Sanding gel cote & paper is loading up ?? normal or wrong

[steveinak]

I did the first coat of gelcote yesterday afternoon looked ok but seemed like i could of rolled it on a bit thicker but figured second coat will take care of things. Went down this morning and i looked like it kicked fine but i had a lot of pinholes and rough spots so i tried sanding with some 60 grit paper and the paper wants to load up with the gelcote so my question is did i do something wrong, is it not fully kicked yet or is it just normal and i have to keep changing paper more often. Temp in the shop was 55 all night and once i got the woodstove going again it gets to 65. What do i do now ???

 

[traditions]

Wax less gel? Does it say on the bucket?If its waxless you cant sand it untill you add some styrene.

 

[steveinak]

Yup no wax in the resin or gelcote i have. I thought it could be sanded/faired then when it was good to go a final cote with wax in it was put on. So do i just roll on another coat with wax then try to fair it out smooth ? I'm trying to get it nice and smooth to get as close a match as possible with the molded top on the boat.

 

[Sailorgp]

I've always wet sanded my gelcoat projects using lots of water...but given the square footage of your project you probably don't want to hear that. Hopefully others will chime in with more advice.

 

[steveinak]

I went back to the shop after dinner tonight and gave the wet sanding a try, it worked pretty well paper didn't seem to load up very bad but it does make a bit of a mess but at least it works. I'll go back tomorrow and give'er hell with a lot of water. thanks for the tip. This is the inside of the partition wall so its good for practice for the outside that i want to look the best as possible.
It flattened out a lot of the high spots.

 

[MDI45]

Steve,Try to get a product called Patch aid....you ad a little to your gel coat it will help it cure and give you a little more shine also....you can google doctorgelcoat.com

 

[traditions]

Steve,if you want to make it super smooth,take a sheetrock knife and fair in some bondo to fill in the mat.It saves alot of work trying to sand out all the highs and lows.Thats where polyfair comes in,but bondo works also.

 

[F/V First Team]

I thought we went over the wax/no wax part Steve. You got pinholes from putting air into your material during application. I've had much better luck with panels and finished pieces by applying gelcoat heavily and then surfacing it with a brush, which is what I thought you were on the track of doing. Even just pouring it out of the mixing pail and letting it flow out then hitting it with a few brush strokes works well.

Bondo absorbs water, swells and then cracks. Rage doesn't. http://downeastboatforum.com/downeast-projects-boat-building/poly-fair-1530-2.html#post11518

Also, a second layer with a brush when applied with a heavy hand and little material to begin with, mashing the brush onto the work surface so that the bristles bend 90° to the handle will work material down into the pinholes, which should supply you with a nice base for when you streak back over it with more gelcoat.

 

[Raider Ronnie]

Gelcoat multiple coats(no sanding between coats) no wax when going right over with additional coat, with wax for last coat or it will never cure.
If you want to sand in between coats you need with wax.
When spraying or I want higher gloss finish, last coat I'll cut 50-50 with deretec clear.
Duratec Clear Hi-Gloss Gel Coat Additive – 1 QT - $26.70

 

[steveinak]

Thanks again everyone for all the help !!
Travis i ended up using one of those 6" high density foam rollers to apply the gelcote and it seemed to me it didn't hold enough gelcote for a good coating so i did start to just pour out some then used the roller to spread it out and tried to brush it out with the chip brush those parts did come out much better. I'm guessing the foam roller made the pinholes/bubbles so this time i'll use the mohair roller and see how that comes out, like i said before this is on the interior side and i'm not so concerned that much with the finish being perfect cause i'll have shit hanging on it that will cover it up some but it makes for a good
learning experience getting a smooth finish so hopefully i'll get it right on the outside. The one problem i had was the gelcote was kicking to fast even though i made small batches i still put in too much hardener, totally my fault, this time i'll cut back on the kicker.
Finding polyfair around here is impossible so i'm going to have to order from outside to get some. I do want the outside to look good so i better do more prep work on the other side.
Ok down to the shop i go to relight the woodstove and get to work.
Thanks Again everyone.

