Glen-L.com

Well now that everything has had a chance to cure, I am not going to sand.
I did do some sanding and as I thought i was going to reget fiberglassing. and I do hard to sand, owell has to be done. I was sanding and then a friend of mine stopped buy and we got to talking. Told him that my plan was to sand bottom with 80 grit paper to get everything smooth. Then put on 2 more ccoate of epoxy, then finish sand with 100 grit. Then put on 2 coats of pettits copper antifouling paint.
He looked at the bottom and said I would stop sanding, finish sanding what was left with scott bright pads , wash off, and put on another coat, then sand with 100 grit and put on another coat. That should give me the desired finish I am looking for.
Has anyone ever used scott bright pads to scuff epoxy for putting on anyother coat.
Anyway here are a couple of pics of the start of my sanding.
Jeff

Here is the other picture

If you are looking to do a satin or flat finish on the bottom you will be fine with your results. Scotch bright is great for scuffing between coats of epoxy or paint. Use it all the time. If you are looking at putting on a glossy finish on the bottom (or anywhere else), you need to make sure that your sanding doesn't put shallow ruts or uneven spots. Use a long board and flat blocks to sand with. The gloss will show every little imperfection and the darker the color the worse it will look. I would not use anything rougher that 120 once the glass is wetted out, unless you are shaping something. Sand with the grain or use a random orbit sander for finished bright work. Lots of thin coats and sand between them for a really nice finish.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

cusoak

Did you put a couple of fill coats of epoxy on after the glass layer? If you did go ahead and sand smooth if you see glass stop and add more epoxy. As you get close, check your bottom paint for their sanding recomendations. There is no need to smoother.

If you didn't do fill coats, clean thoroughly with soap and water and your scotch pad to make sure you don't have amine. Add epoxy and sand some more.

You may want to call Dave Lott to help with the sanding

Bill

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Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Yes I did put on additional coats of epoxy. Including the wet coat there were 3 additional coats. I am sanding with 100 grit. to flatten the epoxy out. It is working well. I will then put on 2 more coats of epoxy. The west system that I am using is there 105 resin and 207 special hardner. this combination give a clear coating that has uv protection. It also elminates the amie blushing that occures with other epoxys.
I will not be using a gloss finish on the bottom, as I want the abilty to leave the boat in the water for an exteneded period of time.
Reberta what color scottch bright pads do you use to scuff the finish with.
And when I wash the bottom off do I just use the pads and water or is there and soap used. and this is done because of amie blush.
Jeff.

Bill. Who is Dave Lott. And how would I get aholde of him.
Jeff

I use the green scotch bright pads. Mild soap and water with a sponge or rag will remove the blush, if you have any. Follow with a clean rinse and maybe wipe with denatured alcohol. Try not to flood the surface and soak any unprotected wood. If you are going with a dull bottom it just needs to look smooth when sanded. A long board is a good tool to have when sanding sides and decks where you may want to have a bright glossy finish.

I like to apply ALL coatings in thin layers. They tend to sag when applied too thick creating more sanding nightmares. Thin coats tend to level out better and shed bubbles without the need to tip.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

If you're getting to a smooth finish with the original 4 coats, then you are wasting time and money putting on more coats of epoxy. The boat is sealed and glassed. All you are adding is weight.

Dave Lott is Col. Sander. He has sanded his Riviera so many times that...

Bill

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Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Thanks for your help.
Jeff.

Well sanded yesterday for about 2.5 hours. Using 80 grit and green scotch bright pads. Did not like the result.
Today I sanded with 100grit and it sanded much nicer. Still took about 4hrs and then finishing with pads on spots that need further sanding.
Just finished putting on a fresh coat of epoxy. It looks great.
I am amazed that none of the scratches show when it is wet. Hope they don't show when dry.
Will put another coat on tomorrow and then the epoxy on the bottom is done.
Will let set till curing is done taking place.
Then on to bottom painting.
I may have asked this before, but did any of you use antifouling bottom paint. If so what was your prep work on the epoxy.
Will post a picture.
Jeff

First of 2 finish coats of epoxy
Jeff

Sounds like you will have one more round of sanding, as most anything you put on as a 'paint' on the bottom will most likely need some surface preparatation for bonding, ie more sanding. Personally I found 'roughing up' the cured epoxy surface with 60 or 80 grit on a random orbital sander to 'break the sheen', leaving the glossy bottom of the 'dimples', then using a fairing board to smooth and fair the surface.

The surface prep of the cured epoxy will depend on what you put on for a bottom coat. I used VC Perfrormance Epoxt and it called for sanding the cured epoxy with 80 grit, other products I'm sure will have different requirements. The VC is rated for up to 60 days of immersion and is a true 'bottom paint', some have chosen to use topside paints as they don't leave the boat in the water for any length of time, depends on how you expect to use the boat.

I too do not like sandiing, but get used to it, you still have the topside to do. Congratulations on your progress to date.

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This is my first, last and only boat build.

http://www.gdzipbuild.blogspot.com

Hey Jeff. The scotch bright pads are more for finish sanding just to scuff the paint up a bit to remove the gloss so the next coat can bite into it and get a mechanical bond. They are not meant for heavy removal of material. I use them to remove small nibs and gloss between coats. Use 80 and below to remove material. 100-150 to smooth the surface from the 80 and below. 220-320 for paint prep. 400-500 to remove orange peel from paint. 600-2000 if you are wetsanding and buffing.

If you recoat your epoxy within 24 hrs you don't need to clean blush or sand unless you want to get rid of some lumps. You will get a chemical bond if recoating right away. If you wait more than two days, you should clean and sand the surface to about 120 for epoxy and 220 for paint. The later will be a mechanical bond. Good, but the chemical is better.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

Well I put the final coat of epoxy on this morning. Now will let it cure.
I found out something about Pettit bottom paint. They sell a product called Vivid. It comes in several colors. The nice thing about this product is, that you can intermix the colors to make others. Also found out that I will be able to mix green with black and make it darker. Like a hunter or forest green. Which by the way is just what I am looking for in a anti fouling paint.
So I ordered 1qt green 1qt black and we will see what happens.
I will keep you all informed.
I figured that it will take 2qt to do the bottom with 2coats.
Does that sound about right.
Jeff

I'm in the same sanding nightmare as you. I applied five coats of epoxy on top of the original three to wet out and fill the fibreglass. No matter what I did, the epoxy always retained an orange peel texture, so I thought that I had to sand down a few layers of epoxy to get a perfect smooth surface, since I'm after that yacht finish in the final product.

After much research and talks with various paint reps, I finally got it that I was going about it all wrong. The industry opinions that I got advised me not to worry too much about a perfect epoxy surface if I'm not varnishing. Instead, apply a high build two part epoxy friendly primer and then sand that smooth. It's designed to be sanded and so its much easier to work with compared to sanding epoxy, which is a back breaker when it comes to sanding. Leave the nice thick strong epoxy surface on the boat they told me and finish with the primer and paint combination. In my case I've chosen Epiphanes, but there are many others that a great.

Regarding your pettit anti-fouling, I'm using the "Horizons", but "Hydrocoat" would work fine if you won't be trailering that much. I use the Pettit ablative anti-fouling on my plastic boat, applying a refresher coat every two years and I'm very happy with it. I'll be applying the same stuff to my tug boat build. The Pettit rep advised me to rough up the epoxy surface with 80 grit, to give the paint a surface that's ideal for gripping and apply the paint in 50 degrees or higher temps. One quart covers 150 Ft2, so I can't imagine you needing more than a single quart. A gallon will cover the bottom on my plastic boat, with some to spare, but it's a 39 foot boat.

Hope my few cents will help and thanks for the post. It's somehow useful to find that other people are struggling with the same problems that I have had.

Cheers,

Richard