Howdy Fellow Catpeople,

Anyone know where there's a good easy set of directions for these?

David Ho

TheMightyHobie18 1067

Been working with gelcoat recently. What is your anticipated project?

Of course, the key to success in any project with fiberglass/ gelcoat is (1) surface prep, (2) practice, and (3) elbow grease.



For small stuff (patches, ding repair, etc), gelcoat is easy to apply if you spray it on with those Preval handy sprayers (about $7.00) and a little acetone to dilute it. Prep surface by washing and exposing fiberglass. I sand a bit with 150 grit. Clean with Acetone or MEK and let dry. Tape off area to be gelcoated. Mix gelcoat, hardner, and applicable color matching agents. Dilute a bit with Acetone (about 10%). Spray on. Spray or brush on a bit more than the orignal surface level. Cover with monofilm, or spray on PVA mold release (which works especially well over curves, bends or other places the monofilm won't lay on flat). Let dry/harden. When hard, rinse mold release and sand/fair out even with original gelcoat. Use 600 / 1000/ rubbing compound to get it to look good.



These are general ideas. West Marine has a more detailed fact sheet on working with gelcoat on their website.

I have been using both for 20 years and not to be rude but if you are a dummy then get a proffessional to do it. It is stickie and sets hard gets on the rug and the wife beats you. it will stick to anything except your boat.



No seriously I agree with waterbug, take your time think, plan, prep the surface like he said and plan on sanding more than you want too on the first several tries. also if your patch is large get a fiberglass roller. Ask your local boat repair how they do it.