hello, fellow cape dory owners,
In a recent post, one of you kind gentleman forwarded an address where we could purchase gelcoat. While at times, you may need a substantial quantity of gelcoat, many a time you really just need a dab to patch up a small ding or whatever. It seems like such a waste to purchase a quart or even a pint,considering the shelf life of the product, when such a small quantity is needed.My question is....is there a small gel coat patch kit available?
Thanks....Charlie P, CD36...N.Y.
jcp1347j@aol.com
gelcoat repair
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Dana
Probably not available in "matched color"
Charlie,
Probably not available (generally) in a matched color less than a quart. One can get standard whites, etc. from boat supply houses.
Someone on this site might be willing to give you a small tin of extra they might have....
darenius@aol.com
Probably not available (generally) in a matched color less than a quart. One can get standard whites, etc. from boat supply houses.
Someone on this site might be willing to give you a small tin of extra they might have....
darenius@aol.com
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JimL
Re: gelcoat repair
Yes, you can get small containers of white gelcoat from plastic/fiberglass suppliers. They also sell dyes for tinting, but get some advice at this point (talk to the paint department at a place like Home Depot....they have a feel for what tints make what colors). I did some gel coat repair and didn't bother to dye it. It's not bad, but my boat is probably one of the trashiest Cape Dorys on the water.....one of those deals where you want the repairs to show, taking attention away from the rest of the boat! By the way, when using gel coat outside the mold you'll need to cover it with wax paper, or spray it with PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) to keep the oxygen off. I've never tried adding Syrene Wax to gel coat, though I commonly use it in my resin for the last layer of a laminate lay-up. Can someone tell us if it works with gel coat?
JimL
leinfam@earthlink.net
JimL
leinfam@earthlink.net
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Hobbster
Re: gelcoat repair
Charlie:
You can add wax to gelcoat so that it will cure out. This is done all of the time. The best thing to do is to find someone in your area that will tint (the match will not be perfect and there are many reasons for this) and add the wax for you. Gelcoat will cure a different color then it is when it is wet. If the repair is a big chip or it is vertical, they can add some Cabasil (sp) to it to make a paste.
Good luck
Glen
glen@hobbymarine.com
You can add wax to gelcoat so that it will cure out. This is done all of the time. The best thing to do is to find someone in your area that will tint (the match will not be perfect and there are many reasons for this) and add the wax for you. Gelcoat will cure a different color then it is when it is wet. If the repair is a big chip or it is vertical, they can add some Cabasil (sp) to it to make a paste.
Good luck
Glen
glen@hobbymarine.com
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Doward Douwsma
Re: gelcoat repair
Charlie et al,
Evercoat and Seafit make small gel coat repair kits in White or Off-White (a sort of brown-yellow white). Both are available at West Marine stores for less than $10. If the repair requirement is small this may be your best bet.
Seafit also produces two larger gel coat repair kits. Both have small quantities of color agents which can be added to create a custom match with your boat. While it may look like you need to be an artiste, all you need to know you learned in Kindergarten: Red, orange, Yellow, green, Blue, purple. The caps indicate the primary colors and the lower case in between the mixture of the two caps. So Red plus Yellow gives orange. More red is more a red-orange, etc.
West also sells gel coat in pint containers and larger tubes of color agent.
When you finish, give it a light buffing and put some wax on. Then go sailing.
Dow
drdow@charter.net
Evercoat and Seafit make small gel coat repair kits in White or Off-White (a sort of brown-yellow white). Both are available at West Marine stores for less than $10. If the repair requirement is small this may be your best bet.
Seafit also produces two larger gel coat repair kits. Both have small quantities of color agents which can be added to create a custom match with your boat. While it may look like you need to be an artiste, all you need to know you learned in Kindergarten: Red, orange, Yellow, green, Blue, purple. The caps indicate the primary colors and the lower case in between the mixture of the two caps. So Red plus Yellow gives orange. More red is more a red-orange, etc.
West also sells gel coat in pint containers and larger tubes of color agent.
When you finish, give it a light buffing and put some wax on. Then go sailing.
Dow
Charlie Palumbo wrote: hello, fellow cape dory owners,
In a recent post, one of you kind gentleman forwarded an address where we could purchase gelcoat. While at times, you may need a substantial quantity of gelcoat, many a time you really just need a dab to patch up a small ding or whatever. It seems like such a waste to purchase a quart or even a pint,considering the shelf life of the product, when such a small quantity is needed.My question is....is there a small gel coat patch kit available?
Thanks....Charlie P, CD36...N.Y.
drdow@charter.net