Singing the Two-part Poly Blues

[Don Silsbe]

Midday Report

Well, it was an ambitious plan, anyway.  And a but naïve.  I made a batch of paint, and thinned some of it 20% after the induction time.  I painted the forward half with this.  I found the paint to be still thicker than I expected.  For the aft section, I thinned it to 30%.  Better, but still a little heavy.  I think I’m gonna give it a second coat this afternoon (thinned to 40%), and let it harden a couple of days.  If need be, I’ll sand it with 320, and try a thin coat on top of the other two.  It is still better than what was there before.
The roller worked great.  I rolled it on masking tape to remove any lint.  It held up to the job, only giving up one tuft of mohair.  

FORWARD HALF

 

 

AFTER HALF

 

[Don Silsbe]

The second coat looks better.  There are a few spots begging for a third coat, so I will do some sanding and apply a third.  This week is a cool one, which will work in my favor.  One thing I noticed— I painted the forward section after the after section, and I did not thin the paint between sections.  There was a noticeable difference in the orange peel between the two, the bow being lumpier.  That tells me that I need to pay closer attention to maintaining my paint to a 40% thinned point.  The fact that Devthane is an industrial polyurethane hints that it may start out thicker than our marine paints, hence the high dissolving ratios.

 

One more thing.  There was a little part I missed on the forward bit of Two Bits, so I dabbed some paint on with my brush.  I didn’t spread it out very much, and the brush was a low-to-medium-priced brush.  The paint laid down, and was the smoothest of the whole job!  

 

That said, I would love to learn how to spray paint boats, but I have no tutor.

[Don Silsbe]

In a moment of clarity, I went back and checked the numbers for my second coat.  I was nowhere near 40%, EVER!   So, in the interest of science, I did an experiment.  
 

Working with only the forward half, I tried three techniques:

1. Brush only on the starboard side, diluted to 30%.

2. Roll only on the port side, diluted to nearly 40%.

3. Tip and roll the forward face (transom?), diluted to 40%.
I hand-sanded with 3M 220 grit sandpaper, and used my 3” Corona Urethaner brush.  It is a natural bristle brush with flagged ends.

 

The brush-only section flowed out better than the original paint job, but still showed too many brush marks for my liking.

 

The rolled-on section flowed out well, only creating a small amount of orange peel.  It still covered well, too.

 

The rolled and tipped section was the worst of the lot.  This surprised me.  I used very little force, when touching the brush to the surface.  This is what the brush was designed for, and I expected better from it.

 

So, there it is.  It was a fun experiment.  I will sand everything down that was brushed, and roll (only) them when I sand and repaint the aft half.

 

I’m glad that I did this with Devthane rather than Perfection, Awlgrip, or Alexseal.  If I had used those products, I’d be busking at a bus station right now.

 

I hope to bring Two Bits to the Messabout this fall, so y’all can take a closer look.  Speaking of that, I’d love to bring my Duckling 14, just for the fun and novelty of it.  Should I leave Local Honey home???  That’s a hard decision.

[Don Silsbe]

On 7/16/2022 at 7:46 PM, Don Silsbe said:

I think T-0005 is what I used.

 

No, I used T-0031, per B&B’s recommendation.

[Chick Ludwig]

Bring 'em ALL!

[Don Silsbe]

13 hours ago, Chick Ludwig said:

Bring 'em ALL!

I would, except two are on trailers.  Now, if I can devise a way to cartop the 14 rower…

[Chick Ludwig]

Ya need a ladder rack on the truck. Or maybe a temporary rack to fit into/onto Honey for the 14 rower.

[Don Silsbe]

I have a rack on the truck.  Do you you want to do the lifting?

[AmosSwogger]

Thanks for posting the results of all your experiments Don.  I had very similar results with Devthane; rolling and tipping wasn't worth it (maybe with other brands/types of paints it is?).  Laughed at your "busking at a bus station" comment; very true.

[Don Silsbe]

From this, I have decided to thin like a maniac.  Next time , I will boldly go beyond 40% for the reducer.  It bears repeating that I refuse to tip this paint.  The best bet is to roll it and leave it.

 

I am committed to using this brand!  The durability is awesome, and the cost is more in line with my economic situation.  If money were no object, I would love to give the Alexseal system a try.  Using their rolling additive just looks so convincing, at least when applied by this guy:  

 

In the meantime, I’ll plan to buy a gallon of the off-white Devthane this summer, to repaint Local Honey this fall.  Of course, if someone would step forward to give me a spray painting 101 lesson, that would be a game changer.  Spraying isn’t something I can learn from YouTube, I believe.