what type of sander?

[Morgan Paul]

Hi defjef
I ran into this a few weeks ago, it might help.

Practical Sailor

[Rick]

Had to buy those cheap blue tarps to tent around the boat and underneath...don't recall how much they were yet they are not expensive and I view them as throwaway...unless you merely fold them up and save them for the next job. Problem is in my case I got 6 years out of my last bottom job and don't want to store the tarps that long.

Boat is a 39' Landfall C&C. Like someone else previously mentioned in this thread the sander really walks through the bottom paint. I don't know how thick it was....couple of millimeters I guess. It wasn't just that I wanted to sand the bottom just to get rid of the old paint it was because of several layers of paint it got to be no longer fair all over due to placement of pads on the supports in different places and painting over where they were after moving them, etc. Now the whole bottom is smooth and uniform and the boat goes faster/easier on fuel.

[Joli]

We like our PC half sheet and right angle da's and also like our Feins. And use long boards when needed. I would like an air file.

[Sandero]

I keep vacillating on which method to use. After reading the PS article the Franmar stripper sounds like a good approach and one doesn't have to invest 1000 buck for equipment. And it seems to go rather quickly and not be as much of a mess as sanding without a super vac. Plus you aren't sending the stuff. No harful chemcals or solvents and it seems to be cheapest and fastest.

Plus one can get a small quantity and give it a test drive. If it is not working you can go to another approach.

[dkall]

Remember, even with the chemical stripper, you will want to sand the hull prior to applying the barrier coat. This will clean it well of any old paint (yes even with chemical strippers there will be some left and give the hull good tooth for the barrier coat to adhear to)

You might get away with not having the vacuum to contain the chemical material, but you'll want a mask for to avoid inhaling the fine gelcoat dust.

[Sandero]

Roger that Dave, I am aware that one has to sand and do surface prep and take breathing precautions.

I am not sure I will do a barrier coat for the following reasons. Please comment.

A barrier coat presumably seals the hull. If the hull has captured moistured it needs quite a lot of time to dry out. So a barrier coat should be done after a long sit on the hard AFTER the bottom has been stripped so that trapped moisture can "escape". If I haul my boat, remove bottom paint and THEN add a barrier coat I will be defeating the purpose of the barrier coat IF I have moisture trapped. I assume I have a bit. But I have no blisters at least not the last time I looked and that is 21 years. I think the gelcoat is "working" fine.

Barrier coats are hard, and require a lot of sanding and that stuff is nasty so I would rather not, if I don't have to. But that, of course assumes that the hull and gelcoat are in good condition.

What say you?