Bias strip removal

Roscoe · Post by **Roscoe** » Tue May 16, 2006 5:19 pm

Hi

Is there an easy way to remove the mother of all ugly bias strips from the bottom of my boat

without doing damage to the original cloth and epoxy? It was supposed to be a protection

strip but it is wavy, (zig zags all over the place ) turned out cloudy and has a thick thread

showing. Maybe I could sand it into shape paint it black and pretend that it's a carbon skid

plate. Any suggestions besides "Don't do it in the first place" ?

Roscoe

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Tue May 16, 2006 5:28 pm

If this strip was recently applied you might be able to remove it by heating it with a hot-air gun and peeling it off. Pull horizontally so it doesn't lift the original glass off the hull. Try to judge how hot it has to be to come off without damaging the other glass. The only other way I know of would be to scrape and sand. It might be easier to scrape the lumps, sand, do any necessary fill coats, sand and paint.

Got any pics of this horror? :rolling eyes

canoeblderinmt · Post by **canoeblderinmt** » Tue May 16, 2006 6:57 pm

Roscoe,
This is probably a strange suggestion from a hand tool guy, but maybe a GENTLE pass or two with a rough grit belt sander? I'd work the sander at 90 degrees to the strip, kind of tilting it up on one edge and holding it so that it only gently touched the glass. Pass it over the bias strip a foot or so at a time, moving along the strips length with the sander perpendicular to it. Wear a mask.

Greg

Bryan Hansel · Post by **Bryan Hansel** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:22 am

If I was feeling lucky, I'd just take a random orbital sander to the sucker. Otherwise, I'd probably hand sand it off. I often feel lucky though. Probably why my boats never look as good as the Jones. :)

Bryan

Roscoe · Post by **Roscoe** » Wed May 17, 2006 2:18 pm

Cheers guys
Thanks for the suggestions. I am working on the gunnels and decks at the moment so won't be able to get at the bottom for a while. I'll try scrapeing a bit first to see how hard it is to feather the edges and go on from there. On the plus side, with so much ballast in the strip it's going to be hard to tip over.

Thanks again

Roscoe

Roscoe · Post by **Roscoe** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:30 pm

Hi

Back again. Well I took your advice and scraped, belt sanded and RO sanded. When I wet the surface now there is still a few tiny white spots maybe it needs more sanding but it is a lot better than it was.

Is what I see when the hull is wet the way it will turn out when I coat with epoxy?

Is there a way to test the strength of the hull before launching? I'm a bit nervous as I may have sanded into the cloth when I did my first sanding of the hull. I'm thinking of glassing the outside with 4oz cloth to be sure. Is there a trick or technique in being able to see the cloth?
( There certainly would be if it's not there )

Roscoe