RickK's 170 rebuild

[Shine]

I think I understand now, this is just for the bottom.  I thought you were going to re-gelcoat the whole boat 

a few options I would consider before resorting to GC

 - A real two part topcoat is fine for at least a couple weeks, probably much longer, its also hard as nails. 

 - the VC performance from interlux, it builds higher than topcoat.  My buddy just finished spraying the bottom of his 25 seacraft with it and it turned out quite nice.

- ablative bottom paint over top the epoxy primer - simple

- epoxy/graphite, only down side is its black


With those options you don't have to worry about the potential bonding issues

[RickK]

I have Imron on the sides now so it might be nice to figure out something that will topcoat the bottom and the sides?

[RickK]

The long board stuff arrived

I bought 40, 80, and 180 grit paper - pricey but I think worth it.

One is rigid and one is flexible and they are both hook and loop 30" x 4 1/2" - requiring special paper - 3M Hookit


Here is the 40 grit attached - a big long board waiting to kick butt


I can tell you that this rigid board is quite the tool, the 40 Grit worked the filler down relatively easy - and that term is used loosely since it kicked my butt.  I wish I had a selfie of me in front of the big fan dripping sweat and that was after only a 10 minute exercise (actually only a few minutes - it's in the 80s here already  ).
So I worked a few minutes, took a break, went back at it, etc.  I did this for about 2 hours and made good progress.  This is the left side and the largest area - maybe 5ft x 3 ftwide.


The right side of the boat hook area is less area than the long board length so it is easy to survey what is happening, low and high, as you work the board. As you can see there is some filler needed.


The length of the tool is sweet in that it spans a lot of area which shows everything as you sand. It spans areas that you thought were low but actually the outer edges were too high.
I did all this on one piece of 40 grit paper.
I hope I can move my arms tomorrow. 

[CLM65]

Practice makes perfect, Rick.  If you want to practice on mine, feel free.  I'm really not looking forward to that.

[RickK]

I certainly wouldn't want to use this board to do the entire hull from the beginning, especially roughing out an area  - the air inline sander did a fine job on that stuff. If you get good at using a straight edge to screed off the fairing material then this board is not bad to sand down semi flat areas.
I set my level on the areas when I was done and both sides looked nice and flat everywhere. I still have a few areas to fill slightly but overall, nice and flat.

After I spray the primer on the hull the longboards will make short work of finishing everything I'm hoping.

[larsli68]

Nice work Rick!
I hope I can see your boat in person in Florida some day.
My mothers Aunt lives in Naples Florida. Maybe we can combine the trip.

Keep up the good work!

//Lars

[RickK]

"Some day" I may finish it   Would love to meet you and if we work it right maybe we can do a little fishing on her. Naples is about 80 miles south as the seagull flies.

[RickK]

Some boring progress.  Spent about an hour on the longboard on the right side of the hull today and then mixed up some filler and spread it on the lows I found




And started heavy on the transom - getting it mostly flat.




Next weekend is the campout, so I'll get a well deserved break.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Ooooo fun stuff!

[larsli68]

That would be cool Rick!
Fishing in Florida on your Aquasport would be super nice!

I sanded yesterday. Will buy more 180 grit paper today for the transom.
Thursday looks like we will finally get some warm weather. I can't wait!
Hopefully warm enough for two coats of top coat. Or one coat of gel coat and one top coat.

Your boat is coming along fine!

//Lars

[Shine]

looking good Rick.  That 3m paper is sure expensive, but it does last a very long time.  When Im done with it on the faring board, i will cut it up and use it on the corner sander.  If you cut a piece that is about 1/2" bigger all around than the footprint of the sander, it will allow you to push the sander into tight corners

[RickK]

Good idea Joel.

[RickK]

Joel, have you used white graphite? Benefits/downsides of graphite? What are your thought on this?
http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59416

[Shine]

Hey Rick,  I have not used it.  It seems like a lot of trouble ....

. Ended up with 6 coats on the bottom. Sanded down with 120 grit between each coat. My plan is to have the whole boat painted

I think using the VC epoxy bottom paint would be a lot easier and maybe cheaper (maybe not, dont know) 

Graphite (white or black) is not going to give a really nice finish without some work (sanding).  I used it on a couple boats and loved it, but then again I was not at all picky about how it looked 

I used a product called ceram-coat once, an epoxy with ceramic in it, and you could hardly scratch it with a nail.  Its primary use is for coating the insides of pipe for drilling slurry - talk about abrasion !  It is very similar to the VC epoxy bottom paint.

[RickK]

I have lost 25lbs, lost 3 inches from my waist and gained 2 inches in my arms using this fairing board set and I'm still on the first piece of sandpaper

Well, the only truth in the above statement is that I'm still on the first piece of 40 grit sandpaper    Man is this stuff tough. The first piece still looks brand new.

I long boarded the left side and only have some spot filling left.  I'm thinking about going back to my auto body roots and use some glazing putty to fill the small holes.


Then I attacked the transom grinding all the CSM semi flat and then mixed up some resin, Cabosil and chopped fibers and filled in where necessary.  Then I ground that flat and have to admit I am getting pretty good with a 7" grinder and a flap sandpaper wheel.  I can get everything very close to flat with the grinder   And I ran the long board over it for a while too. 
Then I needed to add a little fairing filler - hopefully I'll only need one more coat after this