Feasible to hand sand small narrowboat?

[Owl]

I need to paint my 27 foot narrowboat as the paint on at the moment is just an undercoat from the previous owner. I was wondering if it would be possible to hand sand it in order to 'key' it? I'm not looking for a particularly professional finish and the current paint doesn't look in a particularly bad state ?. I want to avoid buying a sander if it all possible as cordless ones seem really expensive and mains ones kind of impractical. If it is possible does anyone have suggestions for good sanding stuff to use?

[Athy]

I did this with a 26-foot n/b which I was "doing up" a few years ago. There's a tool you can buy which grips the piece of glasspaper after you've wrapped it around the tool (sorry if this sounds vague, I am not sure what the tool is called) which makes the job less irksome. But by the time you've hand-sanded the whole boat you'll be, as Freddie Trueman once said when asked how he felt about his record-breaking number of Test Match wickets, "bloody tired".

Edited September 20, 2018 by Athy

[Johny London]

Sand wet. Use wet and dry paper, or decent stuff that lasts a bit when wet. If the surface is pretty smooth 120 grit should be fine. If not a bit of 80 first. Spend a bit more time on the bad bits - new paint tends to accentuate everything and you'll wish you had if you dont! You'll loose time on bits you find that need more prep (rust etc).

It's not that much harder than wielding a power sander around, in my opinion.

Also sanding wet you wont get the dust.

What paint are you going to use for topcoat?

[Chewbacka]

For my 56ft narrowboat I washed it down using sugar soap with a stainless steel pan scourer which gets all the crap off, but it also slightly abraded the surface as well.  Then a rub down with wet abrasive paper followed by undercoat, then a couple of gloss coats.  Looks ok, but don’t expect to hide surface blemishes and you will get some dust and insects if doing it in the open, so choose a still day.

[Athy]

This topic appears to have reproduced itself so I'm locking this version of it.

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

This topic appears to have reproduced itself so I'm locking this version of it.

 

 

No, you haven't!

[Athy]

1 minute ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

No, you haven't!

Ah, it appeared twice on the "View New Content" list, so I locked one version (the two appeared identical). Then the other one vanished from the list so I reinstated the original one.

This happened with another thread recently, too. I blame amoebae, or whatever their plural is.

But, like Muldoon, well spotted.

[TheBiscuits]

40 minutes ago, Athy said:

Ah, it appeared twice on the "View New Content" list, so I locked one version (the two appeared identical). Then the other one vanished from the list so I reinstated the original one.

This happened with another thread recently, too. I blame amoebae, or whatever their plural is.

But, like Muldoon, well spotted.

There was a thread discussing this recently - there is a bug in View New Content that occasionally looks like it is duplicating threads, but is not really doing so.

 

[Mad Harold]

4 hours ago, Owl said:

I need to paint my 27 foot narrowboat as the paint on at the moment is just an undercoat from the previous owner. I was wondering if it would be possible to hand sand it in order to 'key' it? I'm not looking for a particularly professional finish and the current paint doesn't look in a particularly bad state ?. I want to avoid buying a sander if it all possible as cordless ones seem really expensive and mains ones kind of impractical. If it is possible does anyone have suggestions for good sanding stuff to use?

The advice from other contributors is good.

I found that unless you can get an almost perfect surface to paint on,then gloss paint shows up every little blemish.

I flatted back the old paint on mine,and used Dulux Weathershield Satin finish.

It is a good finish,but not boat show standard.

[BWM]

Buy some good quality paper, stearated aluminium oxide is about the best. Use a sanding block, you can make your own out of a smooth piece of timber, cut to the exact width of the paper. You just wrap it around but will need to cover all four sides twice to ensure it doesn't just slip around. Don't forget to wear gloves, on a job of that size your hands will end up sore.

  The better the abrasive the easier the job will be.

[Gareth E]

I recently finished painting my 35ft narrow boat. I sanded it down by hand, apart from a couple of rusty bits where I used an angle grinder. The finish is pretty good. My advice would be to do it in stages, rather than try to do the lot as soon as possible. A couple of hours here and there stops boredom kicking in. You're also less likely to cut corners I reckon, if you take things nice and easy.

 

Insects can be a problem but there seem to be more of them around first thing then especially, later in the day. I'd aim to get a top coat on around late morning on a dry but cloudy day. If insects do land don't try to get them off when the paint is wet, you'll make a right mess. Just let it dry then brush them off. Most of them will barely leave a mark. The odd bigger one might be well embedded, but what can you do?     

[Murflynn]

I hand-sanded my new construction 20ft ply/GRP boat between coats of Leyland oil based primer last week using Screwfix 120 grit wet and dry.  Hull sides and bottom about 15sq.m.  Easy peasy - I found that was easier to throw the sanding block away and just use my hand, well protected by a heavyweight reusable plastic glove.  Plenty of water.  Flatting down, removing nibs and making a key for the next coat took me less than an hour.  Would have taken 2 hours with the block, trouble is that the block only begins to give a fair surface after you have sanded the surface almost properly flat, better for a perfect finish but not needed for the average canal or river boat hull.

[bizzard]

The thing is not to rub down and prepare the who;le boat at once. Concentrate on sections especially if the weathers a bit iffy.  One side first on 27' boat shouldn't be a problem. Try to rub down and get any filling and primer on the same day and work on that side until finished with top coat de-nibbing between each coat.  And then start on the other side from scratch, likewise the roof.

     By rubbing down the whole boat first you would then really need to rub down again each day before starting the next process and so on.  Leaving a rubbed down bare surface for too long like overnight wpuld attract muck and grime.   Fresh air ain't very fresh.

[Bee]

Lots of good advice there, I would only add that I would start with the difficult bits first, the ends, the front and back decks and leave the easy stuff till last, and that is the sides, also if you can budget for it I would try to apply at least two topcoats, the temptation is to slap one topcoat on that looks good then put all the painting gear away.

[Johny London]

Not sure what the fascination is with Weathershield. My understanding is that paints primarily intended for wood are "micro porous" and therefore not suitable for metal.

The Screwfix wet and dry stuff sounds good - I usually use the Mirka brand yellow sand paper as it seems to last very well (even when using wet though it is not designed to, though maybe they do a version that is for wet and dry) and it isn't too expensive. I'd do by hand just with a small bit of paper, no block.

I have been using "Jotun" paint (they do every type from 2 pack to oils) and have been pleased with "Conceal" which is a very thick Xylene thinable paint that covers easily. (They do another Xylene top coat that is thinner and shinier btw but not tried it) .The downside is that being "thinners" based it dries off very fast, so you cannot get a perfect finish. However, not much of a chance for insects etc to get stuck on, and you can go straight back round with a second coat  My intention being to put plenty on then use a buffer to smooth off any roller marks. I don't brush - can't stand brush marks. I prefer an even, consistent, honest finish.

Also, I keep the 4" rollers in little jars of thinner - they survive all year and you can just get them out and use again every year! No cleaning up

Definitely break the job down into stages - work in a way that suits your colour scheme.