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patchesII
01-06-2003, 10:11 PM
when filling guage holes can you put the gelcoat on top of the repair. how hard is it to match. got gauge holes, holes in the transom and in the splashwell area that i amfilling. trying not to paint the whole boat just to cover these holes. thanks

FCnLa
01-07-2003, 02:28 AM
What color is it? You can use patch-aid (only if a solid color) or duratec clear mixed with the gel.

What are you filling the holes with?

patchesII
01-07-2003, 07:14 AM
so far i've just backed the holes with glass. was going to fill them with resin and cloth, but i'm all ears. thanks, erik

Reese
01-07-2003, 01:16 PM
I’m no expert on gel coats, (only use paint), but I just finished filling 6 gauge holes in my boat. I also backed each hole with fiberglass but used short strand kitty hair to fill each hole and sand to a smooth finish.

Filling each hole with fiberglass is too time consuming and getting it to sand out nicely can be difficult…fiberglass bondo just makes the process go a lot faster.

vector mike
01-07-2003, 04:01 PM
I cut out pieces of plywood the same thickness as what is already there and put them in the holes and then filled in around them with polyester resin and fiberglass.

Bruster
01-07-2003, 05:01 PM
with all of the extra holes I have in the dash of my Taylor that I would fit the dash area with a piece of 12 GA. aluminium. I will use the existing holes that I need and simply fill the holes I don't need with plywood fillers and West System Epoxy. To finish the aluminium I was thinking of running the panel thru a linear sander so I have sanding scratches in 1 direction and black anodizing. Attachment will be with a dozen or so Stainless screws neatly placed around the edges. No jel coat, no mess, and it will look great. Sorry this won't help with your other holes.

Techno
01-07-2003, 07:34 PM
like bruces idea but more like the flame bezels. I forgot who made them but if you can make a bezel pattern that covers up the repaired areas you get the best of both.
Another possibility is to get some wood veneer and veneer the whole dash. Can use different woods too or different grain directions. It depends on how well wood looks in your boat. With veneer you can inlay a different wood so it spells your boat name or mimics a bezel surround, plenty of options.I forgot the name for this wood working but all you do is tape the 2nd veneer on the 1st and cut the design right through both with a razor. A slight angle is better to make a bevel. Take off the scrap and glue in the part.

Finally the last option is to gell not only the repair but the whole dash or a reasonable stripe kind of thing. If you can't match and blend go the other direction and add a difference so it's supposed to be there. Color match some other color of the boat.

Bruster
01-07-2003, 07:48 PM
I'm surprised at you. Take the wood vineer to a sign shop with a laser. They can cut the wood with machine like precision. Getting this whole thing attached cleanly to the dash could be fun. Laminate the vineer to a thicker piece1/8 or 3/16th inch of a contrasting color? Great idea if wood will look right in your boat.

Bruster
01-07-2003, 07:53 PM
Here is the swiss cheese dash. had 2 speedos, 1 was broken, just add another?

Techno
01-08-2003, 08:28 PM
The 2nd speedo was for if the 1st didn't read fast enough.

Don't think a laser would work. There are 2 or 3 kinds of work done like this. The one that does pictures so realistic that a pen looks like its on the table but can't be picked up would take a huge amount of cutting=$. They tape it down then later assemble it. Jig sawing is another method but done slightly differently.
Even better is a link.
I checked the laser link an d it doesn't say if it's used for this.
http://www.inlay.com/
http://www.inlay.com/bird.jpg

Bruster
01-08-2003, 09:18 PM
Look at this:

http://www.inlay.com/cnc/laser/index.html

FCnLa
01-09-2003, 11:23 AM
When I got my boat (out of the junk pile) some one had literally ripped the helm out of the dash. I backed the hole up with a 1/2"piece of plywood. The I took a hole saw and cut a hole the same diameter as the ripped out hole. Glassed in the piece and glassed over it. Redrilled and here I am!:cool:

patchesII
01-11-2003, 10:02 PM
this thread got a little off topic, but that is okay. any ideas relating to what iheard about gelcoat being mixed with the resin

Techno
01-11-2003, 10:45 PM
I think it was Raceman that told me that gell is resin with talc in it. Then I guess you just squirt some gel coloring in.
Stll think that if you "color match" the entire dash it will be unnoticeable. This is the way most repairs are done. A cars fender ding isn't spot colored but spread out over a much larger area. The entire fender or more.

FCnLa
01-12-2003, 02:56 AM
But you might should have titled the thread "Matching Gelcoat".;)

When I painted planes, you would not believe the paint nightmares I endured. I had to mix my own colors to match stripes, ect. I also mixed gel colors when I was building RC mono hulls.

Back to the match question. Take a dab of gel with a small brush and dob it on close to the dash to see how it matches. I have seen some colors change, ie get darker or lighter, but that was airplane paint. If it isn't close, you will have to tint it. You can use Patch-aid or Duratec clear mixed with gel. I don't think resin will work. I have shot flow-coat, which is a gel, resin, parifin wax mixture. But that was just sealing the inside.

Did you ever get that PM I sent you?

patchesII
01-12-2003, 01:53 PM
FC, you have mail