Peeling a Hull

[austinsailor]

We have a '74 Cheoy Lee 40' Midshipman with bottom problems.

We don't have blisters, we have delamination. There was either poor workmanship, defective materials or most likely both involved when it was built 40 years ago, but now it's my problem.

I thought I was going to grind out some bad places but I'm finding that even the smallest defect leads to delamination and widespread water underneath. It appears that I need to remove about 3/8" to 1/2" most everywhere below the waterline to get through the crappy job on the outside. There appears to be good, solid glass once you get that off. A hand grinder just isn't going to get it.

I'm thinking of just buying a Gelplane. Not sure what the cost is yet, I know a couple grand, maybe more. But, a couple hand grinders, hundreds of $ in disks and wearing me out isn't looking too good. I do have an ongoing use in mind, too, so there is some other benefit.

Can anyone tell me what I'm getting into? I'll talk to the sales people monday, they are supposed to get back with me, but they'll make it sound like the best thing since sliced bread. What is the real story? Is it as much work as a grinder? Do you go through a lot of blades/belts/other items? Can I reasonably expect to remove 3/8" of glass on maybe 75% of the bottom and have the thing still be usable? I understand it's about .1" per pass, it's not like you can set it for 3/8" and just head on down the bottom.

Later I'll get into the epoxy/polyester/vinylester discussion. Much too early for that now.

Any thoughts?

Gene Gruender

[Vasco]

Why don't you hire a peeler to do it for you? At least he should be experienced. Not as easy as it looks.

[neilpride]

Send a pm to Minaret a pro member in this fórum regarding Fg and this kind of stuff, my 2 cents for the gel plane , grinding delaminated layers of glass mean lots of fairing later....

[austinsailor]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Why don't you hire a peeler to do it for you? At least he should be experienced. Not as easy as it looks.

That certainly sounds like a reasonable suggestion. If I could, I'd give it a high priority. I've only located one guy in the area who has a machine, he doesn't do it for a living and in a week I've not even been able to contact him. He's not very interested in the work.

[Phil Turner]

Peeled an old CL some time ago that admittedly had some old damage. Took 5 passes in some places at .100 inch each. Got down to a bulkhead in one place. Might be can of worms there. Phil Turner

[austinsailor]

I guess I should ask about the Gelstrip machine too. These seem to be the only games around, although I get the impression the Gelstrip isn't as popular. Their website certainly isn't top of the line.

[AnchorageGuy]

I also suggest finding a professional to do this work for you. I can't imagine there is no one on "The Texas Coast" that can't do the work for you. based on your questions, I would suggest you not try and tackle this as a DIY project. If you have the experience to tackle a major job like this, there would be no need to come here and ask. I say this with no disrespect. But I have been in the marine service business and involved in bottom repairs since the early 70's. Do this job wrong and not only will you have spent a lot of money and your time for nothing, but you will have a boat that is not worth much in the end. This isn't for the inexperienced. It's not a gelcoat repair or like patching a few blisters. Whatever path you choose, good luck.

[austinsailor]

No offence taken, Anchorageguy. I've said the same thing to people several times when they ask advice on a big project. So far, they've always taken it. I hope in the end I find a way to follow your advice.

I probably have more experience and knowldge my post indicates, but I darn sure don't want to. But it has to be done. At 68 my shoulders take a beating doing this sort of stuff.

My post really was more looking for advice on the tool, although if it turns up someone close enough, qualified and interested in doing it I'll be overjoyed.

I have been asking locally and have a few suggestions, probably the best is to find someone in the Clear Lake area and pay them enough to get them to drive down here and do it. That's about 200 miles, but there are probably a dozen people there who could do it. I've only turned up one guy here and he doesn't seem interested. I still looking, though.

I restore old 50's fiberglass boats and it would come on handy on those, but I'm not sure that would justify one by itself.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by austinsailor

We have a '74 Cheoy Lee 40' Midshipman with bottom problems.

We don't have blisters, we have delamination. There was either poor workmanship, defective materials or most likely both involved when it was built 40 years ago, but now it's my problem.

I thought I was going to grind out some bad places but I'm finding that even the smallest defect leads to delamination and widespread water underneath. It appears that I need to remove about 3/8" to 1/2" most everywhere below the waterline to get through the crappy job on the outside. There appears to be good, solid glass once you get that off. A hand grinder just isn't going to get it.

I'm thinking of just buying a Gelplane. Not sure what the cost is yet, I know a couple grand, maybe more. But, a couple hand grinders, hundreds of $ in disks and wearing me out isn't looking too good. I do have an ongoing use in mind, too, so there is some other benefit.

Can anyone tell me what I'm getting into? I'll talk to the sales people monday, they are supposed to get back with me, but they'll make it sound like the best thing since sliced bread. What is the real story? Is it as much work as a grinder? Do you go through a lot of blades/belts/other items? Can I reasonably expect to remove 3/8" of glass on maybe 75% of the bottom and have the thing still be usable? I understand it's about .1" per pass, it's not like you can set it for 3/8" and just head on down the bottom.

Later I'll get into the epoxy/polyester/vinylester discussion. Much too early for that now.

Any thoughts?

Gene Gruender

I've done a similar job before, and while I'll be happy to discuss it more with you later, for now let me just say a turbo shear would be a better (and cheaper) investment for this particular job.



Turbo Shear Carbide Face Planer

[lancelot9898]

I had the yard do a double peel on my boat several years ago and then did most of the remaining work myself after letting it sit in the yard for over a year. I would suggest first finding a surveyor who can do a laminate profile of the hull. I think I paid $200 to have one done and think it was well worth the money to know what layers of laminate had moisture and hardness problems.

[Stevens 47]

I owned a Gelplane, not a cheap tool cost was $2400. It will remove about 1/8" max in a pass. It uses Bosch power plane knives and you will use allot of them to peel the depth of material. It is not hard to use but you need to be systematic. Really hard on your back and very noisy, ear protection a must. It was a very effective tool. Sold it after I finished my project. The boat yard that I work at has a couple Porta Cable bottom planers they may less costly. I have used them a couple of times they are heavier but seem more robust than the Gelplane as they are really abused by lots of different guys.

[austinsailor]

This is all good info. Thanks. The turbo sheer looks like it could also work.

I have calls in to a number of places, to and someone who should be able to give me more leads. My first choice is to pay someone who's done this before. I will chase all the leads before doing it myself.

[austinsailor]

For whatever it's worth, current cost of a Gelplane is $2945. Plus about $500 for expendables for my job.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by austinsailor

For whatever it's worth, current cost of a Gelplane is $2945. Plus about $500 for expendables for my job.

Gelstrip units are cheaper and better than Gelplane. They have a smaller cutter head, which means burning up less belts and blades. Also lighter. Turbo shear is much cheaper and faster, but requires much more skill.

[austinsailor]

I'm trying to get more info on the Gelstrip machine. I'll have to say, they could use a little direction on marketing and website design.

If anyone can point me to someone selling them to talk to I would appreciate it.