Conference unifix::sailing

    The best filler for use in fairing a hull is Gougeon's new microlight
    filler. It makes a smoother mixture which helps make those streaks you
    mention go away. It also sands more easily.
    
    The tough part of the fairing job is mixing the epoxy to just the right
    consistency. It must be thick enough not to sag, yet not so thick that
    it behaves like real peanut butter (sticky), and will not come off your
    fairing trowel smoothly.
    
    For small fairing jobs, you're probably best off with a large drywall
    trowel, one with a 10" or 12" blade. For larger jobs, use a polished
    metal straight edge, for instance an aluminum yardstick with the edge
    filed clean and polished.
    
    For coating to build up over sanded out gel coat, use a foam roller
    (NOT a brush), and put on 3-4 thin coats. Gougeon sells good rollers
    for this - you want a thin foam roller which doesn't dissolve in epoxy.
    Beware of foam brushes; not only will you get a lot of sags because
    it's impossible to put the stuff on thin enough with a brush, but that
    foam dissolves in epoxy, which can get kind of exciting.
    
    Ross Faneuf
    

    Paul,
    
    	I will take a shot at some of these items.
    
>   *How much microballoon filler should be added for fairing. Adding
>    more filler makes the epoxy lighter - but how does it affect the
>    sanding effort (harder,easier).
    
    The more filler the easier the sanding up to a point if you get it too
    dry you will not be able to work it.  Also look into new the filler they
    are selling MICROLITE I think.  They are recommending this instead of
    microballons, in fact I am not sure that they are even selling
    microballons anymore.
    
    
    1) Try a good marine supply place they should be able to help or make
       one of your own.  One of the people I sail with made up one about 2'
       wide using some moderately flexible plastic in a wooden holder. 
       Worked great he was redoing a bunch of centerboards and it was wide
       enough to do one whole side in a single pass.
    
    2) You are looking to get it about to the thickness of peanut butter. 
       If you make it real thick you cannot spread it around, too thin and
       it sags and runs.  The trick is to spread it on real thin and do
       many coats.  Only mix up small batches depending upon the hardner
       and the conditions the working life is 10 to 20 minutes.  If you
       make more you are only going to waste it.  Small batches and thin
       coats are better the curing give off quite a bit of heat.  This can
       alter the working time and properties greatly.
    
    3) If you are looking to add a new moisture barrier only you can paint
       on very thin coats of epoxy.  You will have to put on several coats and
       build if up about a 3 to 5 mil barrier.  Pratical Sailor had an article
       based on the Coast Guard blitering study.  This study stated that
       better methods existed to prevent against blistering than using epoyx. 
       I do not remeber exactly what the prefered method was.  If I can
       find it I will try and bring it in.  
    
    
    I will not say that West is better or worse than other epoxy systems
    they all have advantages and disadvantages.  I have used West in the
    past, but I had a heated shop to work in.  Also I met the Gougeon
    Brothers when they were starting to first use epoxy and I was impressed
    with them.  They did not make wild claims about it and have carefully
    studied the material, and structures built using it.
    
    Forrest
    
    Ps.  The fairing operation is very labor intensive I did a 16 foot
         dinghy for a friend last year.  I spent about 60 hours spread over
         4 weeks on it.  It still was not a good as I would have liked but
         we ran out of time.  The boat was in pretty rough shape when we
         started out, and still needs about 20 more hours of work to be
         really good.

    Regarding fillers for West System epoxy: On Friday I stopped in
    at Cadcraft marine in Nashua. They had a west system display that
    I had never seen before, including the products, applicators and
    a lot of technical info. I bought one of their books ($2) and 
    picked up several data sheets. In the data sheets they describe
    several of their additives including microlite and microbaloons,
    describe the uses and characteristics for each. They also provided
    complete ordering info, for one to order directly from Gougeon
    bros. If you are in dire need of this info, I could probably copy
    what I have.
    
    They also had plastic applicators, although I don't remember what
    size.
    
    
    Bill
    

    The filler I have has a name something like "Low Density ... moderate
    strength ...  microballoon based". Will the new microlite filler
    have the name "Microlite" on the can? 
    
    -Paul

    You can get a sample epoxy/hardner/microlite kit from Gougeon Bros for
    $2.00. It's a neat little package which includes 2 pre-sized batches of
    epoxy/hardner, a vial of microlite filler (about the size of a roll of
    quarters, tongue depressor mixing stick, applicator brush, rubber
    gloves, alcohol swab, and mixing container.
    
