Hull Peelers Vs. Sanding

[shamrock]

Due to gel coat failure, and to really make sure my hull is dry before I put on a barrier coat, I have begun to remove the gel coat. I am curently using a 6" random orbital vacuum sander with 60 gtit, and I just ordered some 40 grit discs.

The job is not easy but moving along nicely.

My question is, is there any significant disadvantage, other than efficiency, in not using a peeler? I imagine they are faster, but I don't have one.

I feel like I am getting a really fair surface with the sander.

Any thoughts would be appreciated on pros and cons of what I'm doing.

I removed what you can see in the picture in 3 hours on Saturday morning.

Thanks

[neilpride]

Orbital Sander to remove gelcoat??¿? Oh Nuts!!!! i never see anybody using a Orbital for such a job, but oh well....

Faster is a peel machine, clean , and expensive , other faster options is a Milwake Grinder with a good pad and 36 grit disc ...

If you have plenty time and dont bother to be in such a meesy job for a while keep going with the orbital , if not get a Slow rpm grinder.....

[Tar34]

Originally Posted by shamrock

Due to gel coat failure, and to really make sure my hull is dry before I put on a barrier coat, I have begun to remove the gel coat. I am curently using a 6" random orbital vacuum sander with 60 gtit, and I just ordered some 40 grit discs.

The job is not easy but moving along nicely.

My question is, is there any significant disadvantage, other than efficiency, in not using a peeler? I imagine they are faster, but I don't have one.

I feel like I am getting a really fair surface with the sander.

Any thoughts would be appreciated on pros and cons of what I'm doing.

I removed what you can see in the picture in 3 hours on Saturday morning.

Thanks

You are doing fine with the tool you have. Looks like it's coming along great.
can you attach a vacuum to your orbital? Make sure you are wearing a mask, not just the dust particle kind, but the double canister type. Don't use a grinder, it may be a little faster but the danger is you will remove too much material...
Just keep what you're doing, with a mask.....

[RedHerring]

+1 for a grinder. Even if you accidentally cut into the laminate, it's not all that hard to put more cloth on that spot and grind it again. You'd have to do something REALLY dumb to cut through anything structural with it.

[sailvayu]

I think it would be very hard to not get a bunch of divots with a side grinder. Although slow the orbital will do a better job keeping fair. The thing about a peeler is it will cut deeper if needed. If you do not have to cut into the skin coat (the first layer of 3/4 oz mat) then you should be ok with what you are doing.

[Cheechako]

Some people have the art of using a big disc grinder and some dont. If you dont, you can make a lot of divots fast, especially if you just put on a fresh disc. Even with a peeler someone is going to have to used the disc or orbital to smooth it out. Although slow, you are probably taking less glass off than a peeler form the jobs I've seen.

[RedHerring]

I've done it once on my boat (with a grinder) and I've seen it done on about a dozen others. There was nothing so uneven that a thin layer of epoxy filler couldn't take care of. So I'm certain that it's doable and less hassle than with a small orbital sander. Didn't imply that it's better than a peeling machine

[Cheechako]

My take is that if you have deep wetness and/or a lot of deep blisters the peeler is the way to go. If they are truly just mostly in the gel then maybe not. Most the pox I've had on various boats was well into the glass rather than just the gel coat. Actually make that ALL.
Rawson 30: up to 1/4" deep, some huge.
Passport 47: hull blistered inside and out.
Hans Christian 38: quite a few up to maybe 1/8" deep max. peeled.
In all cases they were finished with real epoxy resin, rolled on as the last step before bottom paint.

[Reefmagnet]

The PO of my boat removed the gelcoat below the waterline with a whopping great big grinder / sander (he gave me a copy of the pictures he took while doing it). I've since stripped the anti foul and reapplied another barrier coat. With the anti foul gone, there were numerous crescent shaped divots, none too deep. When painted over with flat anti foul paint, the divots basically disappeared and you need to look very closely at the surface to see them. I did fill and fair a few of the deeper ones along with about 4" at the waterline where the (new) gloss top side paint would have made any unevenness obvious. I used home made long boards for sanding fair, and they did a perfect job although it was hard work for a pen jockey like me.

[shamrock]

Thanks.

I am using a Bosch sander with a vacuum attachment. This is a pretty amazing tool. Virtually no dust but I do wear a full face 3M cartridge respirator.

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1250DEVS...rds=bosch+6%22

As the Amazon reviews say, it removes a ton of material pretty quickly.

There is a switch that makes the pad spin like a grinder, but I feel like I am damaging the surface and definitely creating divots. It's also a real handful to control when not in orbitat mode.

My blisters are all very small/ shallow and limited to just beneath the gelcoat.

I'm not really confident that I would be able to fair the surface if I did create divots with a grinder, using a long board after grinding seems like it would be much more work then what I am doing now.

I just got the 40 grit discs and will be back at it tomorrow morning before work!

[minaret]

Does nobody EVER use the search function? I've made so many posts on this subject, I give up...

[shamrock]

Originally Posted by minaret

Does nobody EVER use the search function? I've made so many posts on this subject, I give up...

I have read a lot of them including your refit thread (really impressive and helpful but completely out of my league!) but most of the discussion was on using a grinder vs. peeler not a random orbital sander.

I am having really good progess so far, keeping a fair surface with no dust. All I hear is this will be a dusty job which is not my experience at all with the vacuum hooked up.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by shamrock

I have read a lot of them including your refit thread (really impressive and helpful but completely out of my league!) but most of the discussion was on using a grinder vs. peeler not a random orbital sander.

I am having really good progess so far, keeping a fair surface with no dust. All I hear is this will be a dusty job which is not my experience at all with the vacuum hooked up.

Stick with the Orbital... like said above... you'd have to sand it fair after a peel anyway... and grinding means filling... sanding again..
Just give the hull a few good hose downs when you've done with FW too dilute and rinse away any smeared around 'Blister Juice'...

[SV Maclas]

I also vote for the orbital sander, especially if you have the time. Easier to control the depth of sanding as well as dust.

[minaret]

Suppose ill just mention the many threads in which I've mentioned using an 8" soft pad sander for this. Do you think the gelcoat is sprayed to exactly the same thickness everywhere in the mold? It's not, at all. Therefore if you just sand till the gel is gone you will be creating severe unfairness. This is what a peeler is designed to prevent.