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replacing gel coat
On 8-Jun-2004, "Te Canaille" wrote:
Different people have different styles and it's not his place to admonish anyone for their own reasons and suggest his way is the only valid viewpoint. He is not the god of paddling. _NO_ONE_ makes a scratchproof canoe or kayak. Get over it! Mike |
replacing gel coat
Te,
Try your local surfboard shop. They'll be able to re-gel it. Ken B. On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 09:03:30 -0500, "Te Canaille" wrote: Anyone out there had any experience replacing a gel coat exterior ? I've got a glass on kevlar hull that has a light blue gel coat exterior that I'd like to replace with a white gel coat. I hear it's very tricky, lots of work, and usually disastrous for an amateur to attempt. I figure the best answer is to have a pro do it but I'm not sure where to begin looking. Thanks, any feedback will be welcomed. Te Canaille Apply ROT13 to address to reply |
replacing gel coat
Hey Ken -
Great idea ! If I ever get close to one I'll give it a go. :-)) Seriously, thanks but unfortunately I'm a long way from any shops like that. Te wrote in message ... Te, Try your local surfboard shop. They'll be able to re-gel it. Ken B. On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 09:03:30 -0500, "Te Canaille" wrote: Anyone out there had any experience replacing a gel coat exterior ? I've got a glass on kevlar hull that has a light blue gel coat exterior that I'd like to replace with a white gel coat. I hear it's very tricky, lots of work, and usually disastrous for an amateur to attempt. I figure the best answer is to have a pro do it but I'm not sure where to begin looking. Thanks, any feedback will be welcomed. Te Canaille Apply ROT13 to address to reply |
replacing gel coat
Re-gelling a boat is a royal pain. I have re-gelled some park benches
for a local park, and redid a very old beat up powerboat, and it's never going to look good. If you have some scratches in the boat that need to be polished out, 600 grit and polishing compound will remove them (at the price of thinly wearing down your gel). If the boat has chips, I would fix the chips and again polish it out. But the origional question is how to change a boat from blue to white: * Note: This is how I did it in the 90's, EPA rules may make this method illegal since you release tons of vapors into the air. Check first Repair any chips and cracks in the blue gel (repair them with white) - hull needs to be good before you try anything Remove the gunwales and external hardware - otherwise it will get all messy Sand the entire surface with 100 grit sandpaper, followed by 220 - makes it smooth and gives a rough surface to bond to wipe with acetone, then a tack cloth - removes any oil, dirt, dust Mix gel with surfacing agent and acetone - agent allows the gel to cure hard, acetone thins it for spraying Pour in paint sprayer - make sure sprayer has pressure adjustments so you can regulate pressure and volume. in a very well ventalated area, spray the boat with gel until the entire surface is covered You will have a re-gelled boat Now why don't people do this? First, it will look horrible. The spray, no matter how fine will orange peel or splatter. That is the nature of gel. Second, the surfacing agent is a type of wax. When you go to repair future scratches, guess what. The lovely white gel you sprayed on is contaminated with wax and your repair won't want to stick. Third, when you go to wet sand your white gel, and bruise through to blue, it isn't easy to fix, and the repair may not hold. If you don't add surfacing agent, your gel will not cure hard, it will be sticky forever (or until it grabs enough dirt to look really bad) You will add 6-10 pounds to the boat. But it can be done. It's just not a good idea. - Eric |
replacing gel coat
Thanks Eric. That's pretty much what I need to know. Sounds like I won't be going in that direction. This is a hull that could used
in clinics, at demos, in competition, and seen at some shows so needs to look good. It's been used on a lot of rocky creeks over the years and although in my opinion a gel coated boat should not be, but it was fun to paddle and now I thought to salvage it for other uses. As you point out even a new coating will not look all that hot, so reckon I'll just continue as before. I'm having fun either way. Thanks. Te Canaille "Eric Nyre" wrote in message om... Re-gelling a boat is a royal pain. I have re-gelled some park benches for a local park, and redid a very old beat up powerboat, and it's never going to look good. If you have some scratches in the boat that need to be polished out, 600 grit and polishing compound will remove them (at the price of thinly wearing down your gel). If the boat has chips, I would fix the chips and again polish it out. But the origional question is how to change a boat from blue to white: * Note: This is how I did it in the 90's, EPA rules may make this method illegal since you release tons of vapors into the air. Check first Repair any chips and cracks in the blue gel (repair them with white) - hull needs to be good before you try anything Remove the gunwales and external hardware - otherwise it will get all messy Sand the entire surface with 100 grit sandpaper, followed by 220 - makes it smooth and gives a rough surface to bond to wipe with acetone, then a tack cloth - removes any oil, dirt, dust Mix gel with surfacing agent and acetone - agent allows the gel to cure hard, acetone thins it for spraying Pour in paint sprayer - make sure sprayer has pressure adjustments