so, I'm sanding. Got most of the nasty ridges out of the glass, peel ply helped, but it took a little bit to figure out, it should work better on top. Quick question, I am currently sanding to 40 grit, it seems fairly smooth, should I use a finer grit before I paint, or just leave it so the paint grabs on good and tight?
Robert,
I'm a strong proponent of following the procedures outlined in the article below:
http://duckworksmagazine.com/05/columns/...6/free.htm
I've been doing this almost word for word for a long time and it gives a good finish that tends to hold up well. I take it to 100 grit without cutting into the glass fiber itself before primer. I do recommend using a long board to fair things out.
Have fun!
40 grit will leave swirls in the paint when the paint flattens out.... take it down to at least 80 grit. In fact, Scott had a little boat he roughed up and it's name was 40 Grit. :lol:
Most good quality primer will fill in 100 grit sanding marks. The biggest issues I see with sanding marks are when the lower grit marks aren't completely removed with the finer grits, which leaves a patch work quilt effect of swirl marks, randomly arranged about the area. Aggressive sanding must be followed with smoothing operations to remove the swirl marks. CHANGE THE PAPER OFTEN. A wonderful job with 220 grit can be turned into a big setback, if a contaminate clogged part of the paper puts huge digs in an other wise smooth area.
I use a belt sander, buffer/grinder or DA with very rough grits (24, 36 and 40) for heavy removal work. then switch to the DA for removing these marks. In really bad spots I'll start with 50 and 60 grit, not so bad places 80. I'll knock these areas down until no more marks from the rough stuff is visible. At 80 grit you can jump to a building primmer and start long boarding your brains out, or what I do is move on to 100 grit and get started on smoothing things out with the DA (orbital sander), easy, because it will leave marks too. Then the finish sanding starts, which is process in of itself.
If I have the surface reasonable smooth, I lay on three or more coats of primer, then break out the boogie board (long board) in prep for paint. If the surface needs filling, then I put on a light coat of primer, let it dry, then a second, light coat of primer that is a different color. A quick going over with a long board at opposing 45 degree angles will reveal the low spots that need filling and they get marked. Then the process starts over after the lows are filled. With the lows filled, it's smoothing time and lots of high build primer and hours with the long board.
You can make a career out of sanding a surface baby's butt smooth, so at some point, usually when the elbows have been bitching for a few days, you'll need to call it good enough and move on to applying finish coats of paint. These finish coats can be worked smooth too and your elbows will hate you for being a perfectionist. I know guys that use 2,400 grit wet sanding paper. They're nuts, but they get the big bucks so I guess it's a living. I rarely use more then 360 grit, unless it's a show piece, most times being more then happy with 220. Painted wood can have a great finish with just 120 and some good painting techniques to control brush marks.
It's a boat, not a piano. :lol: To each their own said the old woman as she kissed the cow..................................... under the tail.
hock: