Hello,
Restoring my 1959 Glasspar, and just sprayed the hull with Gelcoat/. I initially had tried rolling on the transom, but it made for a lot of extra sanding.
I bought the cheap HVLP gun from Harbor Freight and decided to give it a go. I had a couple of semi-comedic mis-steps, but ended up with a pretty smooth coating, which i am now sanding down.
I was using the US composites standard white non-waxed gelcoat. I came up with a system that worked pretty well for me. I found that if i tried 16oz, the gel would start kicking before i was finished with it. I ended up going 12 oz at a time. I thinned it about 10% with stryene, and was able to get a pretty consistent stream that gave good coverage. I could typically get one hull side(down to the spline) with one run through. I did 5 coats, with the 5th being a waxed gel. I actually used some gelcoat i had that was already waxed. That was a bit thicker, so i had to thin almost 15%
On the Harbor Freight gun, it is good to clean it a bit before you use it. I found that even thinned, the inline strainer created too much drag in the gun. I didn't use it.
I had to be pretty vigilant about actually cleaning the gun, not just running acetone through it. I would take the cleaner, and even a small screwdriver and get out any gel that was in there. With that done every couple of coats, and a good deal of acetone through the gun after each coat, i was able to get pretty good results.
Now if someone could come up with a robot sander!
Ian
Restoring my 1959 Glasspar, and just sprayed the hull with Gelcoat/. I initially had tried rolling on the transom, but it made for a lot of extra sanding.
I bought the cheap HVLP gun from Harbor Freight and decided to give it a go. I had a couple of semi-comedic mis-steps, but ended up with a pretty smooth coating, which i am now sanding down.
I was using the US composites standard white non-waxed gelcoat. I came up with a system that worked pretty well for me. I found that if i tried 16oz, the gel would start kicking before i was finished with it. I ended up going 12 oz at a time. I thinned it about 10% with stryene, and was able to get a pretty consistent stream that gave good coverage. I could typically get one hull side(down to the spline) with one run through. I did 5 coats, with the 5th being a waxed gel. I actually used some gelcoat i had that was already waxed. That was a bit thicker, so i had to thin almost 15%
On the Harbor Freight gun, it is good to clean it a bit before you use it. I found that even thinned, the inline strainer created too much drag in the gun. I didn't use it.
I had to be pretty vigilant about actually cleaning the gun, not just running acetone through it. I would take the cleaner, and even a small screwdriver and get out any gel that was in there. With that done every couple of coats, and a good deal of acetone through the gun after each coat, i was able to get pretty good results.
Now if someone could come up with a robot sander!
Ian