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Thread: Spraying Gellcoat.

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    589
    I know this has been covered many times,But just havent found the exact answers.
    I want to spray gell on the inside of my boat on the floor.
    I am looking to spay either just one solid color or a base color with some diffrent color stripes.
    1.Can I body work the glass on the inside with a poly filler to fill in low spots,then spray gell over.If so does the body work need a primer before the gell?
    2.how much should the gell be thinned with acetone?
    3. how much catalyst should be used and is it the same catalyst as resin? is the amount ,the ratio ,the same as resin?
    4.should a surfacing agent be mixed in to the gell to cure to a non tacky finnish?
    5. should the gell be sanded before flowcoating?
    6. On my ply wood floor, thewood will be seen .if i sand the layer of cloth that is on top will the flowcoat cover and blend back in ,the woven pattern of the cloth that is seen when sanded?
    Thanks in advance for answers to my questions.....Hal

  2. #2
    YeLLowBoaT
    I know this has been covered many times,But just havent found the exact answers.
    I want to spray gell on the inside of my boat on the floor.
    I am looking to spay either just one solid color or a base color with some diffrent color stripes.
    1.Can I body work the glass on the inside with a poly filler to fill in low spots,then spray gell over.If so does the body work need a primer before the gell?
    2.how much should the gell be thinned with acetone?
    3. how much catalyst should be used and is it the same catalyst as resin? is the amount ,the ratio ,the same as resin?
    4.should a surfacing agent be mixed in to the gell to cure to a non tacky finnish?
    5. should the gell be sanded before flowcoating?
    6. On my ply wood floor, thewood will be seen .if i sand the layer of cloth that is on top will the flowcoat cover and blend back in ,the woven pattern of the cloth that is seen when sanded?
    Thanks in advance for answers to my questions.....Hal
    1 no... use glass or resin with micro ballons... just make sure no tualk( like bondo) it like a sponge
    2 MEK not actone, 10-15% depends on man
    3 MEKP, depends on man... nomrally like 3%
    4yes, ether a styreme monamer or simlar.( that or cover in mylar, PVA,let it sit or bake it at 140 for 24 hours)
    5yes
    6 maybe

  3. #3
    BrendellaJet
    I know this has been covered many times,But just havent found the exact answers.
    I want to spray gell on the inside of my boat on the floor.
    I am looking to spay either just one solid color or a base color with some diffrent color stripes.
    1.Can I body work the glass on the inside with a poly filler to fill in low spots,then spray gell over.If so does the body work need a primer before the gell?
    2.how much should the gell be thinned with acetone?
    3. how much catalyst should be used and is it the same catalyst as resin? is the amount ,the ratio ,the same as resin?
    4.should a surfacing agent be mixed in to the gell to cure to a non tacky finnish?
    5. should the gell be sanded before flowcoating?
    6. On my ply wood floor, thewood will be seen .if i sand the layer of cloth that is on top will the flowcoat cover and blend back in ,the woven pattern of the cloth that is seen when sanded?
    Thanks in advance for answers to my questions.....Hal
    Yellow has you set pretty straight. Researched this in detail and sprayed a couple times, so Ill offer my input on a couple items.
    You can spray over the poly based products. Gel is poly based so they are compatible. Have done this with & without primer. I couldn't tell the difference.
    Ive thinned up to 30% with no problems. Sher Fab told me I was safe at 35-40%...I thinned with acetone. Give plenty of time between coats to let the solvent evaporate. If you dont, you will have solvent pop in the gel.

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    589
    Should the surface agent be added only to the final coat?...Hal

  5. #5
    YeLLowBoaT
    Should the surface agent be added only to the final coat?...Hal
    Yes.
    btw the MEK is prefered over actone as its a "better solvent" for polyester and it evaprates at a much slower rate.

  6. #6
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    589
    Brendellajet I love the way Your bilge looks with the white gell.I want to do the whole inside of mine except for the center plywood floor and stringers will remain natural wood finnish.The only thing is that I need to sand the glass on the wood which has a top layer of cloth,I am concerned that you will see the cloth patern,like you see when clothlayers are sanded, thru the flowcoat .....Hal

  7. #7
    SmokinLowriderSS
    The gell I used was from Fibreglast, and to spray it, you added a special spraying thinner at a 1/1 ratio, which also improved it's ability to harden up between coats (but would still not fully), then, thinned above that if need be. I never needed to.
    Still had to seal the last coat for max hardness (styrene, pva, whatever.)

  8. #8
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    589
    Is the M.E.K. used for thinning gell coat the same regular Methyl Ethel Ketone ,that You can buy at Home depot or lowes?

  9. #9
    YeLLowBoaT
    yes and no, All manufactors have diffrent blends For MEK( besides hd is $$$$) Same with all other solvents, each company adds thier own "filler" to the mix.

  10. #10
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    589
    Hey Yellowboat,What MEK would You recomend for thinning?
    Can You make gell coat from lam resin by adding pigment and a suf agent to the last coat? I have about 5 gals of resin left and sure would be nice if I could use some for gell coat....hal

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