 

[F/V First Team]

It is hard to beat a 3/8" nap roller. It holds product and allows for a steady flow of product.

 

[CEShawn]

Without spraying how hard would it be to make one of these panel into a finished product like out of a mold. ie smooth glossy finish? I've done repair jobs, like up to 12"x12" but it wasnt starting from scratch. I know the wet sanding bit but how much base gelcoat to put on in regards to thickness with a roller before you can start to wetsand. I know the thickness wont be the same between person A and person B. Just like 3 coats with a roller then can do it or what.

Just thinking incase I want to do an house extension myself...

 

[steveinak]

It is hard to beat a 3/8" nap roller. It holds product and allows for a steady flow of product.

Now ya tell me after i go out and buy those 1/4" mohair rollers.
I rolled on a coat with wax in it this afternoon and it turned out ok but its going to need some sanding cause it still had a lot of brush ripples in it guess i should of thinned it a bit more. Now i have a better idea of what i need to do on the other side, hey you'll never see the difference from the beach :lol:.

 

[BillD]

Now ya tell me after i go out and buy those 1/4" mohair rollers.
I rolled on a coat with wax in it this afternoon and it turned out ok but its going to need some sanding cause it still had a lot of brush ripples in it guess i should of thinned it a bit more. Now i have a better idea of what i need to do on the other side, hey you'll never see the difference from the beach :lol:.[/QUOTE

Steve,

this thread reminds me why I can't/won't build a boat myself.
I'd just make a mess

 

[steveinak]

Now ya tell me after i go out and buy those 1/4" mohair rollers.
I rolled on a coat with wax in it this afternoon and it turned out ok but its going to need some sanding cause it still had a lot of brush ripples in it guess i should of thinned it a bit more. Now i have a better idea of what i need to do on the other side, hey you'll never see the difference from the beach :lol:.[/QUOTE

Steve,

this thread reminds me why I can't/won't build a boat myself.
I'd just make a mess

Bill,
I'm enjoying every sticky and scratchy minute of it !! I always wanted to learn more on finishing glass work. I wish i had a heated shop big enough to bring my boat into so i could work on it all winter. I do know a guy that has a vacant huge building, it a acre and a half under the roof and its heated all winter so the sprinkler system doesn't freeze, i'd put the boat in there but i'm scared about the building catching on fire from some shitheads breaking in or maybe from some jewish lightning hitting it. In my old commercial fishing days i didn't really care how it looked as long as it did the job but now looking and seeing all these other beautiful DE boats i want mine to look decent. If i had the time i'd like to go to Maine and work for free at one of the shops just to learn about finishing boats.
All will work out fine and i'll have a warm dry cabin to run the boat from.

 

[steveinak]

Today's work, last coat for the interior. Its hard to see in the pictures but i'm happy with the way it came out, i'll sand and buff it and all it good.

 

[steveinak]

All right going for the last coat of gelcote, do i thin it any or just roll and tip on a good heavy coat to fill in all the nooks and crannies ??? I've got the wax ready to go on the last coat. Just going to have dinner and then back to the shop to get this done.

 

[hmscapecod]

Steve,

A little trick for ya. If you do gelcoat and it didnt completely kick and is tacky a little, go to home depot and get a gallon jug of floor wax. Put on a rag and wipe onto the gelcoat. Do 2 or 3 coats and your done. It seals it up and it cures. Floor wax also works great on the hull too. You wont get the brown staining from the boat sitting in the water .;-)

 

[tomy]

Hi HMS!....I've got that brown stain now...have remover and it takes off nice. Question is..what type floor wax? say put on over your hull? Keeps stain off all season? thanks Tom

 

[hmscapecod]

Tom, its just regular floor wax. Apply it with a clean white rag and do a few coats. Goes on real nice and will last the season usually. I used FSR to get rid of the stains, buff the hull, and then wax with this stuff. Also like I noted earlier, it works great if you have gelcoat that didn't totally tack free and it was your final coat. Put some wax on it and your done, you won't have to redo another coat of gelcoat.

Sorry for the huge picture, still figuring things out here