Blacking????? do you need to put rust convertor on first?

[squarelips]

hi all-

 

going to black my boat next weekend. not sure what i need to do? do i need to put a rust convertor like VACTAN on? before i black it?

 

got the pressure washer booked so will clean it with that. do i need to scrub the hull with a metal wire brush to scrape any rust off?

 

thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ex- Member]

A pressure washer won't prepare the surface for a coating even of bitumen, A good wire brushing would be advised, then rust prevention product then top coating.

 

Personally I wouldn't use bitumen though, at minimum use a product that does not deteriorate when in contact with diesel & oil like bitumen will especially at the waterline.

[RLWP]

I wouldn't bother with rust converter, no boatyard does

 

Pressure washing is good, wire brushing is better, mechanical wire brushing - well you may just end up with a brush full of old blacking

 

Richard

[Guest]

I wouldn't bother with rust converter, no boatyard does

 

Pressure washing is good, wire brushing is better, mechanical wire brushing - well you may just end up with a brush full of old blacking

 

Richard

 

Supreme Marine at Castleford do (Vactan) - for an extra cost of course.

[RLWP]

When I have been really seriously removing rust, car bodywork before painting, I have put a lot of effort into getting the metal back to clean, shiny steel. I would then consider using a rust treatment before proceeding

 

On the hull of a boat, you are most likely to fetch the metal back to a firm but brown surface. This is a layer of very firmly adhered rust and paint. If you put rust treatment onto that, you may convert a very thin layer on the surface of the rust. You won't convert all the way through it

 

It is very difficult to get that layer of rust/paint/scale back to a thinness where the rust treatment is going to be effective. This is where grit blasting or angle grinding (after paint stripping) is effective and costs money and time in the dock

 

A DIY job in a boatyard? Knock off all the loose stuff and put on several coats of blacking, it's the best you can do with the tools you will have available. Any rust converter is unlikely to be effective and costs money. I'd rather put that money into a fourth or fifth coat of blacking

 

Richard

[Guest]

So had we gone for it, it would have been a complete waste of money? - from memory it added a couple of hundred to the quote....

[RLWP]

In my opinion? Yes.

 

Disclaimer - I don't reblack boats for a living, although I have blacked ours and have always been around when she has been blacked by a variety of other yards

 

Richard

[rgreg]

I made the mistake once of putting red oxide primer on before the blacking, only to find later that the blacking doesn't like to stick to it.