Awl grip

[irwinsailor]

If the weather is good tomorrow we are going to try painting the blue stripe on our boat with Awl grip. This will be the first time that we have used this paint. We intend to roll and tip. Has anyone done this?

[allnunstoport]

I just finished rolling and tipping a 52' with Interlux's Perfection 2-part poly. I learned a few things:

1) As always, surface prep is very important.

2) I found it difficult to find paint rollers that stood up to the paint for long. Buy a couple brands and test them. Or buy quite a few and discard them at the first sign they are blowing up. Very thin foam rollers worked best because I found you really really want to put the paint on thin. Plan on multiple very thin coats.

3) The person tipping should follow the person rolling closely with a soft tipped brush. The tipping should be very light and use deft vertical or horizontal strokes that goes all the way across the surface to be painted. Keeping a wet edge is also important because it was nearly impossible to start fresh without leaving a visible seam.

4) The two part poly paints seem to be susceptible to setting up too fast in direct sunlight (though they like temps above 70) and humidity changes noticably affected the fluidity during application. Try to pick a good weather window and time it so that you can work on each hull out of direct sunlight. Maybe one side of the hull before noon and another after.

[irwinsailor]

How did you like that perfection?

[Tnflakbait]

I use perfection. Its great. Check out the pics of my boat.

[allnunstoport]

I found the Perfection to be a very good paint system. Pricey, but I bet I don't have to do the job again for more than a decade. It is amazing how strong the finish is in terms of abrasion and chemical resistance. It looks good too. People come by the boat and ask if she is new.

I used about 30 quarts overall and had a lot of trouble marshalling enough paint. Their supply pipeline doesn't seem very robust. I had to get paint from several different suppliers in small quantities. Fisheries Supply in Seattle eventually came through with the lion's share.

[Heron]

I also used Perfection to paint my Westsail 32. It is important to use a cleaning solvent BEFORE any sanding. Any contaminants that are on the surface (oil, wax, etc) will get imbedded into the hull material if you don't use the recommended solvent first. Like all painting jobs, exact prep work provides the best outcome.

Tape off you boot stripe and use a narrow roller. You can buy the foam rollers and cut them to length. HERE'S THE BEST ADVICE, WHEN YOU PUT SOME PAINT ON YOUR ROLLER, SQUEESE OUT AS MUCH OF IT YOU CAN BEFORE ROLLING IT ON THE BOAT. You can't put this stuff on THIN enough. Just a bit of over application of the paint will cause RUNS that cannot be tipped out.

You will also need the special solvent for mixing with the paint. Interlux tells you all you need to know in their brochures. Lastly, as stated before, the tipper must use very light strokes with the brush at least 45 degree angle or more. You are not trying to apply the paint with the brush but only trying to take out the small bubbles that were left by the roller. The strokes are only in one direction, verticle or horizontal. If you put too much pressure with the brush, you will see ridge marks. It is a very, very soft contact method for the tipper. Once you have left an area and moved on, you cannot come back to touch up runs or errors. The second coat will take care of those problems.

I did my entire boat hull in less than two hours. The paint dries overnight and a light sanding with 280 grit paper followed by a light cleaning with the solvent and you are ready for the next coat.

Good Luck

HERON

[AnchorageGuy]

IS, Awlgriped Sea Trek from masthead to waterline and rolled every square inch. Everyone that sees her remarks how great she looks. Rolled it all and never tipped anything. Go to Home Depot and buy the small white foam rollers, not the fuzzy ones, that are rounded on the ends. Roll it with a thin layer until the little bubbles go away then move on. Most comment that the boat looks sprayed.

[Alan Wheeler]

I have to echo Chucks comment here. I too just rolled perfection and did not tip this time. The finish has come up very nice. Although I had issues with the foam rollers. They work well till the paint gets just a little tooo tacky and then suddenly you find a little piece of foam sitting on your lovely gloss.
The major issue with the two pot poly's is that they are designed to be sprayed. They do not lend to manual application very well. Although don't get me wrong. It can still be hand applied and it can still result in spectacular finishes.
However, I believe Awlcraft(I think it was them) have just released a new formulae specificaly designed for hand application. I am not sure if the finish is just clear only or if it involves the colour range as well, but someone from them should be able to put you straight on that.
Oh and if you are in high humidity, ensure the surface is kept free from dew over night. Even after the paint has become touch dry, if you get moisture on it over night, it will lose the gloss.

[irwinsailor]

Thanks for your help. In a couple of hours we will apply Aristo blue Awl grip with a foam roller. One thing for sure , it will not look worse than the beat up old finish.

[AnchorageGuy]

IS, Let us know how it turns out.

[Sandero]

Have you considered using one of the atomizing sprayers? More masking, but I recall that there are small set ups with a small gas bottle and you use a small glass bottle fitted for the paint. I can't remember anything more about this...

It is called Preval:

Preval Sprayers

I have never had any luck with getting perfect paint applications except with spray. Varnish seems to be better at self leveling.... but paint is a killer to get perfectly smooth.

[irwinsailor]

I used several of those sprayers to apply the two part primer for this awl grip job. They worked quite well but are much to small for this job.
We have n ot applied the Awl grip yet because it has been very windy, maybe today.

[irwinsailor]

The first coat is on! What a great paint! We only used a foam roller and rolled it very carefully. In many places it would not need a second coat because it looks so good so the second coat should be out of this world? I don't know what I was woried about!

[jackiepitts]

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to apply Perfection over a 1 part paint? I am not sure if the current paint is a 1 part but suspect it may be. Also, does anyone know how to tell if you have a 1 part or 2 part paint?
Thank you,
Jackie