wood finishing questions

[f41stryker]

Alright I'm getting ready to dive into finishing the wood sponsons on my JAE rigger and have a few questions. I've sanded them both with 150 grit sandpaper and now I'm ready to apply wood filler...only one thing, what kind of wood filler should I get? I assume after I fill all the cracks, let it dry, and then sand again...IF I'm happy I go ahead and seal with epoxy resin...sand, seal again.

Then from there I would use a primer of some sort? Like regular gray rattle can primer? Sand/wetsand that and then apply my paint? I'm not going for a fancy paintjob with it, I'm planning on probably just painting the sponsons some type of highly visible color and then leaving the hull woodgrain or something. Any tips on trying to make it look good would be appreciated.

 

[moparbarn]

if you're going to prime & paint, skip the filler, epoxy sealer & primer will take care of the rest. filler is just more weight. on the tub, use sanding sealer for wood. kinda like a clear primer for wood. seal with epoxy, then clear it.

 

[f41stryker]

I guess the epoxy sealer will kind of act as a wood filler of sorts?

 

[moparbarn]

yes it will. apply the sealing/finishing epoxy, wait about 10 or 15 minutes, scrape off as much as you can with an old credit card ( or something similar). after it cures, scrape again with a razor blade held 90 degrees to the surface. eliminates a bunch of sanding, fills low spots & keeps the edges sharp & square B) .

 

[f41stryker]

thanks for the heads up! Now any reccomedations for epoxy finishing resins or do I just breakdown and buy West Systems?

 

[hydro rob]

jgreer.com 300/21 system. Its what I use with great results.... I got a video on it, 4 part video...correction on set time for epoxy is about 2 hours, cure is about 12-24 depends on air temp, I had mine in the video with the heater blasting on it..... enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKd-3SHGqZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q81pCYnaS2o

 

[hydro rob]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntas_iehTr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-v1Qz-l67w

 

[hydro rob]

I use 15 min epoxy mixed with a bit of wood dust from sanding to fill gaps and holes. It works well and when you are going for the natural finish you can see right through it instead of seeing the filler. I sand wood with 220 to 800, seal it, wet sand with 1000 seal on more time, wet sand with 2000, primer and switch between coats with 1000-2000 wet sanding and it comes out awesome with paint.

 

[f41stryker]

Great videos and your boat looks excellent!!!

 

[SayMikey]

For sealing ive used West or Mas Blazer marine.com has Mas and it sands easier than West easy on the paper also as it comes off in a fine powder