Now that your flake coat is in and set up, it is time to do the finish coat. For this step you will need an ultra-clear finish resin - surfboard resin will work great.
Step 3:
Start by taping off around the area to create a finish border. At this stage the resin will do one of two things depending on where the chip is located. More often than not it will be on the side or bottom of your boat, you may need so several coats with set time in between to achieve the right thickness without ending up with a drippy mess. Be sure to let a this set over night.
Depending on the overall shape of your boat you can choose to stop here, or keep going to achieve a perfect finish. . . since the boat I dinged is my new 2008 Champion I will continue.
Step 4 - Wet sanding:
At least 2 different grits of sand paper are needed here. I would recommend going a step further and using 3. Start with 600 grit black Emery cloth, moving to 1200 or 1500, and then finally 2000 or higher. The higher # the paper you use for the final steps the less work the polishing will be.
Small sanding block: What is a block? Most of you have seen the rubber sandpaper block at the hard ware store. This is what I am referring to, but it is also a term for leveling a surface in the automotive trade. Blocking is what is done when sanding paint or Bondo during body and paint work.
If you don’t have a small store-bought block, you can use a small, perfectly flat piece of wood, an eraser, or what I do is cannibalize one of my automotive blocks into a smaller version(see picture).
As you get started you will see the purpose of using the block is that it focuses on taking down the high spots with out making serious contact with the low spots. By the time you reach the low spots you should shift over to the finer sandpapers and level the whole area out smooth. This is called feathering. Once the area is feathered out and you have achieved a nice smooth finish across the area you are ready for buffing (If you still have low spots you go back to the drawing board with the resin build up - more often than not I do this at least once – what’s the point in doing something if you can’t do it again right?).
Onward:
Step 5 - Polishing/buffing:
This can be done by hand or with the help of a buffing wheel. These can be picked up relatively cheap at the hardware store. I recommend a light sheep's wool or a foam type wheel. Choose a finish-grade buffing compound that can be found at any automotive or marine shop. Every buffing compound will have slight variances in the usage, so read the bottle before using.
For small projects, you can also use a pneumatic 90 degree grinder as well (see picture).
Make sure you cover your boat carpet before doing this, as buffing compound gets everywhere and it will save you time with the vacuum cleaner.
There you have it, I know this isn't for everyone, but at the very least it will give an understanding of how it's done.
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