East Coast B

What is the correct process for fixing a stress crack and minor chip in gel?

I've seen a repair done once where the "V" grind out the stress crack and then refill it with gel, sand and then spray it and sand/buff. Is this the correct process? Are there any options besides spraying?

How about a small chip on a flat surface.. just fill, sand, spray, sand/buff?

I'm comfortable I can do the job with the exception of spraying, no experience in that department....

I did find this.. http://www.valsparcomposites.com/com...troduction.jsp

Thanks in advance for comments!

Chris Sunkin

Read glassdave's "Boat painting 101" thread.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=101553

RL

I agree, that's probably the best place to get a handle on what you want to do. As far as the spraying part is concerned, if you don't have the spray equipment, or simply don't want to get your stuff dirty, for a small job like you've described, you can use a "PreVal" sprayer. They're self contained, small, only cost a few dollars each, and designed as a throwaway when you're done. When I was in the fiberglass repair business (not boats), I used them all the time for small repair jobs. Generally available at auto repair stores that cater to body shops and painters or go try prevalspraygun.com for info. Good luck.

Chris Sunkin

Those sprayers do work fairly well

You can also get an inexpensive single-action airbrush for $40. It'll run off of a 10-ounce can of compressed air or you can even get an old freon can or propane tank and fill it at a gas station. You get tremendous control for small jobs.

East Coast B

I have an air compressor, didn't realize an airbrush is that cheap.... the Preval's are pretty cool too..... Usually with me, it's getting over the stage fright when learning something new. I had a guy do some minor touch up for me and it looked pretty simple, except getting the color right!!!

He had mixed in some silica small ball looking stuff to the mixuture.... very light, blew around easily.... any idea what that was??

Thanks for the thread above..... 30+ pages... have a lot of reading to do......

RL

That sounds like "milled fibers" which is actually fiberglass strand in its raw form that has been ground to a dust like consistency. I used it to thicken gelcoat (or resin) when I wanted to use it in a paste-like format for fill work. If you're going to spray the gelcoat, just thin it with acetone or MEK to thin it to a sprayable consistency. Regarding the PreVals, the reason I liked them was because I could get a larger volume of spray than when I used my air brush (remember this all depends on the scope of work), and I didn't need to deal with cleaning the spray tip of the air brush. Bear in mind the gelcoat has a thicker viscosity than ordinary paint, and likes to clog the orifice if the needle in your air brush is on the small side. That being said, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the earlier suggestions. It just depends on personal preference.

Chris Sunkin

You can spend several hundred on an airbrush but unless you have serious artistic skills they're a waste.

In airbrushes, you have two basic types- single and double action. Single action is like an automotive spray gun. Pull the trigger. Unlike an automotive spray gun, you can vary the trigger (air) opening much more accuarately. The paint flow is a manual adjustment. A double action gives you both in one control. Down on the button gives you air, back gives you paint. You can vary infinitely between high airflow/low paint (dusting) to low airflow/high paint (runs). It's not terribly difficult but it does take some practice. Single-acting is a good choice for guys like me.