    I used some the other day to re-fair a couple of flush mounted
    transducers, and fill a small gouge of the leading edge of the keel.
    Didn't use enough microlite as there was some sagging to the cured
    areas. Guess I like my peanut butter soupy. Anyway, I had some initial
    concern when I casually folded a scrap of 120 (I think) grit sandpaper
    and unsuccessfully tried to knock down the high spots. I had mistakenly
    thought that the job was too small to go to the trouble of hooking up
    100' of power cord for an orbital sander. Wrong.  30 seconds of
    sanding, using 150 grit non-clogging (white) paper was all it took. And
    the pressure required was so light that I hardly made a mark on the
    surrounding gelcoat. Neat stuff.

    Microlight is definitely light. I ordered the 'standard three pound
    bag' and it completely fills a box holding about 2 cubic feet. 
    It works very smoothly, and so far qualifies as the best filler I've
    used where strength is not required.
    
    Ross Faneuf
    

    
    I spent several hours this weekend helping a friend fair his keel
    and hull this past weekend.  What started as a minor ding repair
    on his keel turned into a full blown 100+ hour fairing job when
    he discovered some large weeping voids at the keel - keelson joint.
    
    He used Gougeon and 410 microlite filler.  This is, I think, a new
    and refined version of good ole microballoons which now comes in
    several densities.  We were putting this stuff on by the bucket
    and used a tiling trowel to apply it.  A somewhat lighter than peanut
    butter consistency seemed to work best.  He was using templates
    and had established the plane of the keel surface before I got there.
    This is quite an intricate procedure which accounts for many of
    the 100+ hours.
    
    Building out to the desired plane consisted of troweling on the
    filler without trying to be too fussy, then running a straigt edge
    over it to knock off the excess.  Any streaks or holes created by
    doing this were ignored until the filler had set up.  Use the fast
    acting catalyst and heat lamps to accelerate this.   Thick is better
    than thin for faster setting.  When dry, check again with the straight
    edge and mark highs and lows using two different colors of chalk.
    We had a five HP compressor with both straight and random orbital
    sanders so shaving the highs was pretty easy.  When we got close
    to the desired shape (irregularities visible only by shining light
    at the straight edge as it lay along the keel), we used a 16" long
    hand sander (available at auto body supply shops).  When filling
    the lows it didn't pay to try to get the inevitable streaks.  Just
    fill in too high and sand back down.  The filler sanded easily,
    at least with the compressor.  I'm told it takes a few days for
    it to acheive max hardness.
    
    The finish surface will be two coats of resin rolled on and wet
    sanded followed by multiple coats of epoxy paint sprayed on and 
    buffed out.  Of course, this is a complete waste of time if the
    boat isn't dry sailed or hauled weekly and wet sanded during the
    season.
    
    Have fun.
    
    - gene

    One remainder about rolling West system epoxy to get smooth finish.
    You can roll epoxy on using West's foam roller and then use tipping
    off technique to remove air bubbles from the epoxy. For this you
    can use unaltered epoxy with slow hardener. One more thing during
    tipping off, the foam brush does not leave marks when you lift it
    off, only when you put down, therefore be careful which direction
    you are smoothing the epoxy. I did put 6 coats of West System epoxy
    on my boats buttom last fall with excellent results.
    
    Igor.

I have used both WEST epoxy and System 3 epoxy. Both develop many 
bubbles when mixed vigorously. The bubbles in the System 3 epoxy rise 
to the surface and disappear readily when the epoxy is rolled on. No 
tipping off is needed. This is not true with the WEST epoxy. System 3 
epoxy is also somewhat less expensive. 

    
    Can someone explain the tipping off process in more detail?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Paul

    re .10
    
    Roll on the paint or resin with a fine nap roller.  Before the paint
    dries, stroke the tip of a brush over it to knock down the orange
    peel texture left by the roller.  If it's a self leveling paint
    (most are) the resulting fine brush marks should "flash out" to
    a uniform glossy finish.  In warm weather it's often necessary to
    add a bit more thinner to retard drying.  Otherwise, brush marks
    will be more visible in the finish.
    
    I've had this work well with topside paints and resin overcoats.
    Bottom paints, however, do not self level very well.  Tipping off
    just gives brush marks in lieu of orange peel.  In either case,
    many thin coats will give a much smoother final result than a few
    thick ones.
    
    - gene

    Anyone have an address for the keel template folks? They used to 
    be in the sailing rags, but I haven't seen them lately.
    
    thanks
    
    john