Knocking Down Orange Peel

[thedink9]

I refinished the inside gunnels last year on my 23 with gel coat, applied with a foam roller. It came our great with a slight orange peel finish. I guess I'm looking for more gelcoat duct to injest, as I am thinking of knocking down some of the orange peel high spots, so the boat will clean up easier. My question is what type of sander / paper should I be using and is there any special technique (sander speed, etc. ) I need to know about. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Rich

[ob1jeeper]

Knocking down the orange peel should NOT involve ingesting ANY dust. Simply get youself a bucket of water, some 400 (or finer) Wet-R-Dry sandpaper, and a 6" rubber sanding block, for the initial work, and some medium or fine grain rubbing/polishing compound for the next step, and of course some good quality wax for the final finish step.

Mount the paper on the sanding block, dip it into the bucket, then sand lightly, keeping it as wet as necessary to keep the paper from fouling, using alternating direction strokes in a "reasonable size" (12-18" square) pattern.

Every so often, stop, flush the surface off with clear water, dry it, and inspect the surface, to ensure you have removed sufficient highspots. If you're in doubt, go ahead with step 2 anyway, to see what the results are...

PS: Don't be alarmed when you dry it off, as it will loose it's shiny finish from the wet-sanding step. This is just to remove the highspots that show up as orange peel. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Once you've gotten the majority of hte highspots off, break out the compound, and using an absorbent cotton rag/towel, rub the just sanded spot in circular motion, until you have polished out the microscopic hazing/sanding marks left by the wetted sandpaper.

You should soon begin to see the surface begining to get a nice sheen/shine, with no residual orange peel.

If you're not satisfied that you have removed sufficient orange peel, repeat the steps, until you are satisfied with the results.

Once you have the hang of it, you can move on to finish the entire area, then perform a final waxing of the entire surface to help seal it, and make it easier to clean. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Good Luck [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Trayder]

If I used ob1jeeper's technique on the hull of my 20 I would still be sanding.

I think his technique is great for small areas but for the inside of your gunwales break out a Porter cable 6 inch DA 320 grit and a bottle of DYKEM or similar cutting dye.

Douse a rag with Dykem and rub it on your gunwale. start sanding at low speeds until you get the hang of it. Once you have sanded through the blue dykem you rubbed on the gunwale you are even with the lows in the peel.

keep the sander flat.

after the 320 do what ob1jeeper says.

[Ed]

Hey Dink-

Here is a post I made several years back in regards to wetsanding and buffing....


"Wet sand the entire hull with 600grit wet.dry sandpaper. Keep the surface very wet while sanding (a spray bottle works best), and squeegee the residue off the area you're working on. Be sure to keep the paper FLAT against the hull and be careful around corners/chines/strakes. If your boat is really old and you don't know how much gelcoat is on the hull....you can skip this or try and do it with 1000 grit paper. The problem with really old boats is you don't know how much gelcoat you have to work with and you DON'T want to burn through it.

AFter you're done with the 600...go back and repeat with either 800 or 1000.

Step 2-

If you don't already have a professional buffer....Go to westmarine or boat us, and buy a 3M wool buffing pad (about $20) that fits onto a standard electric drill. Then, either buy the 3M rubbing compound (red in color - comes in a tall skinny plastic bottle) metioned earlier or even better...use 3M's high gloss gelcoat polishing compound (white/gray in color - comes in a paint type can). Spread some of the compound onto the pad, and then turn the drill on very slow and spread the compound over a 3foot by 3foot area. This will prevent the compound from "slinging" all over the place. Now turn the buffer onto high speed and while pushing hard, work the area left to right and then top to bottom. BE SURE TO KEEP MOVING THE BUFFER SO THAT YOU DONT BURN THROUGH THE GELCOAT. As you work the compound in this fashion, it should start to dissapear.....when it does, DECREASE the pressure on the buffer and it will polish the surface. Wipe off the excess from the entire hull.

Step 3- Now take Starbrite TEFLON polish (or Collinite wax) and rub it HARD onto the hull in small circles with a standard applicator pad in a 3foot by 3foot area. Let the Teflon polish dry to a slight haze (don't wait too long) and wipe off with a soft & CLEAN terry cloth towel. This will remove the swirls caused by the buffer and will also make the hull shine very well. Add a second coat of TEFLON polish in a day or two. I prefer the TEFLON polish over the Collinite because in my experience....it goes on easier, and lasts longer.

Although your arms may feel like they're going to fall off....it will be well worth the effort. Just be sure to take your time and watch what you're doing. I just did this to a boat that looked like it had been left out in the Sahara desert for 10 years."

[ob1jeeper]

If I used ob1jeeper's technique on the hull of my 20 I would still be sanding.

I think his technique is great for small areas but for the inside of your gunwales break out a Porter cable 6 inch DA 320 grit and a bottle of DYKEM or similar cutting dye.

Douse a rag with Dykem and rub it on your gunwale. start sanding at low speeds until you get the hang of it. Once you have sanded through the blue dykem you rubbed on the gunwale you are even with the lows in the peel.

keep the sander flat.

after the 320 do what ob1jeeper says.

Trayder,
The only problem I have with recommending use of power sander to a neophyte, is the likelyhood that they will do more damage than good is pretty high... While it will take longer to do this by hand as you correctly noted that I had recommended), is the likelyhood of accidently creating gelcoat damage that will require re-gelcoating is GREATLY diminished, wehn this type of work is done by hand.

JMHO & $0.02... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[GradySailfish]

Like mentioned earlier, wetsand with 400 all the way to 1000 grit and then hit it with 3-M Super Duty Rubbing Comound.

I wish gelcoat wasen't such a PIA to clear out after applying.

[RS]

If I understand your question correctly - you just want to smooth out your non-skid a bit for easier cleanup. If that's the case, I'd use some 600 with a sanding block to tame the high spots. That'll knock down some of the high points in the finish.

If my assumption is wrong - well - never mind.

[thedink9]

Thank you to everyone that took the time to respond. I understand the pros and cons to each approach.. I am talking about a fairly large area; approx. 3' high by the inside circumference of the boat , probably 40'. That is a lot of hand sanding, so I think I will try both approaches, starting with trayder's first up under the gunnel, so if I cut through the new gelcoat it will not be noticable and I could always reapply when it gets warm. For the tighter places where power sanding will not work the block and wet sand approach will apply. Thanks again. Rich

[Bigshrimpin]

Rich - How many coats of gelcoat did you apply with the foam roller?

[Trayder]

Trayder,
The only problem I have with recommending use of power sander to a neophyte, is the likelyhood that they will do more damage than good is pretty high... While it will take longer to do this by hand as you correctly noted that I had recommended), is the likelyhood of accidently creating gelcoat damage that will require re-gelcoating is GREATLY diminished, wehn this type of work is done by hand.

JMHO & $0.02... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

TheDink is not however a "neophyte" even if he was, the use of a cutting dye as a guide eliminates much of the worry of sanding through.

Then again if you do sand through....its pretty easy to re-apply.