vintage chromoly

iTrader: (3)

hello all. i'm just finishing up the glass work in my bilge/engine compartment and i'm wondering what the tools of choice are for the final sanding before i shoot in the waxed gel?

i know i need to use an 80 grit finish but my problem is getting in to all the narrow areas and at the stringer/hull fillets. a grinder with 80 grit discs work great for the flat areas. has anyone tried those "flapper" wheels?

i'd hate to have to hand sand all the nooks and crevices.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

Harbor freight has a small DA that has an angle head and uses a two inch hookit type disk that is pretty handy for that stuff. I have a snap on one that has better torque but the HF one will get ya there.

vintage chromoly

iTrader: (3)

thanks dave!

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

If you are trying to achieve a smooth finish do all your fairing with a heavy coat of waxed gel. Dont put to much effort into trying to smooth the fiberglass, its to hard to do it that way. Best off doing the bilge it two stages, heavy gel and sand that down then recoat with a gel/Duratec mix.

c_deezy

iTrader: (1)

Anything and everything you can. The little flap wheels come in handy on an angled die grinder, little angled grinding stones for getting into corners to knock down that little piece of glass that stuck up, the 'tootsie rolls' that are used for porting. More often than not a piece of sticky back sand paper either stuck to your hand or doubled over on itself will be the only thing that fits. The smaller body die grinders don't have quite the torque as the bigger ones, but you can get in smaller places with them. The little campbell ones seem to be ok.

There is a local place over here that has all the little grinding gizmos - T&S Tool - I'm sure there has to be something similar over there.

http://www.tstool.com/default.aspx?p...rpages/map.htm

vintage chromoly

iTrader: (3)

i'm just trying to knock down all the sharp edges and prep for gel. i don't mind if i can see some of the glass cloth under the final finish.

on the gel.....do i buy the same, white, gelcoat for the "waxed" gel and the gel/duratec and just add the "wax" to the base gelcoat for the "waxed" and the duratec to the base for the finish coat?

going to order this week from uscomposites.

thanks, rob.

sparky24

where are you guys buying roloc pads for your die grinders, home depot has em but only like 10 for 12 bucks = rip off

c_deezy

iTrader: (1)

Paint and body shop, buy them by the box. They are still expensive but you can get the better ones by 3M or Norton.

Or if you are patient, you can buy them online.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

yep, bodyshop supply place. Norton makes a great disk for the money.

vintage chromoly

iTrader: (3)

just picked up the small da from china freight and bought some 60 and 80 grit hook and loop discs online.

i'll be knee deep in glass dust very soon and then on to the gel.