so you can regulate pressure and volume. in a very well ventalated area, spray the boat with gel until the entire surface is covered You will have a re-gelled boat Now why don't people do this? First, it will look horrible. The spray, no matter how fine will orange peel or splatter. That is the nature of gel. Second, the surfacing agent is a type of wax. When you go to repair future scratches, guess what. The lovely white gel you sprayed on is contaminated with wax and your repair won't want to stick. Third, when you go to wet sand your white gel, and bruise through to blue, it isn't easy to fix, and the repair may not hold. If you don't add surfacing agent, your gel will not cure hard, it will be sticky forever (or until it grabs enough dirt to look really bad) You will add 6-10 pounds to the boat. But it can be done. It's just not a good idea. - Eric |
replacing gel coat
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replacing gel coat
KAYAKFAN wrote: After "dinging" my boat, I went to my local shop manager who had managed composite at Wilderness Systems.a pro. I could have done it, but didn't want to get in the business. He was doing me a favor. I developed a stress crack from tightening too hard on my vehicle. He says this is not uncommon with composites. I forget if he said that it was more common with kevlar than fiberglass. It seems if you are not careful, you may leave tiny hairs when you sand kevlar that show through the gelcoat or resin. These hairs tend to wick moisture to the kevlar mat. He did both interior and exterior work. He built up the inside using small, then medium, then large layers. To smooth the last layer, he used a minicell block as a sponge over plastic sheeting. Same thing with the outside. It had to be a particular kind of gelcoat, something with the right base. That's what I know. If you want to get good at this, risk mistakes. If you want to paddle, pay someone. Mike Goodman High Point, NC |
replacing gel coat
Te Canaille wrote:
Fact is this hull is a loaner used in fla****er instruction clinics and it needs to look sharp. Honestly, if I ever saw an instructor with a super shiny boat, I'd go elsewhere. Instructing, by its very nature, is hard on equipment. I don't see how an instructor could keep up with dealing with daily dings and scratches, and keep a boat looking pristine. For that matter, I don't know why one would want to. Nothing personal, but it strikes me that your priorities (or those of the instructor involved) may be a bit out of line. I have to agree with the others here, form follows function. |
replacing gel coat
Brian :
Thanks for your opinion and view of paddlesport. Maybe you need to expand your horizons a bit. Paddlesport includes a wide spectrum of instruction, not just moving water and rocky bottoms. There are many kinds of instruction that does not involve scratching hulls and being hard on equipment. In fact, more of that than not. They perhaps are not part of your world or your venue. I've been around this for a long while and realize that many people tend to believe that their milieu is the only thing going and it is to them. Most instruction does not involve basic river or white water, but is done in calm venues. I started out instructing moving and whitewater and felt as though this was "the paddling world". Once I got off of rivers and went on to other things, I fianlly realized that worldwide, most hulls are paddled on fla****er without rocks and hulls can and should be kept in good shape. I still teach in venues in which I expect a hull to be scratched and accept that, but also teach in some where that does not happen and a scratched up hull is a sign of poor control. Sounds to me as though you've had exposure to only certain types of venues and your priorities are a bit narrow. Te Canaille "Brian Nystrom" wrote in message ... Te Canaille wrote: Fact is this hull is a loaner used in fla****er instruction clinics and it needs to look sharp. Honestly, if I ever saw an instructor with a super shiny boat, I'd go elsewhere. Instructing, by its very nature, is hard on equipment. I don't see how an instructor could keep up with dealing with daily dings and scratches, and keep a boat looking pristine. For that matter, I don't know why one would want to. Nothing personal, but it strikes me that your priorities (or those of the instructor involved) may be a bit out of line. I have to agree with the others here, form follows function. |
replacing gel coat
On 9-Jun-2004, "Te Canaille" wrote:
a scratched up hull is a sign of poor control An unscratched hull is a sign of someone who doesn't take his kayak anywhere. Or a paddler who has his priorities wrong. At the infamous kayaking school in Anglesey, they have paddlers do a surf launch and landing on rocky beaches, just to get folks away from the fear of putting the kayak into real life situations. Flat water and lovely sandy beaches represent a small fraction of real paddling venues. Gel coat gets scratched and is easy to repair. Most of the folks I know that think like you paddle expensive strippers. Those of us that paddle real kayaks (and not showboats) don't worry about minor dings and scratches. That gets in the way of real paddling. I'm teaching a session on gel coat repair in a couple of weeks (June 26 to be precise, around 9:30AM) Parry Island in Georgian Bay - where sandy beaches are usually man-made. If you want to know how to deal with reality, drop by. your priorities are a bit narrow. This from a guy that thinks his kayak's looks are important. Mike |
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