Re: sand paper grit

Posted by terry on Mar 18, 2005

Well, let me preface my post with the warning that I am far lazier than the average boatbuilder - or even the average rock.

Anyhow, I hate to sand, but it has to be done at some point. The issue is, how much?

Well, I follow a method Bill Thomas, that comsumately talented pro builder in Maryland, described to me some years back. I apply two coats of epoxy, let the second coat cure overnight, then go over it with the scraper to get all obvious runs an bumps. Then I let the boat cure for several days (a few in warm weather, a few weeks in my cooler basement). Then I lug the thing outside and go over the entire boat quickly with 150 grit on the ROS. This will hi-lite any bumps I missed before, and I attack these with a sharp carbide scraper. Then I sand the entire boat with 150, then a quick pass with 220. Then I squeegee on a last THIN coat, using very small batches to keep the epoxy thin, and tip it off with a foam brush. After this coat cures well, I scrape then hand sand the entire boat with 220. Then I paint/varnish the darn thing.

It's also a very good idea to hook your ROS up to a shop vac, if you have one, and wear hearing protection and a respirator.

terry

In Response to: Re: sand paper grit by Mac on Mar 18, 2005

Replies:

• Re: sand paper grit by Karl on Mar 18, 2005