Repaint of main hatches

[Dale Tanski]

I also promised you guys some pictures of my repaint of the main Bomar hatches.  In general they are a rough aluminum casting and needed lots of hours of sanding to get them smooth.  I also used a little bit of auto body bondo at the very end to fill any porosity.  I shot them with a high build epoxy filler to improve the final surface.  The primer could be brushed on just as well as sprayed. The finish coat is Awlgrip Silver with a coat of Awlgrip Clear. 



I had new glass, yes tempered glass, cut and the edges sanded smooth that I set in black GE silicone caulk.  The glass guy told me that tempered glass is the way to go because it is 10 times stronger than plain glass.  I originally wanted laminated safety glass and they talked me out of it because it was not strong enough.  They have done many boat replacement ports and hatches.  I did not want to go back to plastic of any type because it scratches and looks like crap in no time at all.  I ended up choosing a green tint Solarglazing.  Solarglazing comes in blue, green and smoke. 



You can see the metallic in the Awlgrip Silver in this shot better.  The green tint really is noticeable when the hatches are open in natural light, and I am very happy with that choice.  The newer Bennetto's have similar looking hatches.   I buffed up the dog down pieces, purchased a few new knobs and gasket material from McMaster Carr.  I repainted the "keep-em-open" rods with a cheap can of semigloss black spray paint. You may also have noticed that I cut off the extra dog points from the aluminum frame.  I suppose they were just in case you wanted to lift the hatch backwards, but to me they just looked ugly. 

Degree of difficulty 5 out of 10.  It took a great deal of patience more than skill to keep sanding and re-caulking the new glass in place. I cleaned up the caulk with mineral spirits before it dried over and over and over.

Dale

[Henri Hali]

Dale:
Jeez!  The hatches look amazing!
Refinishing my hatches has never been a consideration. Now damn it, I have to put it on the list.
What was the approx cost of the tempered glass, and is it readily available?

On a side note, I picked up my new mast step from my friend at Yale yesterday. I'm thrilled. He added about an inch to compensate for the piece of the mast I plan to remove. He also repaired my original stainless steel waterlock muffler that had leaks in the seams.
I just downloaded the program to allow me (Hopefully) to post photos on the site. when I figure it out I'll post them and some of the other projects I've done over the past several years.

You'd love this guy Dale, he's in your league, and that's a very, very  exclusive club.

Thanks for sharing your amazing skills with us mere mortals.


Henri

[Dale Tanski]

Henri,

I am blushing from your nice comments!  Thank-you.

The glass cost me $60 each.  That included custom fitting the glass to the hatch, smoothing all of the edges and sending them out for tempering.  Once the glass is tempered it basically can't be modified.  Remember that tempered glass it the type of glass that when and if it does break, it does so into thousands of little pieces of glass.  For the most part the little broken shapes are not that sharp and you can pick them up by the handfull with little risk. The windows in your car are tempered glass.  I would suspect any glass business would be able to supply you tempered glass.

Glad to hear you are making substantial progress.  I also like hearing about people that have many projects going on at once.  Realistically this is the only way to get anything done as it seems all to often that something always goes off course and the consequence is always lost time.  If one has several items sort of advancing at once, ground can be made. 

Dale

[PeteW]

Dale,

So I just went over my To do list on this Pearson project and it is staggering. I'm sorry to say that powder coating the hatches never made it onto this list for this initial go around. But I do admire your attention to detail.

I did have to re-bed the lexan on my hatches. The old silicon had come loose and the lexan actually came out in my hand with little effort. But not before 5+ years of leaking had delaminated the teak holly sole.

After talking to several experts on caulking materials as to what will actually bond lexan to metal.  I went out on a limb and chose to use g-flex flexible epoxy. I thickened it a bit with some colloidal silica and then dyed it black. I put a bead into the cleaned up frame using the curved spatula supplied with the kit. I dropped the lexan into place and lightly clamped the 4 corners.

The next day I popped the clamps. Little clean up was required. That night it rained like mad. No more leaks and I don't think these windows are ever coming out.

Pete W

Pearson ketch hull#6

[Dale Tanski]

Pete,

I would be carefull of powder coating.  I have read more then a few negative articles regarding the longevity of powder coat.  Apparently if it gets damaged, (nick or abrasion) water will wick under the coating and keep on traveling.  I know it is not possible to really touch up a powder coated surface. 
I also just read an article heralding a new abrasive material that will sort of cut in a sand blasting application.  I think the reason it is so popular, especially by the people that sell it and apply it, is that it is so easy to apply and, and easily meets clean air standards.  It also looks so good when new.
Just a thought...

Dale

[Jim S]

I repainted a Sea Tiger windlass three years ago.  I wire brushed it good and painted it with two coats of Rustoleum aluminum paint then sprayed it with Krylon glossy white.  It has held up fine for three years despite the usual nicks and scrapes.  This might work for the hatches as well.