74 22'2 fairing advice

[sonny]

i closed the transom in on my 22'2  so i have the joy of fairing out my transom and it is a fairly large area.  any advice on how to get this thing perfect.  i am filling maybe as much as 3/16th across the whole area about 5' x 2' with epoxy/cabosil/microballoons, just having a hard time getting it perfect.

[slippery73]

I just used a long screed board on mine, was much easier to get a large area done evenly than trying to use a small knife. Just mix up a large batch of compound try to spread evenly across transom and dont be shy with it. Then take a long straight edge and go over the whole thing in one swipe. Might need two people. From there you can use the straight line sander or sanding boards to get it as smooth as you would like. I hope your using paint to recoat as gelcoat isn't compatible with epoxy.

[sonny]

definately going with paint.  and the method you described is exactly how i was going to try it.  i have built it up some so that i dont have much further to go.  do you recommend the same method for all large flat surfaces?  i have to do rear gunnel cap and a wall coming down from that also lotta fairing!

[sonny]

slippery, did you use the epoxy cabosil and balloons mixture on your boat?

[LilRichard]

I have found that you need to hit the entire area with compound, not just the low spots... meaning exactly what slippery said: skim coat the entire transom, sand, repeat.

[sonny]

what is the must have sander for this application.  i have a 24" durablock what else?

[slippery73]

I faired mine with americas cup, polyester filler since I am regelcoating. Not sure how the epoxy is but I found that you can sand about an hour after initial fairing and it goes much easier than if you wait a few days. Once fully cured its tough stuff and takes 2-3 times as long to sand. I'd use a straight line sander if you have the air capacity to handle it. Got mine of ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ingersoll-Rand-315- ... 18Q2el1247

[sonny]

THAT SANDER LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD DO THE TRICK,  THANKS

[Anonymous]

When I have a large area to fair I'll use a 18' v notch spreader (like you would use for tile ) for the first coat of compound ,then sand with a long fairing board until flat. Then go back and fill in the grooves and repeat the sanding process. This should leave you with a fair surface.Just make sure you use the same type of fairing compound through out the process or the grooves will telegraph through paint.