MY own gelcoat peeler

[30boat]

I've been busy in the shed building my own gelcoat peeler based of course on a well known make.It still needs things done like the handles,enclosing the drive side,making the belt guard and vacuum shroud but the hard bit is done and I'm happy to report it works perfectly.I've canibalized an electric planer for the drum ,blades and belts and had an engineer turn the pullies . A reasonable quality 900W grinder was used for power.Everything else was done in house using my Mig welder and milling machine.It's going to be better finished than this and I've yet to decide what colour to paint it.I'll post more pictures when it's finished.

 

[Searush]

hope you're not going near my boat with that?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Gelcoat Peeler

Proper PBO!!!!!!

 

[NormanS]

Not knocking your effort at all, but is it better than the planer that you started with? Also check out a thing made by Metabo, called a paint planer. It's a bit like an angle grinder, but fitted with small cutting blades. I used to use one on wooden decks of big fishing boats, and even when they had been painted with non-slip (sand), it made short work of it. Always thought it would peel gelcoat, but never tried it.

 

[Elessar]

hope you're not going near my boat with that?

Just as good as the Gelplane which looks almost the same and cost me over £2k!

 

[30boat]

Not knocking your effort at all, but is it better than the planer that you started with? Also check out a thing made by Metabo, called a paint planer. It's a bit like an angle grinder, but fitted with small cutting blades. I used to use one on wooden decks of big fishing boats, and even when they had been painted with non-slip (sand), it made short work of it. Always thought it would peel gelcoat, but never tried it.

It works exactly in the same way as the comercially available one(not saying the name for fear of lawsuits) that incidentally costs around 2000£.I've tried it on wood and have no reason to think it won't perform well.The good thing about this design is that it's especially suited for the curves of a hull and can be set up to shave very thin slivers if required.I've seen the paint planer but it appears to be best for flat surfaces.
And it's a lot of fun to make anyway so why not?

 

[Elessar]

I've been busy in the shed building my own gelcoat peeler based of course on a well known make.It still needs things done like the handles,enclosing the drive side,making the belt guard and vacuum shroud but the hard bit is done and I'm happy to report it works perfectly.I've canibalized an electric planer for the drum ,blades and belts and had an engineer turn the pullies . A reasonable quality 900W grinder was used for power.Everything else was done in house using my Mig welder and milling machine.It's going to be better finished than this and I've yet to decide what colour to paint it.I'll post more pictures when it's finished.

You need a method of micro adjustment for the ears that's key to a perfect finish otherwise it looks great!

Make sure you've lots of spare blades.

 

[LadyInBed]

Wouldn't an electric plane do a job?

 

[30boat]

Wouldn't an electric plane do a job?

Yes but the finish would be very uneven and the amount of work to correct it would be huge.And unpleasant.

 

[Neil_Y]

Standard planer wont work as they can't do even depth on convex and concave surfaces, the gelplane has a depth adjuster on the side rather than infront of the cutting drum, so one edge runs on un cut surface . Or at least that's how I remember it.

 

[Elessar]

Standard planer wont work as they can't do even depth on convex and concave surfaces, the gelplane has a depth adjuster on the side rather than infront of the cutting drum, so one edge runs on un cut surface . Or at least that's how I remember it.

Yes. Actually you have a depth adjuster on both sides and set to different heights. One is set for depth of cut and runs on the uncut gel. The other runs on the cut gel. Both are critical, but the latter the most critical. I recon in needs to be within 100 microns for a smooth finish.

 

[30boat]

Yes. Actually you have a depth adjuster on both sides and set to different heights. One is set for depth of cut and runs on the uncut gel. The other runs on the cut gel. Both are critical, but the latter the most critical. I recon in needs to be within 100 microns for a smooth finish.

That's how I did mine.This way it's possible to maintain a constant depth of cut.I set mine with vernier calipers and a straight edge.

 

[WAMOLINA]

I've been busy in the shed building my own gelcoat peeler based of course on a well known make.It still needs things done like the handles,enclosing the drive side,making the belt guard and vacuum shroud but the hard bit is done and I'm happy to report it works perfectly.I've canibalized an electric planer for the drum ,blades and belts and had an engineer turn the pullies . A reasonable quality 900W grinder was used for power.Everything else was done in house using my Mig welder and milling machine.It's going to be better finished than this and I've yet to decide what colour to paint it.I'll post more pictures when it's finished.

Hi, I want to ask you a question, do you still have photos or plans for this tool, since I want to make one myself because they are very expensive, thanks.
My email is wamolina2010@gmail.com

 

[Davy_S]

This thread is 12 years old, 30 boat has not been on here since 2016, you may be better removing your email.