"Save The Manatee "

[sphelps]

The 3m premium is really good stuff .. Used it many times .. But their VERY proud of it!
With as much filler that I am needing on this old tub the cost would have been considerable ..
The batch before last I made did not clog up one bit ... Sanded perfectly ... ...
Gotta go ! Heading out to the annual Heart Walk to man the water tubs along the route ... We do it every year ...:love_heart::love_heart:

 

[gm280]

The 3m premium is really good stuff .. Used it many times .. But their VERY proud of it!
With as much filler that I am needing on this old tub the cost would have been considerable ..
The batch before last I made did not clog up one bit ... Sanded perfectly ... ...
Gotta go ! Heading out to the annual Heart Walk to man the water tubs along the route ... We do it every year ...:love_heart::love_heart:

Great to see you involved in such a worthy event... :thumb:

Sam, do you know what you did differently between the two mixtures to have one sand nicely and the other clog up the paper? I am interested... :noidea:
I'm not against mixing my own. Not I want consistency and not have problems either way. Sanding has to be done, of course. But throwing away tons of sand paper before their time is really wasteful and costly...

 

[Woodonglass]

An old Tennis Shoe will really help with the Sand Paper Clogging!!!

 

[gm280]

An old Tennis Shoe will really help with the Sand Paper Clogging!!!

WOG, I wear my old tennis shoes. I mean the shoes I presently have on now are so bad, I'm certain most food places would not allow me to enter... :facepalm:
I have a lot of nice tennis shoes, but refuse to wear them working on any shop project. So the old ones get used beyond their live span...

 

[sphelps]

The event went pretty well today .. Only had a few cases of water left over which is great ! :joyous:

Not sure the total count but I'm guessing around 25,000 or more walked and ran ..
Gm , the only difference is maybe a few more glass bubbles on the good batch .. Gunna go out here in a bit and see if it has cured a bit more ..
Finally we have some sun peaking through the clouds today !!

 

[archbuilder]

sounds like a nice event Sam! I spent the morning putting in batt insulation at the office, great fun! Kind of like a warm up for grinding glass, lol! Keep up the good work, she his going to have a nice bottom

 

[Woodonglass]

WOG, I wear my old tennis shoes. I mean the shoes I presently have on now are so bad, I'm certain most food places would not allow me to enter... :facepalm:
I have a lot of nice tennis shoes, but refuse to wear them working on any shop project. So the old ones get used beyond their live span...

Hey Sam, when you're out driving around...LOOK UP, there's always a pair of old tennis shoes hanging on a telephone line somehwere. You can climb up and cut em down and use em to clean you clogged sand paper!!!!:evil::smiley_simmons::rockon:

 

[sphelps]

Yea i'll just grab em with my aluminum boat hook ..
Ok , seems all the filler needed was a little more drying time . Got off the couch after a power nap and started sanding ... Sanding as it should with no gumming .. ..Just soooo much rain and humidity it just took longer to dry ..
Now lets discuss guide coats ... I understand the concept but have never really used it . My understanding is you can use any type cheap flat spray paint or primer .. Now if I use it at this stage will it hurt if I go gellcoat ? Application method ? just spray a very light coat /dusting and sand down the high spots until the low spot disappear ?
Not that I am worried about getting a perfect finish on the Manatee but I want to learn the technique for future projects aka the Bobcat .. :joyous:
Getting close to Fl/Kentucky kickoff ... Hopefully all goal posts will stay in the upright position !
A bit worried about this one .... :behindsofa:

 

[Woodonglass]

If you use the Guide coat, and you are correct about the technique, and then Gelcoat, you MUST ensure that ALL the primer/Paint has been sanded/removed from the surface prior to your first coat of gelcoat. I'd recommend using Rustoleum's AutomobilePrimer for your guide coat. It Dries fast, Sands easily and works great on fiberglass. 2-3 cans should do the trick. Under $20 bucks

 

[gm280]

Sam, don't use primers or flat or even gloss rattle can spray paints for your guide coats. They make a dark, near black, powder for that and you can buy it really cheaply at the auto paint stores. It is applied with a type of pad (like a car wax pad) and the powder spreads easily on any type finish. It leaves a grayish tint on the surface. And then you simply use diagonal long board sanders to sand the guide coat off. And using the long board sanders will make you sand everything to the same level. And if you can't, you fill the low areas up with filler and start again with the guide coat and block sanding. It sounds like a lot of work, but honestly, it goes really quick. But once you are able to sand all the guide coat off, your surface is amazingly level and smooth. There won't be any hills and valleys or ripples remaining... However, never ever sand in any pattern but diagonally, never level or straight. That will cause ridges. You will see how it works once you get going. I use about 14" to 18" long boards. But you can use whatever length you need. You can do this before priming and after to get a really smooth final finish. It really isn't anymore time consuming then sanding in prep for any paint job. But the end results are amazing... JMHO!

 

[archbuilder]

What GM said. Blocking it out will make it nice and flat.

 

[sphelps]

I stopped by this auto paint store on the way home .. This was the only guide coat they had in stock .. The guy said he has the other type 3m in a can like paste wax with the applicator but just ran out .. They were getting more in a few days .. So I picked up 1 can of the spray type to play around with ...

One thing for sure it sure will tell on ya when you have low spots ... Once sanded down as far as you think you can go it's gunna be hard to remember where filling is needed once I clean the guide coat off with acetone . I guess I can go slow and mark the area with a pencil as I clean the surface ..

 

[gm280]

I stopped by this auto paint store on the way home .. This was the only guide coat they had in stock .. The guy said he has the other type 3m in a can like paste wax with the applicator but just ran out .. They were getting more in a few days .. So I picked up 1 can of the spray type to play around with ...

One thing for sure it sure will tell on ya when you have low spots ... Once sanded down as far as you think you can go it's gunna be hard to remember where filling is needed once I clean the guide coat off with acetone. I guess I can go slow and mark the area with a pencil as I clean the surface ..

Sam, I don't know what is in that spray can, but the guide coat I use, you don't have to wipe off the guide coat to reapply more filler. They are compatible and therefore you can add the filling in those low area without any problem because you can easily see the low areas. But I can tell you, as you now see, when you think you've got it all sanded out smoothly, that guide coat tells you differently. But that IS the key to an amazing smooth finish... I've seen plenty of your work and I know for sure that You can do it... :thumb:

 

[Woodonglass]

Hey Sam,

I think this will be interesting for you...

He shows the Graphite dust as well!!!!
I used the Rustoleum Primer to do basically the same thing. It seemed to work fine for me but maybe I shoulda used this stuff!!!:noidea:. After a while I just called it good cuz I figured I wasn't looking for a "Show Boat" and the Fish weren't gunna care if the bottom of my boat was a flat as a pane of glass.:eagerness: But I'll admit it did kinda BUG me knowing I left a lot of blemishes behind!!!!:facepalm:

 

[Decker83]

I used a guide coat when I did my deck boat hull.. It really helps you to see the low spots.. I took a black marker and made large circles around my low spots.
Get the hull as flat as you can, but one thing to remember when spraying gel coat. You will be spraying at least 30 mil to 40 mil thick and sanding back down to 20 mil to 25 mil thick.. You will need to use a guide coat on the gel also.
Looking great so far.. Look at Trooper's post, He did a great job with the 3m powder as a guide coat..
Have a great Hump Day..

 

[gm280]

Hey Sam,

I think this will be interesting for you...

He shows the Graphite dust as well!!!!
I used the Rustoleum Primer to do basically the same thing. It seemed to work fine for me but maybe I shoulda used this stuff!!!:noidea:. After a while I just called it good cuz I figured I wasn't looking for a "Show Boat" and the Fish weren't gunna care if the bottom of my boat was a flat as a pane of glass.:eagerness: But I'll admit it did kinda BUG me knowing I left a lot of blemishes behind!!!!:facepalm:

I think he shows it as best as anyone can. I learned to do that the very hard way. I fillered and sanded and fillered and sanded and fillered some more until I figured it out. I use the power coat guide coat, and can tell you, if you think you have a panel ready for priming and paint, use the guide coat and you will see for certain. I also use the continuous roll paper and the long blocks as well. And I now know how to do all that. They IS a difference. And for the record, preparing anything for paint using the guide coat technique is the only way to get things right and ready for paint. And surprisingly enough, it honestly doesn't take any longer to do it that way either. And that is because it tells you instantly where you need to fill and resand instead of guessing at it. And never, ever use only your hand to sand anything with that you want a really nice finish on. It will look like...well....use your imagination. If I can paint a car without ever doing it before and it comes out looking very nice, then anybody can. Knowing how is the secret...

 

[sphelps]

.. I took a black marker and made large circles around my low spots..

I think this is what I will do Decker .. With the poly filler I don't think I should leave any guide coat on the low spots so I will circle them large then clean with acetone or sand the g/c off prior to filling .. I can't remember if it was you or Trooper that had the young ones mark all over the the hull with a majic marker . Then spread around with some acetone to use as a guide coat ..
Btw anyone heard from Troop lately ?

 

[sphelps]

Small update ... Having to spend a lot of time at work so the boat work is at a snails pace .. But I have been filling and fairing some .. I hope to have about 90% of the hull prep complete by the end of the weekend hopefully ... I decided to order the metal flake hvlp gun with the 2.5 tip to do the gell . Should be here next week .. As long as I don't screw it up with the gell I will also use it for the m/f should I go that route on the Bobcat .. I need to order the gell also .. The weather is starting to get a little cooler with less humidity down here so hopefully should be good for the application . The flying critters are starting to slow down some too ..
Cheers everyone !

 

[Woodonglass]

Sam, really looking forward to seeing how that gun performs with both the Gel and the M/F paint. Pretty sure there won't be any "Screw Ups" in the near future!!!

 

[gm280]

Okay Sam, you have to post those picture using M/F and paints. I am seriously interested in seeing what you have in mind. A 2.5mm tip is a seriously large opening and will allow a pretty good size flake through. :hail: