HOW-TO GELCOAT-WAXED vs NO WAX-WHICH is BEST?

Tremendous video very helpful thank you to you both!

Well I appreciate your effort and advice.
My old Mariner 19 (1975) would be repaint with gelcoat again.
Instructions:
2 paint without wax
1 paint with wax. The last one with wax.
Thanks.🎉

On a past video you mention if viewers have any suggestions. I have one. These days to dilute gelcoat, we use styrene. In the past, your father used acetone. I know one professional who uses acetone since twenty years and very satisfied with his results. Could you demystified the subject?

Is it possible to understand more about the subject and how far we can go with the dilution of these products, some say less than 5 %, others, you can go further than 10 %, and more pourcentage. I already dilute, for my airbrush, too much acetone in my gelcoat with no issues...

I’m a superyacht / yacht coatings (& gel coat) expert, based out Fort Lauderdale. Love the video man! You were spot on with every detail. If you’re ever down south Florida, please reach out. Revay Coating Consultants, Inc

Dude! You’re the best. Reminds me of my Pops and getting right to it. Thanks for taking the time…

How do you know what the older repairs are if you are wanting to gelcist the boat?

Hey mate, I have a new Haines Hunter boat which is a wood/fiberglass boat and I want to affix marine plywood to the inside of the hull as a backing plate for outriggers. I am intending to add resin and matt strand to the wood and then create a chemical bond to the inside of the hull before bolting the outriggers through the hull. I think there is a flow coat spec sprayed on the inside of the hull. will the resin attach to the flowcoat?

Can you use a heat gun to take out even the small ripples left from tipping?

Thank you for your help with the outrigger bases!

I have another question please - I bought a new boat hull made of wood and fiberglass. As my marine mechanic (who is also a boat builder) was fitting the boat out with a new motor he noticed some straight hairline cracks around the fuel tank.

The boat has a 7 year warrantee and I flagged the issue with the manufacturer who responded saying they were only cosmetic cracks in the flocoat (not covered under warrantee). He said it was caused because the flocoat on top was ridged while the gelcoat underneath was flexible. He also mentioned the fuel tank was fully glassed-in.

My marine mechanic disagrees and said the glassed-in fuel tank should have give the boat more strength and rigidity. He suspects that some joins in the floor were not glassed in properly.

My main concern is water/moisture seeping through the deck and getting into the wooden stringers. Or any hidden structural issues.

Please let me know your opinion?

Thanks again,
Andrew

Great video. Can you tell me the minimum and maximum time window between the (waxfree) coats of gelcoat. I hear so many answers..

Do you have any videos on webbing?

Excellent video, thank you for the lesson. Quick question, I get that wax is needed for sanding on the last coat. But if it ends up in other coats (and will obviously be on the original coat for a repair) will it cause bonding issues or what problems would arise? Thanks

Fantastic video, thank you! I used two-part epoxy to patch some deep gouges in my fiberglass hull and learned from you video that may have been a mistake. I am planning to re-gel coat the entire hull to a high gloss finish. At this point, should I grind all the epoxy off and replace it with thickened gel coat or is there something I can do (like primer over the epoxy patches) so that the gel coat sticks well to those areas?

Thanks, Captain Joe. Extremely thorough and efficient presentation. A true pro who knows his stuff. Cheers from Toronto, Canada!

Hey, would you say it is possible to roughen up my old geld coat and then regelcoat over the old material? After i sand the surface of course, but would it be possible?

Thank you, that was the most concise and plain speaking demonstration I’ve seen on gelcoat.

Thank you, that was the most concise and plain speaking demonstration I’ve seen on gelcoat.

Could I use gel coat on my high top van?

Thanks for the three-year apprenticeship and 30 minutes

There are a lot of DIY folks out there buying 40 year old Hobie Cats and struggling with delamination repairs,hole filling, and gel coating. It would be great to have a series on those topics. Like what to use to repair the delamination, injecting epoxy, gel coating over the epoxy repairs, gel coat or marine paint for the hulls? And while I have you, maybe an episode on using a small 6 gal compressor (common in most garages) for spraying gel coat. Given the 10 min life of the pot, can the smaller compressor keep up with a HVLP setup?
Thanks for all your information.

I've been watching the channel and you gave information about a company that makes tinted gel coat to match the manufacturers color. What is the name of that company?

Is the gell coat sprayed in the mold waxed, or unwaxed?

helo dude, how many cc did u add the sanding aid for that 9 onses gelcoat?

