Fairing the hull

[Todd j]

I don’t have enough of a compressor to run an air file or much of anything for air tools.  I cannot find any sort of panel type sander corded or otherwise except for air tools.  Any suggestions?  My old shoulders just can’t take it anymore

[Rbob]

Even though my compressor will handle it I block sanded most everything, its a lot of work.  Air files suck (my experience)

Can you elaborate on what grit and what filler are you blocking?

Sometimes I only blocked for a couple hours, take breaks as needed.

Its like a HIT training session, sand 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds and repeat..

I remember how my shoulders felt not too long ago:

 

[Todd j]

I haven’t bought any primers yet.  I have been fairing the seams with microballoons.  The flat board kills me and is just too slow.  Maybe the filler primer isn’t as tough to sand

[Rbob]

Todd,

That is what I am referring to. Micro-balloons was not easy at all for me to sand even when I sanded with #40 - #60 grit to start with.  I switched to glass bubbles and the more bubbles I added the easier it was to sand.  Think of icing on a cake thickness.

Start with #40-60 grit to rough it in and switch to #80 when you are fairly close, you can rub dry guide coat on before sanding to make it easy to see. 

I applied it with a "bondo" type spreader across the tape edge's and made the final pass in the opposite direction (longest) with a trowel or more flexible taping knife up to 12-16" wide.  You want it as nice as you can get it before you sand. 

You can hold a bend in most taping knives to match the contour you need.



Your arms and shoulders will thank you.

[json]

I am no pro here, I used the 3m bubbles ( I bought a huge box of them, it's all I used for fairing ), I found they went on a lot easier with some talc which seemed to make it spread better and stop being so dry... Then it was really all just a random orbit sander for me. I probably cost myself hours doing it but... it worked out well enough? Idk.. Bob probably knows a lot better when it comes to a finish, his boat looks a lot better than mine

[Todd j]

I am using 3M glass bubbles. The white stuff. My bad.  I try to mix it pretty fluffy with minimal fumed silica.   
   It sounds like I need to by more range of paper grit for my velcro longboard

[Grady300]

Quick Fair 2 part fairing compound. Easy to sand dries in 3-5 hours ready to sand. It's a little pricey but well worth it

[Brian.Dixon]

Quick Fair 2 part fairing compound. Easy to sand dries in 3-5 hours ready to sand. It's a little pricey but well worth it

DING DING DING!  We have a winner!  I love Quick Fair ....

[json]

Quick Fair 2 part fairing compound. Easy to sand dries in 3-5 hours ready to sand. It's a little pricey but well worth it

DING DING DING!  We have a winner!  I love Quick Fair ....

It's great stuff unless you have to do as much fairing as I did... My kids' college fund would have disappeared quickly...

[Brian.Dixon]

Yeah, price is the downside.  Perhaps use the bulk phenolic microballoons for all but final fairing, then quick fair to finish up ... might be a best compromise.

[Rbob]

Agreed, quickfair is awesome, I used it as the final pass where needed as it is easier to sand; #80 to #120 to finish.  I used 2 big tubs of it.

[Brian.Dixon]

Glass microspheres produce a fine finish too, but not as fast a cure.  quick fair lets you do several passes in one day (if you have big red deltoids.... )

[cj8mule]

I most always fill the weave with micro spheres and use a harbor freight compressor to run a board file with 60 grit.  The small compressor will never keep up and I don't expect it to.  While I wait for the compressor to catch up, I use a 6" orbital sander or my long boards.  The board files work great for taking down any small bumps. 

One day I'd like to get 240 ran back to the boat barn.  I'd put my big compressor back there and speed up the "best part of boat building".  lol

--dave

[Todd j]

I ran out of glass bubbles so I bought a 3 qt.  Kit of quickfair.  It’s taking way too long for my stuff to dry in the lower temps with the slow hardener.  Tomorrow I will try some painting stores for some more appropriate paper for my Velcro long board. 
   I hope it sands easy!

[Todd j]

I worked for about 2 hrs sanding most of the fairing compound off the boat. I didn’t get very far,  but I learned something.  I will from now on use the 3M glass bubbles instead of the quick fair compound.  I was able to get the entire fairbody(topsides) one coated with a 3 quart kit.  I do likely have another 100 grams for a final pass.
   For me I think I could rather wait a day waiting on epoxy to cure and spend the money on sandpaper.   I will just change it out more frequently.  I never had a problem with mix consistency with the quickfair.  It spreads like butter and doesnt sag. That is something I didn’t always get with glass bubbles.