HOW TO SAND and BUFF GELCOAT -sunfish sailboat restoration- [Part 3]

MUST WATCH TOPIC: I get asked many times a week what the proper way to sand freshly applied gelcoat without sanding through. If you think I've never sanded through you'd be WRONG. Over the years I have adapted a technique to make sure I never sand through my gelcoat again. In this video I'll show you that technique. When it comes to Buffing slow and steady wins the race. I really like the total buff from #totalboat, but there are many other great products, like 3M which I do use from time to time. The total buff is much better for sanding out scratches, and the 3M is a little better for removing oxidation. If your looking for a great boat wax the stuff from TB is probably the best on the market, and provides lasting protection. When it comes to repairing your boat this step is always the hardest. Sanding and buffing gelcoat is much harder than buffing out some spray painted; paint on your car and just remember folks you need to buff and wax your boat every year! Next time we finally spray that alexseal paint!
#totalboat total buff www.totalboat.com/product/tot...
#holdfast marine

[@basehorhonda]

Love this series. Thanks for sharing

[@HoldFastMarine]

You’re very welcome. Thanks for watching!!

[@carolyndice2425]

Wow! Turned out nice!

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thank you!

[@nhatlinhvo]

It is fantastic job! Thank you for your videos. It’s very helpful!

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thank you for watching!!!!

[@christianblankenship7683]

Well done! Looks great and I did learn from it.

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thanks!

[@Cheers_Warren]

Nicely done, you have good techniques. I’ve been fiberglass business a long time. Cheers Warren

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thank you.

[@nolinovio6748]

I like it. very informative

[@HoldFastMarine]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tomjefferson203]

Thanks for the video. I’m working on an ’85 Sunfish restore to improve fiberglass skills. What do you think of wax vs ceramic for the finish?

[@symbiot888]

Nice 👍

[@randiekosakowski346]

Awesome video, thanks!!! You could use your bigger sander and avoid the contour problem by using a foam sanding pad in between the sheet and the sander. They sell them pretty cheap for just about every size sander with holes for dust extraction and everything. New to boats but it works on cars and airplanes very well. Thanks again.

[@HoldFastMarine]

Sadly they don’t make one for the festool sander. Maybe something to talk to them about!

[@tonym944]

nice job!...

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thanks tony!!

[@azcharlie2009]

I don't know... It looks pretty darn good to me!!

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thanks!

[@annabenezue5624]

Great Videos!! I need you to come to Mississippi to tell me what to do with my boat! I have a Triton thats been sitting without cover. The Gel Coat looks bad; this is why I'm here watching you. I have so many questions. 😁😁 HELP

[@HoldFastMarine]

Your welcome to call or email us anytime!

[@jehines3]

Use a proper pad spur. If you pick up wood fibers or splinters, you will be chasing swirls and pig tails forever. That boat will get thrashed at camp. I like using guide coat, but $50 guide coat vs a $10-$15 spur. Invest in the spur.

[@jerrysalinas4740]

I have a question. What's a good rule of thumb for knowing when to re-gelcoat a hull? I have a 35 year old boat that looks like it has never been re gelcoated and it's nearly impossible to get down to glass to gel. Any tips would help. Thanks keep the knowledge flowing!!!

[@HoldFastMarine]

When you can’t buff it out anymore it’s time to either wet sand it or re gel it. You don’t need to sand down to fiberglass to re apply gelcoat. I have a 1978 boat that has its original gelcoat and it looks great. It’s really up to what money you want to spend and the time you want to invest.

[@elinjohannesson4059]

perfeckt

[@jjrotogeek]

Hey brother great series. When u have time, can u shoot me the link to the graphite powder u used for sanding! Appreciate ya!

[@HoldFastMarine]

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GTYHCGG?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[@marksrepairj623]

Me and my son are going to redo our gel coat on our jet boat. What if we use a metal flake in certain areas what do you apply over top of it that way you can cut and buff down over it and make it all nice and smooth?

[@HoldFastMarine]

You got me. I’ve never (nor would I) mess with the metal flake stuff. My best guess is to add a bunch of it so at least you won’t sand all through it.

[@enochthetrucker9735]

The buffer speeds are rpm's minus 00. So "5" would be 500 rpm and "30" would be 3,000 rpm.

