on this project. My hat comes off to you and everone else that does this regulary / for a living.

As soon as I get a dry, calm day I will carry on with the sanding steps.

 

[FFScott6]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

I'm impressed!
You see I have two oldies a 1963 AristoCraft Funliner and a 1973 Manatee Both hulls need done and 9 pages of posts (here) I'm ready to get started.. Enough about me...

Great job... I agree with you, the folks (pros) here at iBoats giving free advise is truely amazing and in a way that newbies like us can do these jobs.

My hats off to you! I can't wait to see your boat back in the water, in fact I'm sure we all are wating... Oh yea, your topside projects gave me ideas and inspiration. Press on man

Scott

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

I'm impressed!
You see I have two oldies a 1963 AristoCraft Funliner and a 1973 Manatee Both hulls need done and 9 pages of posts (here) I'm ready to get started.. Enough about me...

Great job... I agree with you, the folks (pros) here at iBoats giving free advise is truely amazing and in a way that newbies like us can do these jobs.

My hats off to you! I can't wait to see your boat back in the water, in fact I'm sure we all are wating... Oh yea, your topside projects gave me ideas and inspiration. Press on man

Scott

Good luck with your projects once you get started, just remember to do one at a time lol. There is loads of top notch info on this thread to help you along your way, not to mention the rest of the forum. Please document your projects as this is what makes this site the no.1 for all boaters/builders.

I cant wait to hit the water but there is still a mountain to climb so the launch date will most probably be next season (a full year away) hopefully I can keep this thread alive long enough for all of you to keep track of my progress.

Thanks Scott

Ian

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Still not had a chance to continue the sanding steps, but im hoping to get a few hours on sunday.
I'm just working on the cap just now, all windows and frames have been removed, i have cleaned up the aluminium frames (32 pieces in total) which is a nightmare. I tried spending some time on polishing the frames but even although they clean up ok I am going to get them powder coated white to give it a new/modern look. It is only costing ?80 to get all pieces professionally coated, so thats one less thing to worry about. I'll try and get some pics of the cap but to be honest it's not much to look at just now.

I just can't wait to start work on the hull again, im looking forward to seeing the finish i'm going to get. once this is done there is some of it thats going to be painted and I am unsure if I should roll & tip or spray it on. I'm using international toplac, and this paint is really designed to be rolled & tipped but I am pretty sure I could spray it if it comes to it. The only problem I have is that no matter which method I choose it will have to be done outside so I will have to wait for the perfect day to apply it.
Has anyone had good results with Toplac and if so how was it applied.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Its been a long time since the last update, so i bet your all thinking I would have loads of progress to show you all. WELL I DON'T . Im just not getting any time on it and when i do find a spare couple of hours the weather is crap, so im sorry but not much to tell you.

I have however removed 95% of the orangepeel , but I had to drop down to 120g to cut through it. This is alot courser than I was planning to use but I would have been there for months if I used 220g . But its done now, and its looking ok, ive sanded through on a couple of really small areas but luckily these areas are getting painted anyway. I washed the hull for before I start the 180g stage and i took a couple of pics of the hull still wet and its looking ok. It gives you a rough idea of the finish I should get. And bear in mind I'm only at 120g so by the time i go through 180g, 240g, 320g, 400g, 600g, 800g, 1000g & then 3M imperial compund I should have an acceptable finish. ( fingers crossed I dont sand through anymore though) I'll try and keep the updates more regular from now on, ive just been so busy recently but stay stuned.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Still not much progress, I could really be doing with a 8 day week cause im working the other 7 days every week, just not getting a chance to work on it. I've nearly finished with the 180g now, but with winter just around the corner I have to move the hull back into the garage for the remaining sanding steps and for the painting. I have made myself a target to have the boat ready to be flipped back over on the 26th of this month, that leaves me just over three weeks to complete the following tasks.

01. finish with the 180g, ( DONE )
02. build a base with castors for the hull, (trailer doesn't fit in the garage) ( DONE )
03. move hull into garage, ( DONE )
04. sand hull with 240g ( DONE )
05. minor gelcoat repairs
06. sand hull with 320g ( DONE )
07. sand hull with 400g ( DONE )
08. sand hull with 600g ( DONE )
09. sand hull with 800g ( DONE )
10. sand hull with 1000g ( DONE )
11. sand hull with 1200g ( DONE )
12. prep and mask for undercoat ( DONE )
13. apply 2 coats of undercoat ( IN PROGRESS )
14. sand undercoat (400g)
15. apply 2 coats of top coat
16. mask painted surface and buff the gelcoat. ( DONE )
17. apply a pinstripe seperating the two colours.
18. fit all hull fitttings (drain plug, fuel breather etc)
19. polish/wax entire hull.
20. some trailer work (u-bolts, bearings etc.)

in the three weeks I have left, probably only 5 days of this will be free to work on the boat, not a hard task at all eh!!
I am determined I am going to have it flipped for the end of this month, wish me luck.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Just about finished with the 180g. The boat is now lowered onto the base that I built and it is moved into the garage. ( I can't use the weather as an excuse now !!) Ive got two weeks to go before I am due to flip it, so I have to get my finger out, still loads to do.

I think this thread has been lost in the forum, (not surprised though with the amount of new threads every day, and also with the really slow progress updates from me) but I will keep posting untill I am finished this project. Anyone that is still following this thread silently, stay tuned as there should be a lot more to come very soon.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Im still here. Looks like your going to town compared to my sidewinder restore. I have just owned it for 20 plus years.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Im here too .

First I would recommend that you Stop sanding with a coarse grit. I would start using something like 320.. possibly even 400. After that is a quicky of 600 and 1000 or 1200 then buff.

Im just worried you might be taking off way too much gel before you finish.

Remember this tip .. get yourself a Big black magic marker and scribble the crap out of your boat ( kids love this part making houses and funny faces etc. ). Then wipe with a damp acetone rag ( this will smear around your ink ). This will leave you with a "guide" coat. If you remove ALL of the ink before you get to 600 then you know your sanding too much.

Kinda like 50 % ink gone with 320 .. another 40 % gone with 400 .. then rest Juuust gone with 600 .. then Polish with 1000 or 1200.. then buff.



YD.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Im still here. Looks like your going to town compared to my sidewinder restore. I have just owned it for 20 plus years.

Its great to still have you onboard proshadetree. Not sure about going to town on it but recently I have managed a few hours here and there. This week should be productfull though as I am hoping to go through all the grits, buff and also paint my colour scheme.

Hope you get the spare time your looking for to make a start on yours, I have been sanding now for TWO years almost and I am just starting to see some results. It is an extremely long road but the results at the end make it all worth while.

 

[oops!]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

your boat is looking great.....

read this whole post twice

Im here too .

First I would recommend that you Stop sanding with a coarse grit. I would start using something like 320.. possibly even 400. After that is a quicky of 600 and 1000 or 1200 then buff.

Im just worried you might be taking off way too much gel before you finish.

yd is bang on.....
you could finish that whole boat to polish stage in just a few hours. the orange should be totally gone at 600.....mostly disappearing between 320 and 400....these are your work horse grits.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Im here too .

First I would recommend that you Stop sanding with a coarse grit. I would start using something like 320.. possibly even 400. After that is a quicky of 600 and 1000 or 1200 then buff.

Im just worried you might be taking off way too much gel before you finish.

Remember this tip .. get yourself a Big black magic marker and scribble the crap out of your boat ( kids love this part making houses and funny faces etc. ). Then wipe with a damp acetone rag ( this will smear around your ink ). This will leave you with a "guide" coat. If you remove ALL of the ink before you get to 600 then you know your sanding too much.

Kinda like 50 % ink gone with 320 .. another 40 % gone with 400 .. then rest Juuust gone with 600 .. then Polish with 1000 or 1200.. then buff.



YD.

Great to hear from you again YD, I would have probably gave up a long time ago if it wasnt for you giving out some great advise & tips thats made my project so much easier ( still hard work but much easier if you have the knowledge )

I really didn't want to spend too much time on the lower grits but I honestly felt I had to because of the heavy orange peel I got , I am now at 400g though with all the orange peel now gone.

I tested a 1M square area sanding through the grits to 1000g (180, 240, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000)
I then buffed this area out with the 3M imperial rubbing compound you recomended ( Thanks for that advise cause this stuff is fantastic) and after a short while I got an acceptable finish ( to my standards at least) here is a couple of pics of what the finish should be like for the rest of it.

The 3M compound states that it can remove 600g> dry scratches, does this mean I could stop at say 800g, or should I carry on to 1000g - 1200g just to be sure?

Thanks again YD for some great tips.

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

here's the pics

 

[oops!]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

the higher the grit...the better the shine....done properly.....your boat can look like a mirror.

stop at 1500.....your polisher with a wool mop is basically a 1700 grit

 

[oops!]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

btw....that area you buffed out looks as good as you can without coming out of a mold.......be happy, be very happy

 

[morebass 17]

Re: At the gelcoat stage - help needed!!!

Great to hear from you Oop's, great to know your still keeping an eye on this thread.
I am happy with the finish especially for it being my first time applying gelcoat. My next build will be even better though if my girl lets me. ( just spoke to her there, she said its fine to start another project he he lol)

I was planning with sanding to a higher grit before using the rubbing compound, but 1000g seemed to do the trick with this 3M compound. Hope I don't regret this decision but I dont have any 1500g and I cant get any untill next week but Im hoping to be ready for the flip by then.

Cheers Oop's