She's finally home!! Rickk's 230

[John Jones]

I relented and searched.  I thought it was posted by Capt. Jim.

The guy's name is Capt. Mike Linder and his number is 813-376.0610 he is a great guy and works hard. I hope this will help.

Thanks
Capt. Jim Lemke
813-917-4989
www.lighttackleadventures.com

http://www.classicaquasport.com/forum/v ... light=soda

[JimCt]

Rick, if you do line up a soda-blaster have him do a small area to test his set-up.  Blasting job quality can vary widely.  I had good luck with the blaster I found but there are some bad-news stories out there too.  If he has his shop nearby, you may want to haul the boat over to him... saves having your driveway covered with bottom paint dust.  

To answer your question, I found my blaster in the yellow pages.  I have to believe with all the boating activity down your way there should be several blasters around.  Check local boatyards, they should know the good ones.

[RickK]

I relented and searched.  I thought it was posted by Capt. Jim.

The guy's name is Capt. Mike Linder and his number is 813-376.0610 he is a great guy and works hard. I hope this will help.

Thanks
Capt. Jim Lemke
813-917-4989
www.lighttackleadventures.com

http://www.classicaquasport.com/forum/v ... light=soda

You're DA MAN 8)  - thanks.
One reason I'm thinking about getting it done is because I have no clue how to get the bottom clean that is between the fenders and the motor - no room to crawl under there with the tandem axles, so I'm spinning my wheels.
I'd forgotten about this thread - and where has Capt Jim been - not one peep out of him since the get-together  - just been a busy year I guess.  It's getting about time to start this years get-together planning - our goal....5 boats

[John Jones]

Another soda blaster

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=573803


 

[RickK]

JJ - those boats in the signature kinda look familiar, don't they  <!-- s:lol: --><!-- s:lol: -->
I spent 6+ hours scraping/p-washing yesterday and got everything I had applied peelaway to, off.  I found if you use a stiff putty knife and put just enough bow in it, you can catch an edge and the paint will "crumble" off - still a B%$&#. 


I did find this under the paint, port rear corner - maybe a thru-hull that has been removed?  The patch is loose in there and I will have to fix that.


I took my 2400psi p-washer to the boat after I scraped and JimCT you had a good idea.  That little p-washer was washing the paint off little by little - so maybe I can get someone with a 6000+ psi p-washer to blow this off instead of soda blasting.  I blew a little chunk of gelcoat off too.


Good before and after.  This is where I ran out of paper (and ambition).


As JJ pointed out in the previous post, I asked for help on the FS Forum and got a name of a local guy to blast this paint off.
JJ, I'll let you know costs and results so in case you want to splurge....

[JimCt]

Big difference between the green waterline and the blue one.

[RickK]

The paint leached into the gelcoat and my p-washer doesn't touch it, so I hope that soda blasting will take that last little bit of the paint off without hurting the gelcoat - pay no attention to the gouges I put in there from scraping

[pete]

Have you tried using a random orbit sander and some 220 grit?Maybe start with 220 and go finer,then buff out with compound,You could try it on a small area to test,just a suggestion,good luck with what ever you do.  

[John Jones]

What Pete said.  I have the same stain.  I used 120 in a small spot and it took the stain right off.  If you can get away with 220 then that is what I would use.

[RickK]

I haven't tried anything yet - trying to get the feeling back in my hand
Going to call the blaster guy this morning and find out what that will cost. If I tell him to go ahead and he ends up with the same stain, then it's on to plan B - what you guys are suggesting - or maybe see what he'd charge to finish it up.  The problem for me is working on it while it's on the trailer and I have no place to put the trailer if I put the boat on blocks.

[John Jones]

Be VERY carefull with a high pressure washer.  When I first got my boat I borrowed a friends 4000 psi washer.  The first place I hit with it took of the gelcoat right down to the raw glass.  I changed to a gentler tip and washed the boat.  It did nothing to the paint except for small places that were already turning loose.

[RickK]

I called the blaster guy today and he does sand blasting - had never heard of soda blasting.  He said he uses a very fine sand that is less abrasive and he blasts down to where the green is still there.  Says you have to use a DA to get the green out, but he did say that the hull would be dull - not shiny. (Assuming that the person that painted it had roughed it up prior to painting)
I mentioned the high pressure p-washer approach and that I was told that the paint was the ablative type and he said he had a 5000 lb one and he said he did whatever was the quickest (cheaper for me?) - he said that he could "wear" it down or just sand blast it off.  2 days work.
What do you think - looks like I'll have to sand anyway.  Maybe I'll try my random orbital with some 220 and 400 this weekend on the spots I've scraped off.

[JimCt]

Reason the surface will be dull after he blasts it is because the sharp sand he'll use will cut into the gelcoat.  Theory of soda is it's harder than paint but softer than gelcoat.  Even gentler blasting medium is ground walnut shells but if you can't find a soda-blaster you surely won't find a walnut shell blaster.  Far as I know, the paint color on the bottom can only be removed by removing gelcoat.  His estimate of two days seems excessive by about a day and a half.  Mine took an hour.

[John Jones]

He will have to take Rick's off the trailer and block it up but it still seems like a lot of time.

[RickK]

He said that he has an "A" frame setup that he puts the boat on and then goes at it.  I thought the amount of time he's projecting is a lot too but will have more details Monday when take it to him - if it's too much, I'll drive away.  Maybe he's just gonna take it slow because he knows I want to go back to bare gelcoat?
I thought you guys were saying that a light sanding would take the leach out of the gelcoat?  After sanding, will I still have a green tint to the gelcoat? A good random-orbital will make quick work of the bottom (at least compared to hand sanding), but if it'll never come out, that's a different story.