[@jamessilverman4887]

Getting ready to order Gel Coat. How much to cover entire hull? Melges M 16 scow. How much time should I allow between coats? How many coats? Do I sand between coats?

[@HoldFastMarine]

So many questions that have many variables. First answer, I couldn’t tell you how much you need because it all depends on how many coats you want to do, and how your applying it and the thickness of application. Second answer, as many or as little as you want, third answer it all depends on the kind of gelcoat your using, laminating or with wax.

[@kodylauzon6003]

So I’m restoring my grandfathers old fibreglass canoe, and the old gelcoat is covered in pretty much nothing but spider cracks. I’ve used a dremel to clean out some of the the larger cracks, but there’s still a ton of smaller ones on it. I filled everything with bondo and it seems to be holding up well. My questions for you are. Should I clean out every single crack with the dremel and then fill it in by creating a fairing compound like you made with the total boat gel coat? And I have two quarts of the total boat containing wax, can I just keep layering it on until it’s thick enough to sand and polish, or do I have to buy gelcoat without wax and layer that first? Thanks

[@HoldFastMarine]

Well you screwed yourself by using bondo. Gelcoat won’t stick to bondo. So you’ll have to paint this canoe. You should have used a polyester fairing compound instead of the bondo, which is for cars not boats.

[@kodylauzon6003]

Well that sucks! I used “Bondo Glass”. It says it’s a reinforced fiberglass filler, does that make a difference?

[@HoldFastMarine]

@@kodylauzon6003 sorry homie, polyester to polyester only. Bondo is epoxy. And poly Doesn’t like to stick to epoxy.

[@kentblairl]

@@kodylauzon6003 You could call the TotalBoat Tech Team and ask if there is a bridge coat that you could use. Depending on how much Bondo you used, keep in mind it will absorb water over time (hygroscopic) and you may see some flaking. The good news is the canoe doesn't care about all of this, it just wants to splash and paddle. Good on ya for getting it back to its natural habitat.

[@andreasgrothues3300]

Would you ever consider wet-sanding something like this sunfish hull?

[@HoldFastMarine]

Absolutely.

[@stephenlinzel8846]

What compressor and gun configuration do you use for spraying gelcoat?

[@HoldFastMarine]

I have a very large dewalt compressor. Please watch Spraying Gelcoat on a Boat - How to spray gelcoat with a cheap spray gun- kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zpmne2iJjLJ3jqM

[@sburnham3]

sounded like you were going to do two coats of the gelcoat with wax earlier in the other video. Is it possible to put multiple coats of "with wax" gelcoat without removing wax layer? if so how soon or late can you apply second coat?

[@HoldFastMarine]

You cannot add more coats without sanding if your using gelcoat with wax. You need to allow the gelcoat to fully cure, sand then do the second coat.

[@leehannah7377]

@@HoldFastMarine can you add more coats with wax as long as you do it within a short period of time before it cures? Meaning 2-3 thin coats within an hour time frame..

[@HoldFastMarine]

Short answer is no. Once that wax comes to the surface which takes about 30 minutes you’ll have to wait until it’s cured. Now, you can mix your gelcoat with what I call a spicy mix. Adding a little more mekp than recommended and it’ll cure win a few hours and you can sand and re coat. BUT I DO NOT RECOMMEND this for an amateur.

[@leehannah7377]

@@HoldFastMarine thanks much for the feedback...

[@leehannah7377]

@@HoldFastMarine I'm doing a flowcoat over a bad paint job in the center of my hull that has strong blend lines on both sides of the paint repair...should one flowcoat be good enough if I sand to 320 and spray a couple passes? 1st pass would be a thin tack coat and second pass a little heavier?

[@toddwever4916]

If you use gelcoat without wax do you have a window of a second coat before you need to sand or is sanding a necessity between coats?

[@HoldFastMarine]

There is no sanding required at any length of time for wax less gelcoat. You do want it to set before you apply a second coat.

[@toddwever4916]

@@HoldFastMarine thank you! One last question. Do I need to apply the oxygen blocking agent( not sure of the name) between coats of non waxed?

[@HoldFastMarine]

@@toddwever4916 you do not.

