What's the best way to fill chips on the hull? The ones that go about 1/8" deep and you can see the fiberglass mesh underneath. I'm asking about a partial repair not a complete paint and gel coat or whatever. Just to plug those holes in a durable way that will also get it one step closer to doing a complete job at a later date.
Repairing chips in a boat hull
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Dan--I prefer West System epoxy. Fiberglass is not waterproof, epoxy is. Use a dremel tool to roughen up the chip and to get solid fiberglass for the epoxy to stick to, mix the epoxy up with white pigment [if the hull is white] and West Systems thickner, blue tape around the chip and apply the epoxy with a finger squeggie.
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/
I used to buy fiberglass resin by the 5 gal buckets and mat by the 100f rolls.
After 10 hours of grinding fiberglass, the boat yard looked like it had snowed
[probably a contributing factor to my lack of breath hold time:D]
I am happy to help out doing boat work to pay my share for a boat ride or so.
For serious boat work I'd have to go to the Keys to get all my boat building tools. No problem -
Thanks hau. I never used thickener with epoxy. Does it bring the epoxy to the consistency of putty so it can be worked with a squeegee and doesn't run? Should I use the fastest hardener?
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Dan--hardner speed is dependent on how long you have to work the putty. It is better to mix smaller amounts at a time so that if it rains or heavy dew the epoxy is dry enough to not be affected. Fiberglass Coatings
http://www.merchantcircle.com/…auderdale.FL.954-527-9200
http://www.fgci.com/
has an epoxy putty already mixed up. Just add hardener and pigment.
I am happy to help anytime, just let me know how I can help:) -
A Perlana usually works well for that type of work.
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You mean something like this?
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Maybe Built could help you
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A Perlana usually works well for that type of work.
Con todo respeto Rolo pero creo que una Cotonesa fuera mucho mejor para este tipo de trabajo.
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Con todo respeto Rolo pero creo que una Cotonesa fuera mucho mejor para este tipo de trabajo.
Si, tienes razon. Possiblemente una Cotonesa puesta por Arturito. El es amigo de Dan y Pantopajaro :@
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:laughing1::laughing:
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Hace años que no oigo mencionar la cotonesa :thumbsup1:
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I learned a few things doing this work. I was trying to apply the resulting putty in such a way as to minimize sanding after. I didn't really know what gelcoat is and was worried about having to sand it. Turns out it's just plastic. Similar to any other kind of patch work it's better to apply the putty somewhat liberally and then sand it down. The different grades of sand paper bring the gelcoat to an almost original glossy finish.
I didn't like using the epoxy thickener. I think I had to use so much thickener to get the mixture to the right consistency that it will effect the strength of the epoxy. Another issue was that I didn't use coloring because I thought the thickening powder was going to dry white. It actually dries to a beige color. Since repairing the chips was mostly a matter of cosmetics it kinda defeated the purpose. I already had the west marine epoxy and hardener from before so it made sense to proceed this way and just buy the thickener. For future repairs however I would use a kit they sell for the same price as just the thickener. It requires minimum mixing and dries white.
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