Gelcoat or paste for touch ups and spider cracks?
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,092
I'm familiar with the process. I've worked with gelcoat. I was just wondering what the opinions are of the paste type gelcoat
For surface blemishes (not craters) I gouge out spider cracks or use a dremel with a burr bit tip as shown :
That's the easy part.
The best trick I've learned is to control the thickness of gel coat applied to the repair area. If it's not too big, place a border of single thickness masking tape around the work, apply the gel coat to the works with whatever, and then smooth out the application with putty knife using the tape as a control for the thickness. This will control the amount of excess gel coat to be sanded off to about 1-2 mil in thickness.
That's the easy part.
The best trick I've learned is to control the thickness of gel coat applied to the repair area. If it's not too big, place a border of single thickness masking tape around the work, apply the gel coat to the works with whatever, and then smooth out the application with putty knife using the tape as a control for the thickness. This will control the amount of excess gel coat to be sanded off to about 1-2 mil in thickness.
Never used (nor heard of) paste type gel coat, so no help there. If you use the method I outlined of using masking tape, the application of gel coat is so thin that it will not run at any angle.
Ditto the Dremel with burr bit and the masking tape.
The challenge for me has always been getting the color match right.
The challenge for me has always been getting the color match right.
Great Tunderin Mary Mother of Jesus, $49.91 for 2 oz. of this stuff.
I hope it applies, sands, and polishes itself for that price. For the plain waxed white gel coat here :
And that's for 9 oz. MEKP is only another few dollars if you're starting out.
I can't see what it could possibly do that gel coat doesn't do even if it were the same price. And if I ever did want paste for some reason, it's only a few more dollars for a glass thickener.
I have no idea how or why, but my 1999 deck and hull are a perfect match for plain white waxed gel coat. And even more amazing is that the exposure to sunlight has not altered the original colour after 25 years.
I had the chance to dab on some of my white gel coat to the boat of a fellow down the way from me which was also an exact match. He saw me working with gel coat on my boat and we of course got talking. He had a very small gouge on his boat and wanted to see if it worked. His boat was a mid 2000 boat but had the identical gel coat.
Good luck with the colour matching but regardless of what you do, remember to refrigerate your gel coat. The can I've been sucking from is now about eight years old and identical to the day I bought it. Sets up perfectly.
Odd ........................ are you saying you tried to order from Fiber-Tek up here in Burnaby on the Wet Coast ?
I would think you can get this from any fiberglass supplier down your way. Fiber-Tek is a pretty small hole in the wall operation but their technical knowledge is second to none. They certainly don't manufacture the products they sell but rather buy them from a large manufacturer. I would think that Chicago would have several large fiberglass suppliers who can supply white gel coat which I "hope" would be identical to what Fiber-Tek is supplying here. Of course all of this is predicated on the colour of your deck and hull as to whether they are as pure white as the driven snow ?
If anyone would know about the finer things about boats including fiberglass suppliers in Chicago it would be @Tally Ho . Know of anyone in your neighbourhood, Greg ?
Yes. I just went straight to the website and tried to order it. I’ll look for a source in Chicago or elsewhere.
Our local (Dartmouth NS) fiberglass/Chandler has a machine that will duplicate your gelcoat colour if you provide them with even a very small sample of your gelcoat. I supplied a small fingernail size sample and the result marches perfectly. If we have this service in this province it means it has been available for at least a decade elsewhere.
If you’re trying to replicate the pattern of non skid, you can purchase what is referred to as reverse non skid pattern but you’ll need to know the pattern. As for Hunter I would defer you to the SBO Forum store as they do specialize in Hunter. They also sell small containers of gel paste that includes hardening agents
What about putting the tape down before busting out the dremel so it protects more of your boat's good gelcoat?
How close was the match? What year is your boat?
Does glass thickener alter the color?
Noted on the fridge tip! I've had some gelcoat harden a bit after a year
Eager Polymers is local albeit a bit annoying to get to. A can of RAL color matched gelcoat runs about $50. They don't match samples but they did lend me their RAL color swatches. A lot of the local yards buy from them
I used to use gel coat paste for patching up little scratches. I found color matching to be a hassle. The gel coat is expensive and doesn't keep for more than a year or two. I used the Evercoat kit and found that the gel coat gets more yellow over time and no longer matches after a few years.
I now use thickened epoxy and paint. It's faster and easier. I've always got epoxy and filler around. I found that TotalBoat off-white paint is a pretty close match for my boat. If I feather it in it is pretty unnoticeable.
For grinding out, I like the carbide multi-tool blades.
You could, but a slipped fluted dremel bit will cut through ANYTHING it can get near. 100% unforgiving. Don't overlap the tape at the corners. Keep it single layer everywhere so you're keeping the extra cover thickness to about 0.001". A small slip of the Dremel is just another small repair. Roll over and live with it. Practice, practice, practice.
The thickener I use is hollow glass beads that look about 0.00000001" in dia. Pure white. Adds no colour. A 16 oz. tub of the stuff is nearly weightless.
this one reminds me of the joke, "What weighs more, a ton of lead or a ton of feathers?"
dj
No, NO, NO !Weighs a pound, doesn't it?
There was a fl. before the oz. meaning a fluid ounce, before I sent it. SBO screwed up when they didn't print the fl. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, pathetic as it sounds
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