I’ve been using a fine nap roller. I’m 5 coats in still can see through to my base fiberglass. I just went and got me a thicker roller. I’m over it. We should’ve collabed to get this circus right once and for all. Maybe next time 🤣

That was super helpful.

Wondering about adding a non-skid material like crushed walnut shells or those rubber bits. Got a vid for that?

Thanks caption joe, it's a great help.

Awesome brother, Cheers from Auckland..

Thank you! Great videos thanks for sharing

Hi Joe. Merry Christmas and Happy new year for you and your family. thanks again for your videos. Have 2 questions if you can clarify . One for gelcoat one for polyester resin: From minute 13.36 to 14.00 you said between coat of gelcoat, one should wait several hours between coats. is that right? Also I'm planning to add (3) layers of mat material to the floor of my boat that is already sanded, (2) of 1708 and (1) final of 3/4'' oz mat. I'm planning to use POLYESTHER RESIN WITHOUT WAX then finish it with (2) or (3) coats of GELCOAT WITHOUT WAX and one last coat of GELCOAT WITH WAX. QUESTION: HOW LONG SHOULD I WAIT BETWEEN THE MAT layers? THANKS IN ADVANCE.

What is the maximum time you can leave gel coat without wax before adding the next coat? I’ve got cold weather coming in and it’s looking like I have to wait 2-3 days.

Hi have now watched several of your videos, I am working on a fiberglass mold for the bottom of the rudder on an experimental plane. I have been using just epoxy resin as a finish coat but, keep getting a non-smooth finish. Would peel ply be the ticket to use to get it to a smooth finish? Or use a gel coat process to get it to a smooth finish? Thanks

Hi "Can I apply multiple layers of gel coat with wax, sanding between each layer, until I reach the last coat, or should only the final coat have wax? Thanks!"

So I’m trying to gelcoat with a roller and paintbrush on my gheenoe I don’t believe the manufacturer used resin for the outside body mold so would I be OK if I sand it down and apply??

Hi Joe, I'm busy with a below water hull repair job. I spoke to my local fibreglass dealer, and he advised me not to use "Flowcoat" on the outside of the hull but rather use gelcoat with wax. He said that "flowcoat" is used for interior jobs and non-hard wearing areas. Your comments?

Wow, I need a new Pirogue like that one ❤

Great videos !!! To get white gelcoat to be just off white , white colour pigment should be added , yellow ? Thank you

So I recently watched one of your videos about adding the clear additive to it at a rate of 50%. Do I add that for each coat or just the final? And I'm pretty sure you said wax wasn't needed if that is the mixture..... correct?

very useful video. but I have a question, I just tried to fix a damage in the gelcoat on my boat. The first time it went very well. then I got a fully thickened gelcoat with wax. it became hard and nice. next damage heg tried now with 2 layers of gelcoat without wax. also 2 layers of gelcoat with wax. it didn't cure properly and I could scrape everything off with a sharp blade 20 hours after I put it on. what could be wrong? with kind regards from Norway!!

Couldn't you just use wax in every coat so it sands well

Hi Joe, thanks for all the good info! I made a rookie mistake... Is the MEKP added to gelcoat by volume or weight? I did of course add, as per my manufacturers directions 1.5% - 2% of MEKP, but I used volume.... I did my complete hull, and although I added wax in the final coat, the wobble rollers leave marks on my newly coated hull 🤔. It is not tacky and one of my mixes even went hard while applying ( I did use a small paint tray for this mix).

Hi Joe I hope you're well? Do you know whether vinylester bonds with carbon fibre at all? Cheers.

Very informative video. Thanks.

What happens if you use a torch instead of tipping it? Does it knock down the texture to gloss like epoxy does?

Another informative video. Thanks. Why can't I use silica thickener, in gel coat with wax? It's a small cavity. Hoping to fill it once. It's not very deep. It's about a quarter of an inch by half inch by about an eighth of an inch deep. Resined glass behind it

Thanks for the all the info! for my project i have deep scratches on the bottom of my hull. so i can pre sand then fill it with the 3m filler and use wax gel coat over it?

Thank you somuch great information

Hey mate just came across ur CH and ur videos r exactly wat ive been looking for 👌🏻 any chance of sending a private msg to u somewhere as id like to send a foto and get some advice if possible please as im new to this and easier with fotos. Cheers 🍻

What does the wax actually do?