Wood Rudder - Glass repair help

Started by Gobi King, June 07, 2019, 03:43:35 PM

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Gobi King

Good Friday Morning,

I have a snipe, which is a small sail boat. I bought this used from a local guy, it has been sitting for a long time.
I washed the boat and greased the trailer.

I need to make some repairs on the wooden rudder.

[I have no experience in working with fiberglass, gel coat, resin etc]

I need some help with what needs to be done to refinish this wooden rudder and what materials and quantity I need.

I found one stainless bolt broken, I will swap that out for a new one.

Here is my plan:

1. Scape of all loose gel coat/paint off rudder
2. Sand with 40 grain Random Oribital sander (??)
3. Sand with 80 grain random orbital sander and feather the chiped paint/gel coat
4. Apply polyester resin to bare wood areas only??
5. Apply a coat of gel coat (white)


Talk to me about resin and hardener, walmart? lowes? how much would I need?
Gel Coat, same questions.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

thorhammer

Sand first and see exactly what the extent of the damage is; looks pretty shallow. If it were mine, I would sand it as you say, clean with alcohol. Then,depending on damage, fill holes with white Marinetex or West System two-part, with cabosil (silica filler, wear a mask), sand and paint with a good marine paint.  Gelcoat will be a labor of love, and weigh cost vs. reward. This is my 0.02 as someone that makes my own functional boat repairs, not a glas artist. If it were hull maybe I'd gelcoat. You can spend as much as you wish on something like that. I'd get it done for under $30.



best, John

oc1

#2
I agree with John 100%.  

Remove the hardware first because it will be rotted out around the screw holes.  Once the holes are filled with epoxy and cabosil thickener they can be re-drilled.  Microballons are another good choice of thickener.  

It will probably be easier to take it all down to bare wood with a coarse sander.  Don't worry about fine sanding.  The grooves and scratches will provide "tooth" and better adhesion of the epoxy.  Grind out any wood that is punky.  Fill with the thickened epoxy and fair it out with a straight edge. Epoxy adheres really well to dry raw wood and you probably don't need any fiberglass reinforcement.  

You need to lightly sand between coats of epoxy to remove the amine blush.  Polyester gel coat is nice when sprayed into a mold, but you will never get that kind of finish brushing it on.  After the top layer of sanded epoxy just apply a coat of acrylic house paint to protect it from UV.  

-steve

George6308

They make a product called "Get Rot". It is an epoxy that is made to penatrate rotten wood and stablizing it. Then fill in the holes with epoxy. Your rudder looks like it has a wooden core covered with fiberglass. After a through rough sanding and removing all the loose fiber glass, use epoxy rosin not polyester as it holds up better. Add fresh fiber glass where needed or remove all the glass and reglass the whole rudder.
Have fun!

Gobi King


Taking off the hardware and scraping off the loose stuff and I will do a quick inspection to confirm the extent of damage.

I am checking with local west marine for the items you guys mentioned.

I saw rust oleum top side paint and marine primer. The other sailor in the club has been a bit critical of the worn look of my boat unfortunately.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

thorhammer


Crow

   The world is full of "critics", Gobi....and most "critics" are full of....... ;)
There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

oc1

Quote from: Gobi King on June 10, 2019, 04:38:22 PM
I saw rust oleum top side paint and marine primer.
I have used that several times.  The paint is only as good as the prep work and I'm lousy at prep work so my long term results have not been the best.  But it's a comfort to know it was make with boats in mind. Some wood boat builder guru's say that good acrylic house paint has been researched, tested and refined for extreme exposure more than any specialty paint.  Formulating paint is so mysterious that it's difficult to know where to turn.
-steve

Gobi King

John/Crow,
Yeah, I would have given him a can of paint too, but he is the fleet leader  ;D

The most experienced of the bunch is said just wash it and the ropes and you all set.

Update:

The wood is in great condition, only a little bit of loose wood in the bolt holes, I am going to get some wood rot penetrator and coat the bare wood and holes.

Definitely has some glass around the edges, I can see the pattern and my arms are itchy now.


Paint - interesting how regular exterior acrylic paint will work.
I watched some youtube videos and interlux has a 1 part polyurethane paint

I am off to scrape the loose stuff off right now.
Shibs - aka The Gobi King
Fichigan

thorhammer

interlux is good stuff, so is Awlbrite Plus. Awlgrip is the top of the line and is a two part but I think you will be fine with interlux or Brite.