Yeti2300 Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Looking for some help to get rid of small scratches in the gel coat (cause by wet and dry sand paper I think). Is there some form of cut and polish that can be used? Also, does anyone have any ideas on how to buff using an angle grinder or similar? Thanks......Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loose Change Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 G'day Mike, depending on how deep the scratches are you may not be able to buff them out without maybe doing a bit more sanding with progressively finer grades of wet and dry paper till they are small enough to be buffed. Having said that you need to be careful to not sand through the gel coat. Lastly, no, you can't use an angle grinder as a buff as it spins to fast and will burn your gel coat, you need a proper sander/polisher to do the job right, either hire one or have the local panel beater do it for you. .... hope this helps you Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB2 Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 How would you get rid of deep gouges in gelcoat that look like being caused by the trapeze hook after someones unhooked and fallen off the wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leapin Leroy Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 QB2, If there are cracks around the edges of the gelcoat, there may be damage to the substrate (glass) underneath. Hmmm... It's unlikely, but the only cure is to sand the damaged area out or pick the cracked pieces out (carefully with the tip of a Stanley knife). Then "key" the area up with an 80 (or so) grit paper. Once this is done and depending on the size of the gouge (you may need to thicken the gelcoat with micro-spheres) dab or use a putty knife to load the area up with the catalysed mix. Once it "sets-up" or starts to gel off you can trim with a trimming knife, or, once hard, sand wet & dry with finer & finer grades of paper till smooth, then polish over. Hope this helps, Regards, Leroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniVL Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I also have a similar problem with my recent purchase of a Nacra 5.8. I've been over the hulls and noticed several scratches on the underside, i guess from coming onto the beach, that have gone through the gel coat and you can see the 'clear' resin / glass underneath. The hulls are still watertight, just thin in the areas of the scratches! Can i ask what the ?catalyst? is you use with the micro spheres to build up the scratches back to the level of the original gel coat? Also, do you have to apply a layer of gel coat over the top of the repair? This is my first time at repairing fiberglass, so any help from the experienced would be gratefully appreciated! Thanks in advance! Shane [This message has been edited by MiniVL (edited 20 June 2007).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmessee Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Leave them. If you think it will slow you down then sand them back, but there are some boats out there with no gel coat at all on the undersides from beach dragging and they are not always slower than another boat. If anything, it is lighter. It doesn't look as good but I would just wet and dry the area and polish it as best as possible. You can fill them, but it is more asthetics than anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Originally posted by MiniVL: I also have a similar problem with my recent purchase of a Nacra 5.8. I've been over the hulls and noticed several scratches on the underside, i guess from coming onto the beach, that have gone through the gel coat and you can see the 'clear' resin / glass underneath. The hulls are still watertight, just thin in the areas of the scratches! Can i ask what the ?catalyst? is you use with the micro spheres to build up the scratches back to the level of the original gel coat? Also, do you have to apply a layer of gel coat over the top of the repair? This is my first time at repairing fiberglass, so any help from the experienced would be gratefully appreciated! Thanks in advance! Shane [This message has been edited by MiniVL (edited 20 June 2007).] If the scratches arn't really visible just leave them ,if they are annoying you role the boat over rough up the area well where the scratches are ,make sure you clean the area well with acetone to get rid of any wax /polish or contaminates ,buy some brush on gelcoat ,and fill up any scratches and areas where the gelcoat is getting thin, wait for the gelcoat to dry and sand of with wet and dry ,start off with fairly coarse 240 or so and work you way up to 1200 .you may have to repeat the gelcoat filling process to fill all the little imperfections.The only drama you may have is matching the color of the gelcoat ,if the boat is fairly new and in good condition you won't have a problem ,if the boat is old and discolored and stanied the repair will stand out like dogs "you know whats" Once your happy with the finish polish the repair and the whole boat with a electric buffer and a non silicon based extra cut marine polish ,this will blend it all in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniVL Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Thanks for the reply guys. You know the boat Jason, it's #1333. I actually found a photo of #1333 and #1606 together, I think it was at King of the Lake last year from what Paul remembered. I know Paul looked after it, but, while it's winter, i thought i'ld do some minor touch ups and learn a bit along the way as well. Plus i'm bound to do a few scratches myself and i didn't want to make things any worse than what they are. At this point in time i haven't sailed for 20 yrs and my experience was in mono hulls, so the light weight boat for racing doesn't phase me, all though when i've done a few laps around the bay and my crew, my son, are ready, i'm certainly going to be out there chasing you guys down! Look forward to meeting everyone at King of the Lake in Aug! Cheers Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.