Fa1321tx wrote:
Someone one slipped last weekend when climbing back onto my boat and thier trap hook popped a small hole in my non-skid. I saw in one of the old hotlines a how to repair non-skid article but I cannor remember which one it was? I think it said you could make a mold with silicone from your non-skid then use it to repair. Anyone remeber which hotline it was?
Did your sample arrive srm?
I did that back in the '80s when I had a dealership and worked on them. Clean an area of nonskid that looks close to what you want to match really good with a toothbrush. I used dishwashing detergent as a release agent-pva didn't work too good. Paint on a thin film on an area larger than you want make the mold from, so it will be easy to clean up and none will stick to the hull anywhere there is no release agent. Let the thin film of dish detergent dry overnight.
Once the dish detergent is dry, swath on a thick coating of silicone sealant over what you want the mold from. Start in the middle of the area to be covered, and go outward so there are no air bubbles. It needs to be about 1/4" to 1/2" thick- so you don't get bumps in the repaired area, and takes several days to dry. Obviously, this is an inside job. Put saran wrap over the silicone so you can press it down some to make sure there is good contact. Peel the saran wrap, without disturbing most of the silicone, off so it can dry.
Once it's dry good, you can peel of the silicone mold. Rinse off the dish detergent from the mold. Let dry. Spray with PVA, put gelcoat where the non-skid needs to be repaired, and lay on the mold, being careful to mate the little indentions. Squeeze any excess gelcoat out from under the mold, and worry over the edges the best you can.
One of the Hobie reps came by my shop after I had peeled off the mold, and couldn't believe it. A good mold can be reused many times. I had to make several before I every got the first one right, but I used it for several years.
A commercial product wasn't available then, but if it was, I would have tried that first.
For sanding large areas, nothing beats Durablocks used in auto body work.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/Bran ... toview=sku The longer the better for the area to sand. Summitt sells rolls of sandpaper, including wet-or-dry, that sticks to the Durablocks.