Bob, I had some glass work done on Busca (cockpit bulkhead instrument holes filled, sink and knotmeter thru-hulls filled) and the guy did a super job and matched the gelcoat perfectly. I've seen repair work that included duplicating sections of non-skid patterns that were even indiscernible with close inspection. That's skill. Unless doing enough of it to warrant the practice (and practice makes perfect), it's probably a whole lot less aggravating to just have a pro do it if you want it to *really look good*. If less than perfection is okay, then the tube of air-dry stuff isn't bad at all. ******* To de-core the centerboard pendant, you just slide the cover braid back to expose the core (start with a raw end, not a melted end), clip off the core the desired amount (enough to thread the cover braid into the board and tie a knot in it), then slide the cover braid back down and seal-melt the end of it to prevent fraying. Piece of cake. Tod M17 #408 BuscaBrisas -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Bob Olson Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 12:01 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Gel Coat Matching Bill, From what I've been able to glean from various websites regarding gelcoat, is that its primarily a production process material. In other words, it works best when sprayed into a mold as the first layer in the production process before the layers of fiberglass. I have a feeling that it would be difficult to replicate the original gelcoat look by applying it over a hull repair. And, I'm guessing that it would need to be covered in order to cure properly. Typically, a boat shop would spray a water soluable material over the gelcoat as a final step. After the gelcoat had cured, then the top layer would be washed off. That's why I'm leaning toward a linear polyurathane (sp?) product. More expensive than cocaine, but it sounds as though it's the right product for post production repairs. How the hell do you de-core part of a rope for a centerboard pendant? That's the thing that got me boggled right now. --Bob BILLAMICASR@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 4/17/2005 12:08:11 AM Pacific Standard Time, bobo4u@qwest.net writes: West System believes that you can put gelcoat over their epoxy. Bob, I was about to go buy another book when I had the right one all along (West
System Boat Repair & Maintenance). The book is inexpensive, around $3.00. On page 8 it refers to the steps needed to use gelcoat over epoxy. Looks like my little projects will be fine with the use of epoxy only. No need to use polyester resin for the small hole repairs I've got in mind. However, they do recommend a long epoxy cure time of two weeks prior to putting on the gelcoat finish. Bill "Tipperary" _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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