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I have a couple of questions I would like to put to the forum:
(a) I have finished glassing my C16 and have applied the first coat of epoxy over yesterday's glass job. The weave of the glassfibre is now JUST visible when the glassed surface is viewed from an angle.
I shall most certainly apply another coat of epoxy to fill the weave completely, but have read that some prefer to sand the hull after glassing + one coat of epoxy. i.e. before applying the final epoxy coat. This is supposed to give the best finish. Comments would be appreciated.
(b) When glassing I was lent a superb squeegy, made of a dense, but flexible rubber material. It worked like a charm (better than plastic) and was very effective when pulled over the more complex curves of the boat. One could put a good deal of pressure on the (glassed) surface whilst working, which cleared the surfaces of any surplus epoxy (you should see my workshop floor !).
When applying the first epoxy coating I used a plastic squeegy (had to return the rubber one to its owner). This also removed most of the epoxy and runs but I would rather not use it for the final coat.
John used a short nap roller when applying epoxy coating ~ in the "Zen" DVD. What would you do ?
Dave
3 replies:
RE: Hull sanding and coating
ditto on the white foam rollers and tipping out a foam brush. Only I got my foam rollers @ the dollar store, 3 for a buck! Work awesome. The dollar store brushes are crap, get the ones with the wooden handles.
RE: Hull sanding and coating
Jeremy and David
A late thankyou for your comments. I sanded the hull yesterday morning (don't want to do that again !) then hung it in slings on one side (to prevent runs) and rolled on a thin coat of epoxy onto the port side-panel, using a fairly dense, plastic roller
The result, from the roller wasn't wonderful, but it was at least even and thin. I then tipped out the finish with a brush. This-morning the finish looks fine, no runs, not perfect, but acceptable. I'm sure that the final polyeurethane paint finish will turn out well.
Footnote: Where I live we simply do not have access to a great selection of rollers, brushes etc. Everything is built for painting ~ houses !
Dave
RE: Hull sanding and coating
» Submitted by Jeremy - Fri, 4/30/10 » 6:05 PM
Hi Dave,
I had the same question as you regarding sanding the epoxy between coats and decided to go for it. I was really happy with the result. I sanded with 80, 100, and 150 grit. The next coat of epoxy looked fantastic and now that I'm on to varnishing, it's as smooth as car finish. It's a bit of extra work but it's worth it when you get to finish and paint.
As far as subsequent coats of epoxy, I didn't use a sqeegy after the first coat, it was all roller. I used a foam roller that I got at the local Ace hardware store. I don't know the brand but it doesn't go on a regular roller, it's white, the foam wraps over the end that isn't pierced by the roller (think microphone cover), and it's about 1.5" in diameter. I also tried the 3" yellow foam rollers, but the foam isn't as dense and the finish didn't go on as smooth. I'd go with the little white ones.
Hope that helps. Good luck.