So I readied my supplies:
I learned a lot of things that day (the day before yesterday). There was a mishap, which I will tell you about first. Then, certainly clean your ears, your glasses, and pay attention because I am going to advise you on a few "What NOT to do" lessons that I learned.
First, the mishap. Evercoat has this wonderful product that is called a gel-paste. It's great for filling in gouges. It was perfect for my application. However, the Evercoat can I bought was not perfect.
I had taken pictures of the goal for the day.
I cut pieces of plastic and taped them so all I'd have to do is spread on the paste, place the plastic over, and I'd have a nearly invisible fiberglass patch, right?
Wrong.
As I tinted the neutral product white, I became concerned that it was still see through. When I added the hardener, I noticed the product turned blue.
Odd because the hardener is clear. Well, I figured when it cured it would improve.
No dice.
I covered with plastic as recommended by many online sources. The plastic shrank, curled, wrinkled and ruined the finish. On top of that, the gel-paste remained a blue color and made the gouges I was filling in more visible.
I was gutted. Completely gutted.
I contacted Evercoat who confirmed it had gone bad. They were very nice and pleasant and say I deserve a refund.
This product is still a wonderful thing especially since I had gone ahead with regular gel coat and know the benefits this product gives, but heed this advice: If you need white, don't use the neutral color to start with. Find the white paste...even if you have to order it online. The coverage will be much better.
I was so upset over this mishap that I didn't even write about it the day that it happened. My perfect finish was now ruined. I had spent hours on it before. I was mad.
24 hours later, I had calmed down and realized it's all completely fixable. It took a few hours this morning to sand things down and retrace the cracks with my Dremel, but by noon today I was back at where I had started two days ago.
And now, here is today's feature of:
WHAT NOT TO DO
First, research what to use to cover your new fledgling gel coat. Gel coat gets along with some things, but not all. Drop sheet plastic is something gel coat really hates. So...
Instead, purchase the PVA mold release which has been recommended by many a manufacture of gel coat and gel coat like products for friendly, hassle free gel coat curing.
Another thing. Just because you saw it on TV doesn't mean you should do it. You may have missed important details. To me, it looked like a normal plastic bathroom cup. In real life, what was on TV that some strange man was using to mix gel coat, was not a plastic bathroom cup. So...
Approximately 1 second after adding the hardener, the bottom of the cup fell out. It made me curse.
Okay, so that was the short "what not to do" section. Now lets get on with covering these patches and gouges.
The gel coat I ultimately went with is made by West Marine and is a non-waxed version and in white. WHITE!!! LIKE 90% OF THE BOATS OUT THERE, WHITE!!!
(that's for all boat supply stores who seemed to have missed that memo-they have all colors of the rainbow except for WHITE)
Something important to know about gel coat made for repairs. Some contain a wax. Some don't. Those that have wax will cure on their own. The versions without wax need a barrier from air or else they will remain tacky.
Why on earth would you want a tacky cure, you ask? I'll tell you. If you're filling in gouges and will be building layers of gel coat, a tacky cure allows you to add another layer without having to sand. When you're done, you put a barrier over it to keep air off of it and it cures to a hard finish. If you're only putting on one coat, the waxed version will do and you won't need PVA mold release. The barrier is the wax.
Okay, it can be difficult to mix the right amount of hardener and gel coat. However, the metric system makes it easier on us as does Google.
The paste I had been working with said 4 drops of hardener to every teaspoon of paste. One teaspoon = 5 mL. Syringes measure in cc's and 1 cc = 1 mL. So you see how that can be easy?
Booyah!
^that thing there is better than Advil.
This West Marine gel coat said 1 tube of hardener to 1 can of gel coat.
That didn't help me too much since I'm not using even half a can. But I found instructions saying 1 ounce of gel coat to 12 drops of hardener. Hmm...I don't having anything measuring in ounces (hmph...I just now noticed my trusty syringe did have the ounce measurement). But google says 1 ounce = approximately 30 mLs.
I can do that.
And 30 mL's was roughly how much gel coat I could work with before it started setting up. Perfect.
So, first things first, mask off what you don't want gel coat on.
The ID number on the hull...we don't want to cover that up. That proves that she's a veteran of water.
And we can't go over the sticker because I haven't decided what to do about that just yet.
Next, I had to wash it. That's pretty self explanatory.
I let it air dry and set up my table. I put on latex gloves and kept my nose to the grind stone.
But first, before I display results, I wanted to ask...
You know that guy who always wants to help out but ends up messing things up? And you know he wouldn't understand if you told him to get lost so you just deal with it?
Well, meet that guy:
Ugh, bugs love the smell of this stuff for some reason. Even a bee wanted to drink from the cup.
Anyway, on to the revealing...
Now you see it:
And now you don't:
:-)
Now you see it:
Aaannnnnddd, now you don't:
Alright, so you can see it a little, but that's because I haven't feathered it in or made the rest of the old gel coat pretty.
She hasn't looked this complete in a while!
Here's the port side (I'm practicing my vocabulary):
So, after two sometimes three layers, I had the gel coat thick enough to where I'm 90% sure it'll smooth out. My back was hurting and I think I killed some brain cells sniffing those fumes.
So, then it was time for the PVA mold release. They say to use this make a spray can they sell. Mine didn't work so I went with a cup and brush. The purple helps to see what you've gone over on a white boat (it seems PVA knows there are more WHITE boats than purple...heh...figure that).
With the purple highlighting everything, now do you see why I didn't get it in the water by last August?
Dang it! >:-(
"There is no difference between a pessimist who says, 'Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything,' and an optimist who says, 'Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyway.' Either way, nothing happens." ~Yvon Chouinard
Next >
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment