To Gel or Not to Gel - That Is the Question

[clockwork orange]

Regarding the barrier coating,it seems that a lot of folks seem to think that applying a bunch of coats of interprotect constitutes an effective barrier coat,it does not.At least not on a hull that has undergone extensive repairs,blister or otherwise.While it may be ok on a new hull before its first application of bottom paint or on a hull that has never had blisters, on a hull that has lots of exposed mat after gelcoat removal for repairs you need multiple coats of real 100% solids epoxy such as West ,Mas,SystemsThree etc.Yes it is more difficult to use but is necessary, in fact interlux have a caution in their boat painting guide against just using solvent based epoxy

primers over exposed laminate.They want you to use their Epiglass epoxy of course but most brands will work equally as well.
Steve.

[s/v Jedi]

I agree with that but I gave up arguing about it because many go for the better price thinking it's the same stuff regardless what you write to convince them otherwise. They would build boats with interprotect and alikes when it's as good as epoxy resin...

cheers,
Nick.

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

Regarding the barrier coating,it seems that a lot of folks seem to think that applying a bunch of coats of interprotect constitutes an effective barrier coat,it does not.

I said it earlier too. Interprotect has no place in this project. Once again, first coat after sanding should be MAS Low Visc, next four coats should be MAS F.L.A.G. resin, all "Hot" coated. That's + - two days of off and on work...NOTHING compared to the rest of the job. Let that all harden for at least two weeks, then wash with water and scuff well before first coat of bottom paint. I have NEVER seen any evidence that Interprotect is the slightest bit more effective than a good high solids epoxy...and it may be less.

[clockwork orange]

Christian, Mas is one of the few epoxies i have not used but your procedure looks good to me.The whole shingle effect they claim for interprotect is the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard of,i mean ,how do you get the shingles lined up in the right orientation and the reason why it applies easier than 100% solids is all the solvents which evaporate away leaving pinholes hence the multi coats. I have a Lindenberg 26 which im going to try something different,im going to peel the gelcoat and skin coat,do any repairs,coat with a low visc 100% solids epoxy,do any fairing,followed with a layer of Dynel with a high elongation epoxy such as systems three,wait until it cures enough to give it a quick scrape to remove the fuzz followed by one filler coat of the same resin unmodified but perhaps with pigment paste,let it cure,sand,prep and bottom paint.Im not going to bottom paint hot as i like a racing bottom,not a sidewalk like most of the bottom jobs i see. Why the dynel? well im not a fan of building up thick resin without reinforcement and dynel consumes more resin than a similar weight glass cloth which is exactly what i want,a thick,resin rich reinforced layer which is what we used to do on cold molded wood hulls with excellent results.Dynel is also excellent for impact and abrasion resistance.
Steve.

[Fishman_Tx]

Awright then, my danged ears are burning! This was from my last post detailing the answer, from post #108:

"We're down to raw glass but will apply 1-2 coats of epoxy without barrier additives before rough fairing and 5-7 with 422 afterwards. Following the West System schedule...for the most part. " (1 extra coat prior to fairing)

Interlux ain't in it. Are we kosher now or does this schedule need correcting?

[Fishman_Tx]

BTW, Nick, you mentioned plastic foil. Are we talking like Saran Wrap? Would wax paper do? (I have a large roll of that )

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

how do you get the shingles lined up in the right orientation

Even if you could, those tiny, tiney nail guns are so hard to hold... On a serious note, I'm really not sure the West Barrier additive is worth a damn either...MAS epoxy is 100% solids as it is...

[Fishman_Tx]

Before and after pics. We gotta re-tab the bulkhead with roving and finish the exterior.

[Stillraining]

Looks good ..however it doesn't appear you tapered out the area any larger then the original damaged area was.

Maybe I missed that post which stated how big that actually was.

Had a gouge in my boat caused by the trucking move or whatever when it arrived about 12" long...the patch was 3 feet round when they were done.

[Fishman_Tx]

Nope, still gotta finish the exterior(and interior). We stopped to drop the rudder off the skeg and strip hardware off the deck. We had a nice substrate layer to build up from once all was cleaned out, off, up, etc. We weren't going to do any glasswork with a front coming in. Figured to clean it up then go do something else and pick it back up next weekend or as soon as things settle enough.

[Solitude]

Looks good Fish!

Moving along and makin progress.

[Fishman_Tx]

Yeah, but damn I'm gettin too fat to fit in the hangin' locker to get to it all. May have to cut out the center part between the doors. I already have to get Doc (a little ole feller looks to be about 90! but still slings a grinder like he's 40) to get in the bloomin' lazarette to pull loose the quadrant and packing gland to drop the rudder!

[Solitude]

How is this going?

[Fishman_Tx]

Rain, rain, rain, rain.....(insert favorite Marching song here). Every weekend seems like. I guess we're catching up for the 6 years we did without any. Haven't been down in last 2 weekends. Hope to go this weekend rain or shine, got stuff to do still. Gonna have to get a big tarp and string over for some shelter if I can't catch a break.

[Fishman_Tx]

Well as luck would have it, the sun was out this weekend and we actually got some work done. We spent the days pulling all the railing stanchions, bow pulpit, stern rail, the remaining chainplates, "toe-jammer" blocks(jibsheets) and grabrails. Still have quite a bit to go as all deck hardware is coming off. Toe rails are next (no fun) and may have to be replaced completely, they're pretty shot and may go to pieces during removal. Quite a bit of rotted core to replace, but still I guess it could be worse. The exterior grabrails will need replacing but I can't find any prefab teak in our length (84-1/2"). May have to go one shorter to 73".