Gelcoat Repair tool - DREMEL?

najsmith

najsmith

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In order to grind out star cracks for stress repairs, scratch out superficial damage in order to prepare for a gelcoat repair,

Had read in Pat Manley's book that a Dremel or black & decker drill/grinder should be used.

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Having never heard/used one of these before. I found THIS and wondered if people had any recomendations/advice....
 
I bought a similar tool kit branded Power Craft in Aldi recently for about £18 so you might like to check if Aldi still have any.
Quite a useful thing to have.
 
I bought a cheap one for £18 from Maplins.... failed after first use, and it seemed very cheaply put together inside.

Took it back and bought a rechargeable Dremel for £65 +/-. No problems since purchase in May last year.
 
The Dremel is good. I've had one for years and it's very useful for all kinds of jobs. Good range of attachments available. If you only need it for the occasional job, a cheapo equivalent would probably do, especially if it has a money-back guarantee.
 
I have 2 different cheap branded ones and both are giving sterling service when required.

I think a certain amount of luck may be involved but I have had few problems with any budget electrical tools and have been able to accummulate a wide range of tools suited to specific jobs as a result. The price of even 1 top brand portable drill/screwdriver would just about cover nearly everything I have.

I have long since stopped believing that you get what you pay for.
 
Or if you have just very few starcracks you can use a snapped off hacksaw blade.Drag it along each crack to produce a square trough.
You can repeatedly snap off pieces of blade to expose a new,sharper tooth.
 
Being a born again cheapskate I tried both the Maplin and Aldi mini tools and found them to be absolute rubbish,the power drives are OKish but under powered the "tools" are really poor quality.
I now have a Dremel and it hurts me to say it,but at 3/4 times the price it is really good.The kit you've linked to does look pretty good value.
 
Can only echo previous posts re Dremel, an excellent tool with so many uses-wouldn't be without it. My original one soon developed a fault which was replaced very promptly, no problems since.
 
purchased a "FERNi" one a few years ago "cheapo" from screwfix gave it some hamer during last winters lay up gel coat work found it to be a godsend also previously gel coat on grp gp 14 still going strong and would not be without one or in local dialect "baught won". also used it for profiling the timber rubbing strip during repair definatly a must have in any tool kit particularly for intricate work /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
The Dremel is not cheap and I thought long and hard about buying one a few years ago but have never regretted it. The effectiveness of these tools comes from the very high rpm of the shaft - 33000rpm in the case of the Dremel. I don't know how others compare.

They sell tools for cutting drylining/plasterboard but I think this is what destroyed a bearing in mine, which ended up full of dust. I just bought another and now have a complete (less a bearing) set of spares.

The accessories/cutters etc are expensive if genuine Dremel but can be found much cheaper at B&Q, Ebay etc and are probably almost as effective. They aren't high quality and I always wear gloves/eye protection.

Malcolm
 
Because SWMBO took an acute dislike to the word DREMEL (as a result of all the TV ads) I got a Black and Decker similar machine. It is GREAT for the job you describe. DO NOT LISTEN to those who tell you to scrape out with the sharpened end of a file etc. I have done that on a job that was very small and I thought I would not bother with the power tool. Even the three cracks radiating about 1 inch long took so long that I could have driven home to get the tool and back and been done quicker. And by the time I had finished there were all the other marks to be filled where the scraper had skited.

Do practise first on a crack that will not be easily seen. I started on one near the waterline under the counter. The cutter is very fast.

Regarding Maplin and Aldi stuff, I am interested to hear about this as I have a very good 12 V cordless drill from Maplin. I charge it at the start of the season and rarely need to charge it until laying up. I got one for my daughter and that one is useless. It will not hold charge at all.
 
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Regarding Maplin and Aldi stuff, I am interested to hear about this as I have a very good 12 V cordless drill from Maplin. I charge it at the start of the season and rarely need to charge it until laying up. I got one for my daughter and that one is useless. It will not hold charge at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

I bought a 24v, (I think, maybe 18v), cordless hammer drill from Maplin, and it has worked fine since April last year. I guess you pays your money and takes your chance. At least maplin seem happy to refund without questions a few weeks after purchase.
 
On the dremel types.. its ok to go for non branded, but get a powerful one;the feeble motors are useless except for teethbrushing. The drill type fittings are best for pencil line grinding out, but the drum sander tends to be at an awkward angle. B+D powerfile is the jobbie, but for gawds sake be careful. It will strip the gel, the fibreglass and half your boat if you arent careful, in about 5 seconds!
 
I have got the B&D wizard that also takes the dremel bits and pieces. Use the drum sander for 'grinding' out cracks etc. Still fierce but controlable. The sanding drums do seem to last quite a while. Have also found the slow speed best.
 
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