when something little turns in to something more

CloudDiver · Jan 16, 2015

You mentioned in a previous post you were going to use Collodial Silica, now below you say you have a big pale of Cabosil, two totally diff fillers. Maybe a typo, no worries... and I totally agree Cabosil is the way to go if you have a good quantity already on hand and you also have quite a bit more experience using it.
If find Collodial Silica, by volume, get used up in mixing compounds way faster than microfibers or HD filler because it is sooooo fine and light. I do use it extensively though for filleting and adhesive, it is great for that. Also, as I mentioned before, adding just a bit of C. Silica to a mix of other filler or fairing compound helps reduce trapped air bubbles.
I think your keel will come out awesome. You were really lucky to find that repair done in SS on your keel pin hole, it looks bomb proof and will save you many headaches.

hawk232 said:
Stingy- I was planning to do the same (have them call me asap), hopefully that will work out.

Cloud- having done two entire boat builds from literally a bare hill with no stringers (and a third currently, a Kevlar raceboat), I guess you can say I am stuck in my ways. I have a 2gal pale of cabosil that after two entire boats is only about 25% empty, not sure what you mean by being used up fast? I also have 1 gal of microballons for fairing after.

I do appreciate the alternate opinions though as we have just made it clear that there is more than one way to skin a cat!!

CloudDiver · Jan 16, 2015

Also, same as you are planning I used 2 layers of 6oz biax tape on the leading edge, and one layer on the trailing edge of my keel which you can see in my resto thread. Great Idea!

$tingy Sailor · Jan 20, 2015

Wow, looks like you lost a lot of material off your keel, not to mention your wallet ; ) Maybe it was mostly like that under the old coatings? Be generous building it back up.

CloudDiver · Jan 21, 2015

Hawk, let us know how that gallon of KiwiGrip works out. I'm still on the fence about what I'll doing with my non-skid. I've heard they changed the formulation of KiwiGrip and that it does not accept tint very well, which would be a bummer if true. Also, I've read some opinions that the texture can be hard on your bare feet where as others say the 'rubberized' composition makes it great. I dunno, but your practical experience could answer those questions in this forum.

HillbillyWanderer · Jan 22, 2015

Hawk, you know your keel actually looked pretty good from the original photo. I am getting ready to drop mine for inspection. I have read several articles where people only ground out the bad spots and refinished. What made you decide to sandblast the entire keel?

CloudDiver · Jan 23, 2015

I think you did the right thing sandblasting. Even if the PO had done a good job sealing it before he obviously didn't do it well enough if any rust had appeared at a later time. You have no idea what type of resin he used and how well the cast iron was prepped and cleaned before the sealer was applied. My guess is there was moisture or contamination present when it was coated last time which why parts of it eventually rusted again. Since you are now using epoxy resin over a very clean and dry substrate you can have confidence that your keel will be good for another 20 years, even 30.

I do agree with you that $240 was way too much for sandblasting. I paid $120 for mine in San Diego. Since everything is pretty expensive down here in SoCal I think that is a pretty good base-line for others to determine if they got a good deal or not. I think Stingy Sailor paid $90 and he is in the mid-west. If you ever have another job that needs sand blasting, boat related or not, I'd go back to that guy and twist his arm for ripping you off the last time. He probably has a weak compressor that couldn't keep the pressure up so it took him longer than he wanted, plus he probably didn't have the right lifting equipment to move it around and was being a cry-baby. If he doesn't play ball and give you a $100 credit on the next job nail him to the wall on Yelp! and make sure you tell all your friends to take business elsewhere.

hawk232 said:
Cloud- will do. It will be a couple weeks before its on and even longer before used though. I did read the reviews about it being harsh but I also read reviews saying that its not harsh enough. The intensity is dictated by how wet it is when you roll it with the texture roller. Wet= less aggressive, drier= more aggressive. I also read about the tinting but didn't read much on it since I wasn't planning to tint mine.

Hillbilly- mine was in good shape before. Truthfully I got sucked into the whole sandblasting is the "right" way to do it thing... Apparently the PO did a good job sealing it as there was no rust at all outside of the areas where it was obvious. My opinion now IN MY SITUATION is that is was a waste of 240 (blast) and at least 100 for a gallon of epoxy, might need another gallon yet...

CloudDiver · Jan 25, 2015

Ouch... major surgery. The only rot I had was in that same area just around the mast light deck fitting. It wasn't nearly that big though, maybe 4 x 4 inches.

By the way, I never actually used the NACA foil to make a template. After I finished applying the thickened filler I used a sure form tool and orbital sander with 80 grit to rough out the shape, just kind of going with flow so to say. I kept eye balling it from the leading and trailing edges to make sure it appeared symmetrical. When I felt confident I had it about 95% fair I put on the fairing filler and did the rest with long boards and finer sand pear on the orbital. It just kind of worked itself out being slow and careful.

CloudDiver · Jan 26, 2015

I also used a whole gallon and then a little more from the second. It was really my own fault. The first 3 coats were straight resin 'barrier coats'. After the first coat I should have gone directly to thickened filler since I was applying coats very soon after kicking off so there was no need to sand. I'm pretty sure I would have saved two quarts of resin that way and would still have been able to build the same thickness of filler and fairing coat. Besides, after all is said and done I am still using Interlux Interprotect 2000 to prime before bottom paint. Capt Don's suggestion was to use that primer first which is what he did, and I'm sure it would have worked out well and saved resin but I didn't want to spend $100 on the gallon of Interlux when I already had the resin on hand, plus I would have wanted to prime it again with that product after the fairing was done.

hawk232 said:
that's kind of what I will be doing... luckily I thought ahead and traced the old keel shape before I stripped it. I cut out a template of each and I am using the "old" template in the front where the keel is thicker than the naca template will allow for and I am gauging with the naca template once the resin is a little harder to keep the general profile in mind.

I am not going to go too crazy on it. I have a 14" pneumatic "board" sander that I will use to get it straight then that will be that...

how much resin did you use on your keel?? I have used almost a gallon on this one side... its ridiculous!!

piedpiperIII · Jan 28, 2015

Every one seems to have big jobs I guess I was lucky but at first I thought I had a mess. I am also lucky because no salt water use on this boat at all.. But I may change that this year. Good luck with the rebuild. I don't have to fare my keel at all, maybe if I were a racer but it is symmetrical and in great shape. My bottom needs attention but I will get to that at the end of this year way to many things going on now.

$tingy Sailor · Feb 2, 2015

Nice. You can probably do small to medium size sandblasting jobs with that thing, eh?