Welcome to my brain. It’s messy. It’s interesting. And it’s all connected if you stick around long enough. "Believe Nothing: no matter who said it, even if I have said it, except it agree with your own reason and common sense. Siddhartha Guatamo, the Buddha.

jest lettin’ ya know

Despite the heat index in this area, I am still alive and kickin’. Lots of hours in, back home and workin’ on boats, and its

HOT!!! HUMID!!! and barely bearable for most peeps (like Da, hiding in his air conditioned house,,,, nor do I blame him, if I had the means, I’d probably do the same.)

Update on gelcoat repairs: seems my gelcoat may have some UV activators in it or something. The side exposed to more sunlight (not direct sunlight, she on a covered porch) is fully cured, the side towards the shade, still gumming up paper. Not tacky at all, but still ‘fluid’ enough to rebind under pressure. Gonna flip Lyssa around before the light fades and let that side get some sun tomorrow.

Slow and steady: Steady is smooth, smooth is fast,,,, As much as I dislike wet sanding, the finish is so worth it. I’ll get there yet. Assuming I don’t kill myself in this heat bubble we are under. (usual SEKY weather, still sucks though)

This entry was posted on July 26, 2023 by . It was filed under Uncategorized .

5 responses

  1. Spud's avatar
    Spud

    When it’s too hot the activator can boil off before doing its work.
    Then you just have a mess that may never cure.
    I hate polyester resin.
    Usually I use epoxy for a more assured reaction. Problem with epoxy however is that it bonds well over polyester, but not the reverse. So once you use it you’re stuck with it forever more

    Like

    July 27, 2023 at 6:09 am

    • diogenesoftherifle's avatar
      diogenesoftherifle

      I’m using ‘total boat’ gelcoat with wax, not polyesters. Did that once and it was a damned mess. I have the epoxy for doing actual glass work now, but haven’t opened the bottles yet. No need yet. Yet,,,,
      The ggel I did put on (rolled) cured on the side towards the sun, but was still sort of mushy on the opposite side. not tacky, but would scrape off with little effort and ball up, rebinding to itself. The side exposed to the sun is rock hard and sandable w/o gumming up the paper. Figure a day or two with the whole boat in the sun should put me back in working order.

      Like

      July 27, 2023 at 6:14 am

      • diogenesoftherifle's avatar
        diogenesoftherifle

        and I wrote the above, then it dawned on me, gelcoat IS a polyester,,,, Duh!!!! MEKP activator,,, Doofus Dio,,, no cookie for you!

        Liked by 1 person

        July 27, 2023 at 6:31 am

  2. Spud's avatar
    Spud

    Good fer you, as I was reading your response caught that error of info.
    Do keep in mind the poly over epoxy isn’t a good deal and may produce bad results on those repair areas if you want gel coat.
    Used to love West System products back in the day of boat repairs.

    Like

    July 28, 2023 at 6:33 am

    • diogenesoftherifle's avatar
      diogenesoftherifle

      I loke west systems as well, except the costs these days,,, total boat is very similar, as near as I can tell, and about half the cost of West. Priced out a qt of west at over $100. Total boat was 63

      Like

      July 28, 2023 at 11:32 am