So I'm refurbing the decks on my old Morgan sailboat and need to add non
skid as the old is worn and with a few more coats of paint, won't be any
good at all.
Checked out Interlux version and it's $42/qt can and is kind of a powdery
"very fine polymeric spheres". Rustoleum offers a product called "Skidtex"
and 1 pound can goes for about $5. I opened the can and it's SAND. What a
scam!
I really don't see the purpose in using any fine material as I'm going to be
putting down at least 1 coat of epoxy primer and 2 coats of polyurethane,
intending to use the broadcast method for adding the non skid to the wet
primer. I'm thinking something that won't disappear in the paint so maybe
crushed walnut shells as used in sandblasting or resin abrasive as used in
tumbling?
Anyone here have experience in using a other than West Marine type additive?

Yep crushed Walnut shells work fine.
Den Eagle 48ftYF

"den" wrote in message
...
Yep crushed Walnut shells work fine.
Den Eagle 48ftYF

--------------

careful - ground walnut comes in lots of different coarseness
grades...... from very fine to very 'rough'

paul

"MMC" wrote in message
ng.com...

Anyone here have experience in using a other than West Marine type
additive?

I've used model railroad ballast. You can buy it at any hobby shop that
caters to model railroad enthusiasts.

What's good about it: It's graded for size - you can buy different grades
according to how coarse or fine you want it; because it's supposed to look
like scale-model rocks, it's "rounder" than beach sand and results in a less
aggressive pattern that's easier on your knees and bare feet.

If you mix any kind of non-skid additive into paint it's difficult to get an
even distribution. I put down a coat of paint where I want the non-skid to
be, then sprinkle the material over it with a shaker of some kind until all
the paint is completely covered. Let it dry overnight and then sweep or
vacuum the excess material off the surface and put a couple more coats of
paint over it until the non-skid material is fully covered. The more coats
of paint you put on top the less aggressive the non-skid is. You have to
work in small enough sections so that the base coat remains wet while you're
covering it with the non-skid material. On something like your boat, the
molded-in pattern divides it up nicely into conveniently-sized sections.

Regards,
Tom

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:31:03 -0500, "MMC" wrote:

So I'm refurbing the decks on my old Morgan sailboat and need to add non
skid as the old is worn and with a few more coats of paint, won't be any
good at all.
Checked out Interlux version and it's $42/qt can and is kind of a powdery
"very fine polymeric spheres". Rustoleum offers a product called "Skidtex"
and 1 pound can goes for about $5. I opened the can and it's SAND. What a
scam!
I really don't see the purpose in using any fine material as I'm going to be
putting down at least 1 coat of epoxy primer and 2 coats of polyurethane,
intending to use the broadcast method for adding the non skid to the wet
primer. I'm thinking something that won't disappear in the paint so maybe
crushed walnut shells as used in sandblasting or resin abrasive as used in
tumbling?
Anyone here have experience in using a other than West Marine type additive?


Have used several products:

Sand - cheap and works well and is available in many grades. The
problem is that it is difficult to spread evenly and if applied too
thick results in a dense cement like covering that offers poor
non-skid qualities.

Ground rubber - often used around swimming pools provides good initial
non-skid properties but as time goes by as the paint wears down the
black rubber is exposed giving a rather unpleasant black speckled
appearance.

Polymeric spheres - offered by most of the better paint manufactures.
My experience is that it can be mixed with the finish coats and
sprayed on and provides a long lasting non-skid surface. The major
disadvantage is the grade or coarseness is difficult to judge and my
last job, using "Medium" grade spheres resulted in a less than
satisfactory non-skid surface. I would recommend using "Coarse" as a
minimum.

Ground nuts - have never tried this.
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

"MMC" wrote in message
g.com...

So I'm refurbing the decks on my old Morgan sailboat and need to add non
skid as the old is worn and with a few more coats of paint, won't be any
good at all.
Checked out Interlux version and it's $42/qt can and is kind of a powdery
"very fine polymeric spheres". Rustoleum offers a product called "Skidtex"
and 1 pound can goes for about $5. I opened the can and it's SAND. What a
scam!
I really don't see the purpose in using any fine material as I'm going to be
putting down at least 1 coat of epoxy primer and 2 coats of polyurethane,
intending to use the broadcast method for adding the non skid to the wet
primer. I'm thinking something that won't disappear in the paint so maybe
crushed walnut shells as used in sandblasting or resin abrasive as used in
tumbling?
Anyone here have experience in using a other than West Marine type additive?
=========

Thanks for the advice/info everyone.

DON'T EVERY USE SAND ON A BOAT! never... it something you or the
next owner cannot remove with 'sand' paper.
common is ground walnut shell (hard but sandable - comes in lots of
sizes) or off white ground rubber (not the black ground up car tire
crap).

Google "white ground rubber grit' for sources of the rubber grit
and walnut shell

"Paul Oman" wrote in message
m...


DON'T EVERY USE SAND ON A BOAT! never... it something you or the
next owner cannot remove with 'sand' paper.
common is ground walnut shell (hard but sandable - comes in lots of
sizes) or off white ground rubber (not the black ground up car tire
crap).

Google "white ground rubber grit' for sources of the rubber grit
and walnut shell

======

I opted to not use sand because I wanted a bigger grain. Didn't think about
taking it off, just got lucky.
Got a 25 lb box of course ground walnut shells at Harbor Freight for about a
dollar per pound. Should be plenty to do my boat and a few neighbors'!
Had a piece of fiberglass scrap (cut off of something) and did a little test
with some left over Valspar 1 part PU paint and it worked well with 2 thin
coats, plenty of grit and won't be torture on bare feet.

"Paul Oman" wrote in message
m...

DON'T EVERY USE SAND ON A BOAT! never... it something you or the
next owner cannot remove with 'sand' paper.

It comes off easily with a heat gun.

Tom

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