SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Masking Tape for Sanding
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Masking Tape for Sanding Login/Join 
Too clever by half
Picture of jigray3
posted
I am refinishing the teak on my sailboat. I'm using a 6" Porter Cable orbital sander for as much as I can and I'd like to mask the gelcoat to prevent damage from the occasional slip. I am starting with 80 grit and then moving to 180 and I tried Frogtape, but it's just too fragile for 80 grit. I thought I had used 3M Blue successfully, but after the Frogtape, I don't think I'm remembering it correctly.

Suggestions?




"We have a system that increasingly taxes work, and increasingly subsidizes non-work" - Milton Friedman
 
Posts: 10350 | Location: Richmond, VA | Registered: December 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Use more than one layer, or, perhaps, lay down the Frogtape first then cover it with something tougher, like maybe duct tape. The idea being that the layer applied to the boat is not aggressive, but the top layer that has to resist the sander is tough, or at least thicker than a single layer of masking tape.
 
Posts: 2687 | Registered: November 02, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
DO NOT use an electric sander on teak, EVER. It will put small chatter marks in the teak that will show through on the finished varnished teak and teak is a very soft wood. Use a heat gun and a putty knife, or a chemical stripper found at a marine store, heat gun is the preferable method, heat the varnish up enough and the putty knife will peel it right off like butter.......then use a sanding block......don't go below 180 grit, when you get it down to wood, I'd use 220 grit between coats and lightly sand it, wipe it with denatured alcohol, and lay on 8-12 coats, sanding lightly in between each coat with 220-300 grit.....then when it gets slightly dull in a year or two, lightly sand it with 220 and put on 2 coats and good to go if you don't let it screw up to where you have to strip it.

I'd seriously consider using Awlgrip Awlwood, it lasts a lot longer than varnish and goes on nicely and fills in with less coats.

Go with 3M tape, frog tape is crap.....the blue is ok if you don't leave it on for more than 3-4 days.....the Green is what you really want to use but it's pricey.

I own a Yacht Management business and have varnished miles and miles of teak over the years

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x,
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too clever by half
Picture of jigray3
posted Hide Post
Thanks for the reply, jimmy, but the teak is weathered and the grain is raised to the point that sanding by hand is just not a sane option, nor am I interested in the time and labor necessary to apply the crazy number of coats of varnish necessary for the finish you are describing or commit to the aftercare. I'll likely go with Cetol Natural and a gloss kicker. We're not talking a Hinckley here. I've been through this process a few times in the past, and when I'm done I'll have put in about 20% of the effort and gotten about 80% of the result which is fine since I'd rather be sailing. The wood on the vast majority of boats is in some state of neglect for a reason. It's too much damn work or too expensive to pay someone to keep it perfect.

I used Frogtape to mask the bottom with success this spring. I chose it because I couldn't find 3M Green locally anymore and because when I called 3M, they would not confirm it would release after a week in direct sunlight like Frogtape. It seems to have replaced 3M Green at the local chandalries.




"We have a system that increasingly taxes work, and increasingly subsidizes non-work" - Milton Friedman
 
Posts: 10350 | Location: Richmond, VA | Registered: December 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oh stewardess,
I speak jive.
Picture of 46and2
posted Hide Post
I've not seen a masking tape that will hold up to 80grit on a powered sander.

Good luck.
 
Posts: 25613 | Registered: March 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
posted Hide Post
Maybe a layer of painters tape and a layer of alum air conditioning tape?
 
Posts: 22858 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Low Profile Member
posted Hide Post
I bought a strip of stainless steel at Orchard Supply to protect an area adjacent to where I was doing some sanding. I moved it along with one hand while I held the sander with the other. The area I was working was relatively small so this may not be practical for your job.
 
Posts: 3529 | Registered: August 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
we have a pliable silicone cutting mat in the kitchen drawer,

could you sand the area with one hand while holding the mat with the other hand ( against the gel coat)





Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
 
Posts: 54501 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
non ducor, duco
Picture of Nickelsig229
posted Hide Post
If tape isn't getting the job done maybe you can try one of those 2 foot painters guides? The plastic pieces with a tin edge, jam that between the wood and the surface you want to protect then sand away.