[@user-kc3xz6hj2q]

I've gel-coated my kayak hull but per suggestion of local boat shop put down three layers of regular gel-coat, but not a wax layer. I did a small section of the hull with the graphite powder and attempted to sand with a 320 (with an orbital sander). Instead of sanding away, it seemed to gum up in a lot of places--I couldn't get it off! Thoughts on next steps? Can I just buff the hull, wax and be done with it? Should I sand the hull first without the graphite as guide?

[@HoldFastMarine]

The reason it’s clogging the sandpaper is because the gelcoat hasn’t cured. Gelcoat will not cure without adding wax or coating it with PVA. Sadly you’ll have to remove all the uncured gelcoat and re apply it using the proper gelcoat. Your local boat shop kinda screwed you.

[@user-kc3xz6hj2q]

@@HoldFastMarine Dang. What can I do short of removing the gelcoat? Can I put on another layer with wax or do the PVA? Taking off the gelcoat sounds pretty extreme!

[@HoldFastMarine]

You can try applying a coat with wax, however where you used the graphite powder the new gel may not stick to that area.

[@user-kc3xz6hj2q]

@@HoldFastMarine Thank you. I'll give it a try and report back.

[@HoldFastMarine]

Ok!

[@leebartley522]

With regard to your sanding you tried to miss a step bye jumping in with the 500..try just using 320 then painting over 320..it works on cars when using hs two pack...so could work with gell cote will try myself when i resore my boat..

[@HoldFastMarine]

Auto paint is much different than gelcoat. Once the final layer is put down you only want to sand and buff it. Generally we don’t sand between coats. Gelcoat needs to be sanded through the grits then buffed to a polish.

[@kylebrinks3301]

If you wanted to go down to a mirror finish what levels of grit would you use?

[@HoldFastMarine]

I would sand to 800 grit then use your cutting compound followed by wax. Keep in mind you must remove ALL prior sanding scratches from lower grits before moving up. Vacuum the surface between grits, one tiny piece of previous sandpaper and you’ll have to start all over!

[@CarsJukesyPins]

@@HoldFastMarine I think a key concept is sanding long enough with a finer grit to remove the previous scratch. Easy to say, in practice it takes experience to figure out when. Usually getting the light right on the surface and always changing direction when you sand. Left right for one grit then up and down for the next grit. When you dont see the left right then you are ready for the next grit. I personally am still learning, takes some time.

[@gynat5968]

I would suggest skipping the Chinesium HF buffer and invest in the Makita VS buffer (industry standard for a reason) . HF buffers tend to burn out in short order while the makitas run on for years. Cheers!

[@HoldFastMarine]

Thanks for your suggestion

[@Loompius]

Literal last thing I would upgrade in this process.

[@sander1016]

5:50 you're a crack, folk 👍

[@HoldFastMarine]

Not sure what your trying to say.

[@sander1016]

@@HoldFastMarine jajajaja, that means that you're a master doing that, a very skillful person

[@HoldFastMarine]

@@sander1016 ohhh thank you!!! I really appreciate it!

[@ghostboatsofsouthernmichig3773]

Lots of stupid terms coming out of the mouths of millenials, example "hack" in my day a hack was a butcher job, basically a p.o.s. Now they think it's a good thing.

[@DallasLopez1]

Missed the Polish step

[@HoldFastMarine]

Yep, and I say it in the video; why.

[@AVMAR]

Not a good way to remove wax because you are heating up the wax at such a high speed. Are you sponsor by total boat? Comparing totalboat to 3m compounds and waxes is like comparing a Seiko to a Rolex.

[@HoldFastMarine]

I am sponsored by TB. The TB cutting compound is far superior to any 3m.

[@AVMAR]

@@HoldFastMarine Total boat is just another relabeled product, there is a reason why most professionals use 3M. specially most high-end boat builders.

[@HoldFastMarine]

@@AVMAR Im not sure what you're looking for me to say. I like the totalboat line, I think it's better than the 3m stuff. Totalboat gives me free stuff.. I am a professional. This is what I do. Im not sure how many "high end" boat builders you talk to but I have monthly phone calls with the top 5 in the country....

[@jillytaylor5242]

Chip a golf ball

[@HoldFastMarine]

Chip your teeth off a curb.