Almost Ready

[rgranger]

Figuring Things Out

Hey All

So yesterday (Friday) I was able to leave work at 2:00 and I spent 'till sundown chipping the rust scale off of my keel in preparation of sandblasting.

Here is what I learned... needles scalers are good for getting off the small stuff but when you have some serious compromised metal to remove you need to hammer it (see pic #1 & 2).

After about 5 hours of banging with my hammer and following up with the air needle scaler, I had quite a pile of rust scale (see pic #3). I was not yet happy with the results but I was out of daylight so I put some rust treatment on the exposed metal (see pic #4).

Today, my arms hurt so much I could not even thing of swing a hammer all day... and I broke down and spend $45 on an air hammer and a set of chisels. (see pic #5 for a stock photo of the air hammer I got)

Oh man that was the right move. I got done in an hour what took me 5 yesterday... and I'm sure the quality of the job is much superior. I ran out of day light again so I don't have a pic of the other side yet. But I think I'll go back over the other side tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm very near ready to sandblast. Waiting on a warm enough day to follow with epoxy barrier coat before I expose that raw metal.

If you ever need to do a job like this.... buy the air hammer. I got a really nice 10gal compressor from Tractor Supply for $99.99 and the air hammer for another $50. I'm still way ahead of what a yard would have charged me AND I have a few new toys to boot.

 

[rgranger]

Got the scale off of the other half of the keel yesterday morning. About noon the snow started. This is what I woke up to today.

Calling for more today and tomorrow. Looks like it will be a few more weeks before I can get the keel sandblasted and painted.

This is not normal for central Virginia in late March.

 

[tkanzler]

I got a really nice 10gal compressor from Tractor Supply for $99.99 and the air hammer for another $50.

I can't believe you haven't burned up a $100 compressor using an air hammer yet.

 

[rgranger]

I can't believe you haven't burned up a $100 compressor using an air hammer yet.

I was having a true Tim Allen moment yesterday.

Hur hur hur arr arr arr:dance:

Chips were flying all over the place.

For anyone ever trying this. The air hammer is the way to go. You just keep moving the chisel tip back and forth until it starts to leave shiny dents in the metal. Then you know all of the scale is gone.

 

[rgranger]

I've made a lot of progress on the keel.

The first pic is what the keel looked like after I chipped off the bulk scale with an air hammer. The second pic is what it looked like after I sandblasted and then rust treated. The third pic is what the keel looked like after I rinsed off the rust treatment and wire brushed off the residue. You can see bare metal now.

Fourth pic is after the first coat of primer and the fifth is after the second coat of primer.

The sixth picture is what it looked like before I started working on it.

Need a warm day to make up some epoxy filler and fair it out and then I can start thinking about how in the heck am I going to get it back into the boat.

 

[Bosman]

Having done similar job on my boat, but in a smaller scale, I can appreciate all the work you have put into this project so far. Job well done rgranger! Remember, the smoother the surface you get, the more speed you will achieve and more people will be looking at your transom If you want to go one further step, make the leading edge nice, smooth and round and trailing edge almost sharp, just like an aircraft wing.

With regards to re-inserting the keel. You are right, this is going to be more difficult. Would you be able to lower the boat onto the keel as opposed trying to raise the keel up? Is the boat still supported the same way as on page 1 of this thread? (ie cement blocks and wooden beams)

 

[rgranger]

Having done similar job on my boat, but in a smaller scale, I can appreciate all the work you have put into this project so far. Job well done rgranger! Remember, the smoother the surface you get, the more speed you will achieve and more people will be looking at your transom If you want to go one further step, make the leading edge nice, smooth and round and trailing edge almost sharp, just like an aircraft wing.

With regards to re-inserting the keel. You are right, this is going to be more difficult. Would you be able to lower the boat onto the keel as opposed trying to raise the keel up? Is the boat still supported the same way as on page 1 of this thread? (ie cement blocks and wooden beams)

Thanks Bosman

Yes! I'm planning on giving it a NACA foil shape. I have some layup epoxy that I'll use to make a paste to fill in the pits and make it smooth.... and then I'll build it up in the middle just a bit to give it a nice foil shape.

Yes she is still on beams.

 

[tkanzler]

Bosman may be right - sometimes it really is easier for the mountain to come to Mohammed. Like lifting a house, building a new foundation, and putting the house back down.

You've got more ambition than I do, no question about that.

 

[kenn]

Nice job refinishing the keel. What will you topcoat with?

 

[rgranger]

Nice job refinishing the keel. What will you topcoat with?

I'm leaning toward coal tar epoxy and then a coat of something toxic but I'm still researching options.

I'd prefer to go with hard non-ablative bottom coat but I recall reading someplace that if you keep your boat on a trailer the hard stuff looses its potency. I'm not sure if that is true so I want to look into it a bit.

 

[Fred Villiard]

When I reinstalled my keel on my M25, made a frame to hold it upright on my 4 wheel garden wagon that was rated at 1200lbs. Put the cast iron 750lb keel on it, with the balance point ~3 inches in front of the rear axle. That allowed me to easily tilt it up, and put it in place, it was almost too easy, did it with no help and I'm in my mid 70's

If you would like some pic's pm me with your email and I'll send them to you.

Fred Villiard

 

[Fred Villiard]

I pm'ed you need email, I gave up trying to post pic's here.

Fred Villiard

 

[THECUSCUS]

Rgranger, how's the project going? Haven't heard anything lately.

 

[rgranger]

Rgranger, how's the project going? Haven't heard anything lately.

Hi CusCus

Thanks for the call out. Epoxy won't set below 65 deg.... so I'm stuck. Dang! There calling for a low of 20 tomorrow night.

I got the itch bad so it is driving me crazy. I really want to have the boat ready to take on a cruise as soon as possible. After a shake down, I want to try the Great Dismal Swamp from Norfolk to Elizabeth City... Maybe continue onto Ocracoke. Need to find someone to drive my trailer down but I have a few people in mind.

I have the keel primed and ready to fair. So as soon as I get a few days in the high 60 and the iron warms up a bit.... I'm gettin r done

I spend this weekend working on the keel winch. I was thinking of replacing it but when I looked around for one with a break handle and a rating large enough for my keel I suffered from a severe case of $ticker $hock. So I took another look at the original and then sandblasted it. I'm really glad I did. It cleaned right up to shiny metal and looks great ... and boy did they use thick gauged metal back then. I painted it with Rustoleum's Cold Galvanizing Compound and it looks new again. That took most of Saturday but the winch is ready, and I have 8' of 5/16th SS wire rope and I ordered a 5/16th SS thimble and three SS wire nuts. So... as soon as the keel is faired and painted, I'm ready to try and put it all back together.

 

[THECUSCUS]

Yep, I know the feeling. Waiting to temp to warm so I can slap some bottom paint on and then splash her for the season. Don't forget that the temp of the keel itself has to be right, not just the air temp.

 

[rgranger]

Well we finally got some warm days and I was able to do some epoxy work. The keel is looking good and nearly ready to put back into the boat. Here are some pics.

The first two pics are a port and starboard look at the keel after I had resurfaced, faired and repaired the leading and trailing edges. These pics also show the keel after three rounds of barrier coat, followed by sanding. The lead bulb is not yet faired and will have to wait until I move the keel back into the cradle.

The third pic is after the first coat of paint. I have some 180 grit that I'll sand it with in the morning and apply a second coat.

The third pic is just a reminder of what it looked like when I started.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Yeah Rob, it looks a little better. LOL!
Great job!

 

[THECUSCUS]

Lookin good!

 

[tkanzler]

Nice work!

How are you going to attach the cable? It looks like you filled in the rotted area where the yoke was before. Is that steel, or just faired with body filler or something?

 

[rgranger]

Nice work!

How are you going to attach the cable? It looks like you filled in the rotted area where the yoke was before. Is that steel, or just faired with body filler or something?

Thanks T-Kanz

I've attached a pic showing the yoke. I had some trouble getting the keel back in the cradle ... so I could lift it like so...

In the process I scrapped up my paint job.

After I sandblasted, I treated the surface with rust remover, rinsed, and polished with a wire brush wheel on a hand drill. Then I painted with rustoleum's "severe rust primer" (three coats). Then body filler. Then two coats of 2-part epoxy barrier coat. Then another two coats of rustoleum to protect the epoxy from UV-degredation.

I still need to fair the bulb. some of that will be grinding and some filling. The bulb has several layers of something hard on it already so I don't think I want to try and remove that. I'm going to grind down the big bumps and fill in the deep holes until she is smooth.

I also got the bottom cleaned up and after I fix a few cracks and hole in the hull, I'll put two coats of barrier and a bottom job and I should be ready to splash.:dance:

Something interesting I learned hoisting the keel. The center of gravity for the entire keel is almost exactly where the hole for the yolk is placed.