It will stop the sander from touching anything other then the wood. Something like this.





First In Last Out
 
Posts: 4787 | Location: CT | Registered: October 15, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Keeping teak perfect is not that time consuming or expensive if you don't let it go in the first place.

There are a number of easy things you could do. You could leave it natural.....clean it with straight ammonia if you want and rinse off......semco sealer is popular on decks but would work on teak pieces on a sailboat.....again, cetol marine is easy if you don't let it go.....use 2 coats of color and 2 coats of clear, when you see it dull a little lightly sand with 220 and put another coat of clear on.....awlwood is just as easy to put on as cetol and lasts longer......either way, have fun.....I haven't found the green frog tape to stick worth a crap.....The green 3m is very good and will release after a week.....or just use the blue and pull after 3 days and put new tape...... have fun.....Block sanding teak does not take that much effort, teak is a very soft wood.....

I used to sand, clean with denatured alcohol and lay on a coat of varnish on a complete 58' Hatteras yachtfish in 3.5 hours per coat. I could tape, sand and put on 2 coats of varnish in about 9 total hours once every 1-1.5 years, because I didn't let the teak go bad in the first place and never had to get into the huge amount of work you're doing (to give you an example)......
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I use deck cleaner (oxalic acid) to clean the teak on my boat

Important to keep the pores open. Sanding will fill them in


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Live today as if it may be your last and learn today as if you will live forever
 
Posts: 6218 | Location: New Orleans...outside the levees, fishing in the Rigolets | Registered: October 11, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too clever by half
Picture of jigray3
posted Hide Post
Thanks guys, some helpful suggestions. I considered the moveable metal or plastic edge. It could work, just needs to be pretty thin for my application. Not a lot of wood, but still a job I was just thinking tape would work for both sanding and coating.

My real challenge is the teak is 1" wide strips half an inch apart screwed to horizontal gelcoat surface in the cockpit to create a seating surface. That means without taking out the bungs and unscrewing the strips from the gelcoat, I cannot get to the bottom side of the strips to seal out moisture. That means there will always be lifting of the finish and failure at the bottom edges. Not particularly well designed.




"We have a system that increasingly taxes work, and increasingly subsidizes non-work" - Milton Friedman
 
Posts: 10350 | Location: Richmond, VA | Registered: December 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Teak on a boat does not need to be sealed with ANYTHING. Leaving it bare wood is perfectly fine for longevity. Can clean it with oxalic acid and leave the strips bare if you want. Bare teak will last 20-40 years on a boat. Or use sandpaper bent in half to get in there.

Using a power tool on the teak you're working on is NOT saving you any time from hand sanding it. By the time you double tape it and replace the tape, you could've just sanded it by hand and only taped once. I see yahoo's doing it ALL of the time in marinas, they spend longer with power tools and have jitter marks that show through everywhere and nicks in their gelcoat all over the place. It's like trying to use a paint sprayer to paint one bedroom. Use a heat gun and the old cetal marine will just about fall off when you push a 1" putty knife against it, sand it with 180 by hand, and put a coat of cetol on, then sand with 220 next coat, then as high as 400 grit on the following 2 coats of clear. If you want the easy route, get the old cetol off with the heat gun and just put SEMCO on it, 2 coats of semco,it will look more like colored natural teak, then when it screws up in 1-2 years just clean it with oxalic acid and put 2 more coats of semco on it, then you won't have to sand it next time or anything. Most sailboats that have gotten away from varnish, have switched to semco. The cetol marine really doesn't last any longer than varnish and it's a gooey mess to strip off if it screws up. Or use the Awlwood made by Awlgrip, it's a far superior product to the Cetol marine in all aspects, longevity, ease of application etc. if you want the varnished look.
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 

SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  The Lounge    Masking Tape for Sanding

© SIGforum 2024