Steel Boats and Welding

[Matt sachs]

Hello All. This is my first post here.
I am a total newby to boating, but I took the plunge and bought a Bruce Roberts steel hull. Its just the hull, lead ballast and a prop and shaft. Its a 45 (14ft beam) footer with almost no rust. She has a few rusty welds inside but almost no pitting on the plates. No rust outside. Even the bilge its not to bad. I plan to grind out what rust there is and coat it with west system epoxy. Is this a reasonable thing to do?

Matt

[SabreKai]

Get a hold of Carboline and order some of their marine epoxys. I have Espina painted with it, same stuff they use on seafreight containers. Great stuff, she was done 5 years ago and no rust anywhere.

Then sandblast the hull areas and paint it with the carboline paints.


Sabre

[Brent Swain]

Is she primed, or just bare steel? What kind of primer? Was the mill scale blasted off?

[Yachts66]

Which model Roberts do you have? How much of the interior is accessible? Steel boats tend to rust from the inside out, so it's important to know what lies behind the joinery. There is some good information on this link, but it's long. You may also want to try the metalboatsociety.org. They have a forum devoted exclusively to metal boats.

Regards,

Thomas

[Boracay]

The best paint may depend on where in the boat it's to be applied.

I was a total ignoramus (maybe still am) when I started. The paint companies technical support led me down a few dead ends and I wasted a few hundred dollars on buying the wrong paint.

Before doing anything else I believe it is essential to make sure that all internal water drains freely to the bilge and that all possible sources of internal water are minimised. Good hatches/portholes, no deck leaks, insulation to minimise condensation, keeping the boat ventilated-That sort of thing.

So where possible drill the largest possible drain holes through frames and stringers. Do not drill through the hull! Do not weaken the frames or stringers. Small holes tend to block up so may be a waste of time. I have used generic epoxy resin to fill any small hollows that I could not get to drain after cleaning them out as much as possible and treating them with tannic or phosphoric acid.

The key factor in deciding on which paint and how many coats is whether the area will get wet, and if it might be salt water.

Inside the boat I have used single pack enamel paint advertised as suitable for painting light rust in areas like the underside of the deck. In other areas my system now is to prime one or more times with Penetrol CIP. This is advertised as a penetrating primer, but only seems to be available in Australia. I topcoat with International Primocon which seems to be OK so far.

[boden36]

Hi Matt, Grinding off rust is not a good idea as you will take too much metal with it. Also, the resultant surface is too shiny for the paint to key onto.
Take off any heavy rust with a needlegun or a wire brush on an angle grinder. Follow up with a handheld gritblaster (one that sucks from a bucket) and then prime.
Wear safety gear. It is all much easier than it sounds and steel is a great material if you avoid the temptation to take shortcuts.
Regards, Richard.

[Uncle Buck]

Go steel and don't look back. I've owned everything but aluminum. Chineless, rolled Core-ten, 40+ years old, super strong and very fast. Just keep the bilge clean and dry and stay on top of anything that surfaces - easy. Bottom line though Supermonkey - get a boat and go sailing - don't spend your life on the forums dreaming of perfection......

[SaltyMonkey]

Thanks evanOR. SaltyMonkey hasn't given up on perfection though. He needs something that won't clash in colour or style with his new SSB / HAM radio.

[Matt sachs]

Thanks for all the Ideas.
The boat is nothing but the steel hull and lead filled keel. It was buillt in 1989. It has been completly gutted, bead blasted and primed. The epoxy on the out side is very good in most places. But its been sitting on dry ground for several years. The hull was stacked full of lumber and trash (In New Hampshire). I cleaned it up, washed it out and put it next to my shop. (In Tennessee)
I have the origional drawings from Mr. Roberts. By email he has offered his help with the refit.

[Uncle Buck]

Not sure why my photo did not post early, but here she is.

[barnakiel]

I have seen boats blasted then epoxied then going rusty when sailing. Bet the right route is to blast, then zinc it, then prime with epoxy. I think the zinc, if applied properly, is the way to go - just look at our anchors - and no epoxy on them, huh?

b.

[millstb]

So SaltyMonkey .. what creek and what time frame were you in annapolis?

Miller

[SaltyMonkey]

millstb - i was almost directly across US Naval academy and Annapolis - between chart house and the bay Mid 90's

[toodleoo]

Originally Posted by Matt sachs

Thanks for all the Ideas.
The boat is nothing but the steel hull and lead filled keel. It was buillt in 1989. It has been completly gutted, bead blasted and primed. The epoxy on the out side is very good in most places. But its been sitting on dry ground for several years. The hull was stacked full of lumber and trash (In New Hampshire). I cleaned it up, washed it out and put it next to my shop. (In Tennessee)
I have the origional drawings from Mr. Roberts. By email he has offered his help with the refit.

Where in East Tennessee are you? I am located in Huntsville, AL.

[toodleoo]

I used Carbomastic 15 (Carboline paint co.) 10 years ago as a topside primer and interior finish and it is holding up very well.