We have a neighbor that has a sling lift under his house for lifting his boat off the trailer. I can use it for stripping my keel of the rust that is on it. He has a pressure washer, but I am not sure it will do the job. I was thinking sandblasting would clean it to bare metal, then some sort of barrier/sealant for iron. If I have to do the pressure wash, are there chemicals that I can use to get the last bits of rust? Should it be ground smooth anyway or use some fairing compound to fill the pits and valleys? What is the recommended sealant of the iron and then the layering process? I'm thinking that the barrier coat won't stick to the iron.
Keel rust removal
- Thread starter TallyClassic
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Iron keels
I patch my rust spots by taking it down to bare metal, applying Interprotect 2000E/I immediately(within an hour) and then cover with bottom paint. I use Micron CSC right on top of the Interprotect. Get some good tools before you start like an industrial 4-1/2" grinder with wire wheel, flapper disk and grinding disk attachments. Make sure you wear safety glasses, and a breathing mask. Ear plugs sure make it more tollerable. Dont try this job with a drill motor unless its a really small patch. I never fair the keel - I don't race and am not concerned about fractional percentage gains. Maybe one day when I have a couple of days to spare (yah right)
Do a Google search on "Iron Keel" and you'll get some good info. I can't emphasise enough about safety with breathing mask - copper based ablative paint is very bad!!!!
I patch my rust spots by taking it down to bare metal, applying Interprotect 2000E/I immediately(within an hour) and then cover with bottom paint. I use Micron CSC right on top of the Interprotect. Get some good tools before you start like an industrial 4-1/2" grinder with wire wheel, flapper disk and grinding disk attachments. Make sure you wear safety glasses, and a breathing mask. Ear plugs sure make it more tollerable. Dont try this job with a drill motor unless its a really small patch. I never fair the keel - I don't race and am not concerned about fractional percentage gains. Maybe one day when I have a couple of days to spare (yah right)
Do a Google search on "Iron Keel" and you'll get some good info. I can't emphasise enough about safety with breathing mask - copper based ablative paint is very bad!!!!Iron Keel
A power washer is not going to remove any serious rust on an iron keel. I think you need to either rent a sand/soda blaster, or be prepared to do some heavy duty grinding and sanding, as described by GuyT below. Once you get the keel down to bare metal, I recommend using a POR-15 treatment, which includes a pre-wash solution before applying the POR-15 paint. I did this on my boat some years ago and it has held up nicely, only requiring a touch-up here and there. See link for POR-15 info.
A power washer is not going to remove any serious rust on an iron keel. I think you need to either rent a sand/soda blaster, or be prepared to do some heavy duty grinding and sanding, as described by GuyT below. Once you get the keel down to bare metal, I recommend using a POR-15 treatment, which includes a pre-wash solution before applying the POR-15 paint. I did this on my boat some years ago and it has held up nicely, only requiring a touch-up here and there. See link for POR-15 info.
Lot of work with grinder
I did this last summer using a grinder with a wire wheel. Definitely recommend long pants as well, because those little wire continuously break free and stick in your legs like miniature arrows. If I had to do it again, I'd surely rent a sandblaster. It's gotta be a lot easier. The grinder brush works, but it's a very tiring and lengthy process because the brush covers such a small area. It was a lot of work, and if not painted over right away will be rusted over again my morning. I applied a special marine metal primer by Petit to the freshly bared metal. My keel was very pitted, so I opted to faire it as well. At first I used an epoxy putty. Not only was this terribly expensive, but it was very hard to work with as well. I ended up fairing most of the keel with a fiberglass epoxy resin using a structural filler to give the resin greater strength, thickness and density. It was my hope that all this work would prevent the keel from oxidizing so quickly when in the water. Some spots would oxidize quickly, black spots would form, allowing more of the metal below to further oxidize, only to dissolve away in a black particle cloud when scrubbed under water. It's been 16 months now and the keel looks perfect. No oxidizing coming through, no bare spots, no sections of my fairing breaking away; still smooth. However, my boat has only been in the tropically warm waters of Key West all this time, so I don't know if vast temp. changes would make a difference. The details and photos of my bottom work can be viewed at the link included here. Scott s/v Rubicon Key West
I did this last summer using a grinder with a wire wheel. Definitely recommend long pants as well, because those little wire continuously break free and stick in your legs like miniature arrows. If I had to do it again, I'd surely rent a sandblaster. It's gotta be a lot easier. The grinder brush works, but it's a very tiring and lengthy process because the brush covers such a small area. It was a lot of work, and if not painted over right away will be rusted over again my morning. I applied a special marine metal primer by Petit to the freshly bared metal. My keel was very pitted, so I opted to faire it as well. At first I used an epoxy putty. Not only was this terribly expensive, but it was very hard to work with as well. I ended up fairing most of the keel with a fiberglass epoxy resin using a structural filler to give the resin greater strength, thickness and density. It was my hope that all this work would prevent the keel from oxidizing so quickly when in the water. Some spots would oxidize quickly, black spots would form, allowing more of the metal below to further oxidize, only to dissolve away in a black particle cloud when scrubbed under water. It's been 16 months now and the keel looks perfect. No oxidizing coming through, no bare spots, no sections of my fairing breaking away; still smooth. However, my boat has only been in the tropically warm waters of Key West all this time, so I don't know if vast temp. changes would make a difference. The details and photos of my bottom work can be viewed at the link included here. Scott s/v Rubicon Key West
The best thing I have used.
I've tried epoxy, Interlux, zinc chromate, etc., and all were disappointing. For the past 2-3 years I've been using Rust Bullet(www.rustbullet.com)with very satisfying results. So far I'm just patching the (numerous) areas where other products have failed, but next time I take down the whole keel I'll use it exclusivly. GuyT is right about all those tools but I would also add a chipping hammer to the list. Good Luck.
I've tried epoxy, Interlux, zinc chromate, etc., and all were disappointing. For the past 2-3 years I've been using Rust Bullet(www.rustbullet.com)with very satisfying results. So far I'm just patching the (numerous) areas where other products have failed, but next time I take down the whole keel I'll use it exclusivly. GuyT is right about all those tools but I would also add a chipping hammer to the list. Good Luck.
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