Tuesday kayaking in RI near Beaver tail I chipped some gel coat on my boat (romany 16). I've got gel coat that was sent to me a few months ago from NDK but I wondering if it still good. The container they used was plastic and the seal was tight but by the way it smells in the area I stored it I'm guessing not air tight. How can I tell if it's still good? I'm planing on mixing some up before hand but wondered if anyone had more insight. JFF *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 8/24/00 2:51:10 PM, fedo_at_hudsonet.com writes: << Tuesday kayaking in RI near Beaver tail I chipped some gel coat on my boat (romany 16). I've got gel coat that was sent to me a few months ago from NDK but I wondering if it still good. >> A gel-coat repair on a British boat?? I never heard of such a thing! Are you sure it isn't just a (British) scratch? Gel-coat on British boats is normally quite thick. I leave my dings and scratches there for the word to see as a tribute to fine British craftsmanship. I used to repair every scratch and chip that flew off my previous Kevlar boat. Now I just chuckle with every new gouge and scrape, knowing that a lesser boat would be sporting holes at those points. Jed ;-) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> A gel-coat repair on a British boat?? I never heard of such a thing! > Are you sure it isn't just a (British) scratch? Uh, yeah. Who needs gelcoat anyway! It's just a wimpy little layer of some panzy-fied coloring agent. I want my next boat to be built of four inch thick hand laid woven roving and epoxy. I want to be able to toss it off the cliffs at Dover and watch it bounce around on the rocks and not suffer a scratch! I want to be able to get up inside it and roll off the Niagara Falls and laugh at the world and not suffer a bruise! Light weight? Pshaw!!! Who needs it! Gelcoat schmelcoat! A beautiful boat is one that is scratched all to hell. Shows character. Aesthetics? What the hell is that? Who needs it? Long live the British Empire! May the sun never set on . . . um. . . . well, um. . . may the sun never set! So there! Mark (descended from an ancient clan of foolish Brits...) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joe Federici <fedo_at_hudsonet.com> wrote: >>>Tuesday kayaking in RI near Beaver tail I chipped some gel coat on my boat (romany 16). I've got gel coat that was sent to me a few months ago from NDK but I wondering if it still good. The container they used was plastic and the seal was tight but by the way it smells in the area I stored it I'm guessing not air tight. How can I tell if it's still good? I'm planing on mixing some up before hand but wondered if anyone had more insight. <<< Some of the styrene may have evaporated but if you can still stir in some catalyst the gelcoat should still harden. If it has dried out so much as to be lumpy when you stir it, it probably won't do a very good job. Often times for repairs it is handy to have it be a little thicker than normal, so a little dried out can be a good thing. The styrene in the gelcoat will soften some plastics (like the container it was shipped in). This might have contaminated the gelcoat a little bit. You can always do a test and catalyze a little of the gelcoat and see if it hardens. You could even put it in the chip, if it doesn't harden right its easy to clean it out and try again. Gelcoat usually takes about 2 to 3% catalyst for best cure. Over 4% inhibits the cure so don't use too much. If you add a little liquid wax to the gelcoat (known as "surface agent") it floats to the surface and prevents air from inhibiting the cure on the surface layer. Using surface agent (or waxed paper) makes the patch much easier to file and sand without clogging your tools with gummy resin on the surface of the patch that has been "air inhibited". Good luck. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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