what causes the so-called halo on a gel coat repair? i made my first gel coat repair following instructions from a boat builder and while i got an incredible glassy finish, i also got a much wider halo around the repair. thanks.
Submitted by mikegordon on Sun, 12/28/2003 - 9:01am
a couple things could be going on oneis that the gel coat on your boat is has begane to fade and does ot matchthe new gel coat you have just done the repaire with. One other possible solution which is more likely is you began to sand through the old gel coat. this is very very common with people who have not done much wet sanding . I allways start onthe inside and work out. You should hit the flat spots of your repair first and then do the cruves. Finall hit the tap line last be very very carfulle not to sand thourght the old gel coat. you want to bring the repair down. This can be very tricky just take your time and be carfull. allso remember to spray larger then your repair. Aloha
#1 Sun, 12/28/2003 - 8:37pm
edit
thanks! that could have happened.
#2 Sun, 12/28/2003 - 10:09pm
Can you share the tips the boat builder provided? I have tried to use a gel coat repair kit following the provided instructions. However, I can not get the tint thick enough to cover up the underlying fiberglass. I have tried using a larger percentage of coloring (the instructions state not to use more than 5% color ratio), but to no avail. I am thinking of just patching the chip and then painting over the repair with a "normal" paint. I'd sure like to know what I'm doing wrong.
#3 Tue, 03/02/2004 - 6:17am
The gel coat should be thick enough to goop over the are you are trying to cover. The tint may be thinning your gelcoat. Try waiting until the gel coat gets a little thicker and then cover area. Either that or do a couple of coats
#4 Tue, 03/09/2004 - 5:52pm
Kai emailed me yesterday with some insight..
[quote="Kai Bartlett"]... If your repair is
not fine sanded enough on the edge of your spray job it will cause a halo.
It is easy to make the main body of your repair look cherry but the hard
part is making the edge blend in with the original finish. It all starts
with the spray job on your repair, You want spray to feather out really nice
so that when you pull the tape you don't see a line and then always use the
finer grits on the edges (600-1500). This helps with the sand throughs. The
harder your line is after pulling the tape the easier to sand through.
Kai
[/quote]
I agree, the 'feathering' is the key. Hawk if you were looking to use epoxy and paint be sure to read through the older posts on canoe repair as that is the method I have mentioned in the past.
#5 Thu, 03/18/2004 - 11:45am