Trojan Boat Forum

Hey Gang, was looking into soda blasting the bottom but with fuel costs rising daily need to budget money elsewhere. What is the best type of sander to use to clean up bottom paint where it is chipped off ? Have done by hand,with pole type and with palm sander (alot of elbow work). Thinking about the round orbital sanders with stick on pads. What type of paper to get the most use out of, wet or dry ? Have been using ablative bottom paints so build up is not too heavy. Thanks

Dynabrade sander, u can get one online for less than 200$ rhino 80 grit by the roll is about 33$ prob 100 6" stick-it sheets

I have done mine by hand with 9"x4" pad (for drywall), with 60-80 grit. Used a good scraper first to get the loose stuff off first. If you go with power sander, just remember the gelcoat is not very thick, so make sure you don't get too aggressive and rip through it.

captainmaniac wrote:I have done mine by hand with 9"x4" pad (for drywall), with 60-80 grit. Used a good scraper first to get the loose stuff off first. If you go with power sander, just remember the gelcoat is not very thick, so make sure you don't get too aggressive and rip through it.

I agree, even yet if you go with a sander air or power. if your build up isnt bad you dont need to break through much at all any way. just feather edge your peeling areas sand down flat and repaint. I didnt think the gelcoat on my f25 was to thin but you can still cut through like he said,just dont dig and keep sader as flat as possible. hit your creases and edges with your hands

Why not power wash it off.... with the right nozzle you can just peel it away.. certainly good enough to add a fresh coat.

after pressure washing ours with a thin tip we had alot of clumps left. About 75% but I also counted 6 layers of bottom paint here. I took a couple pics and did a 15 minute test for you tonight. not much effort but it helped me get an idea of what to expect for myself as well. with a scraper and sander this is what I did in 15 minutes with a good mask on.

Wow ! Jeff thats good results for 15min. of work. I do not have access to a large air compressor to use that sander. I will be using electric sander that I assume is simular to the air driven (same pads).

ok let me look, i would assume your gonna need a straight driven sander like for wood working. I have an electric sander that is 8" but its very very aggresive. i use it to strip paint on metal panels and or buff cars. being careful or knowing what you are doing is a must!.... im trying to fix my paypal account now, google 6" electric orbit sander if you see this before I look

Don't forget to wear a very good mask or resperator. The stuff you are sanding off will do you in.

LandVF36 wrote:Don't forget to wear a very good mask or resperator. The stuff you are sanding off will do you in.

Listen very carefully to these suggestions!!! this summer is my 20th year of auto painting. fixing your own boat EHHH.... blah no biggie ur not gonna die. Me YES, wear a mask GUYS!!!! its rough and its real.... and this bottom paint smells worse than old school lead based so I will say wear a mask for sure. The new chemicals these companies use are not lead based, they effect different parts of your health like the nervous system. None of it is good.

Safety Glasses to ! The marine growth on the the bottom of a boat can mess your eyes up big time if it gets in them, been there spent a week with patches on my eyes when I was 20 something .....

Jeff wouldn't 60 grit work a little better on all that paint ? And if you guys have a HD near by. they sell a Rigid 6" R.O.S. for around $160.00 that's real nice...

Thanks for all the safety warnings but this is not my first rodeo !
As a young boy I would do bottom work with a shirt around my face as dust protection, would cough up Baltimore Copper red for days after. I do use full protection when doing this type of work. Yes I am looking at the 6" orbital sander (electric) to do this. Don't have a heavy paint build up so 80 grit will be fine. As for bottom paint smells I love it as much as the smell of WD40, ask my wife!!!!

some times 40-60 grit seems to be to slow for me. scraping then bugging down with 80 deff seems to be the quickest. no matter its still alot of work

Before wasting money on some of these sanders , you may find your marina may require a sander with a vacuum set up on it to recover the toxic pants . More and more marinas are going this way . I use 2 marinas for haul out , with one its a must but they have a loaner .