During a great warm weather spell during this El Nino year, I set out to fix fiberglass "read through" issues on the gel coat of my 2005 Seda Swift kayak hull. Watching some Youtube videos, including this
excellent one by Jeremy Vore, I planned my strategy and materials list.
References for this guide are shown below:
Mrs. Milly Biller of
IYC (Thanks Milly!)
Tap Plastics Product bulletin 13
https://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/pdf/Product_Bulletin_13-2012.pdf
Jeremy Vore's YouTube Channel
Materials. Conditions
* 65 -70F Day. Sunny with not too much wind
*
Gel Coat and
surface cure
*
(hazardous - use protective gear) MEKP
* Sheets of overhead projector film - which I believe to be made of PET material
-> This helps protect the material from dust ingress, while establishing a smooth surface.
-> See Tips below on taping this in place while considering gelcoat "run" due to gravity
* One set of very long cuffed Black latex gloves (from the Home Depot Paint Department)
* nitrile or latex disposable gloves. several sets
* blue masking tape
* a good quality dust mask
* small dixi waxed cups
* a few disposable brushes
* Acetone
* Many extra clean rags (I used yellow microfiber towels from CostCo)
* Ziplock bags to contain different sets of materials
* Sandpaper of grades ranging from 60/80/100/120/150/230/320/400/500/600/800/1200/1500
* Polishing compound
Directions.
*Wipe surface clean
* Mask Off with Blue Masking Tape
* Sand #60 or #80 Grit in linear motion (not circular) only
* Clean gouge with acetone
* Allow to dry out, then put color-matched Gel Coat on a piece of cardboard
* Leave in the sun for 15 mins (no Catalyst yet)
*
(hazardous - use protective gear) Catalyze using MEKP (Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide) Hardener
* Use a small, solvent resistant brush to apply to gouge
* Once built up proud of the surrounding surface, apply surface cure
* Allow 24 hours to cure at above 65 deg. F.
* remove tape. sand with sanding block only using #320 grit. focus on proud area
* fill in "pin holes" with raw gel coat and spray surface cure on it
* allow to cure for another 12 hours
* wet sand 400, 500, 600
Tips.
* Don't mix your sandpapers. Keep each in a separate plastic bag to avoid cross contamination of grit sizes
* Carefully position the overhead projector film by taping it to the boat and consider what gravity will do to the Gelcoat while it hardens. Use enough hardener to allow it to become tacky before leaving it to cure. In essence, you are "casting plastic" using the film as a mold that can be made to conform to the overall curvature of the hull.
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| Small Gelcoat spot repair. During cleaning and masking phase. |
