Sikaflex new user advice

[Croak]

Next week I am going to use Sikaflex to reseal between hull and deck, fit a new hatch and stick some wood to some painted fiberglass to make a bed base. I have never used it before, any advice on how to avoid getting in a mess.

Chris

 

[savageseadog]

You have to strip naked and cover yourself with vaseline

 

[Croak]

Summer job then!

 

[Rabbie]

I am starting on sealing jobs tomorrow - didn't know I was going to enjoy myself so much!

 

[oakum]

Invest in a bottle of their own cleaner, in aluminium bottle and get some paper overalls. Or get SWMBO to do it.

 

[Boathook]

If you may want to remove the item use arbomast br for bedding in. I used sikaflex in the past and will not use again in a hurry. Should be ok for hull/deck joint. Good luck.

 

[Lakesailor]

Course it depends which variety you are using. 291 is not so vicious.
292 is a bit lairy.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

Have a bucket of warm water and plenty of liquid soap (fairy liquid ) and a couple of j cloths.

Neat soap allowsyou to smooth it off and prevents it sticking to you. wash off with water and diluted soap. It really does work! If you try just water as if its silicone you end up in a right mess as it cures with contact with water.

 

[Blueboatman]

Order a large box of disposable gloves from eg Screwfix,and masking tape neatly around where you want the stuff to stick.Smooth down with a wet finger or spatula. The industry uses wd40 to prevent unwanted adhesion and ease cleanup around eg a porthole being fitted...Surface wipe and clean up can be with proprietary cleaner or acetone.Abrade hulldeck joints first with some rough sandpaper dragged along the open gap otherwise you are wasting your time and an expensive product!
It is excellent stuff,once bedded you should not need to rebed the joint,item or fitting...But you can remove it neatly by inserting a slide out snap off type blade and physically cutting the bond...
Try to use up each opened tube completely within a couple of days
Er,thats probably enough.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

Never use white spirit , turps etc to smooth it off as it prevents it from ever curing. Don't know about wd40 .

 

[cardinal_mark]

Get a pack of 'Sealant Wipes' from Homebase (or wherever), they are brill' at getting the wretched stuff off your hands - and if you are anything like me, you'll be smothered in the stuff!

Mark

 

[Gordonmc]

B&Q sells industrial wipes in big yellow tubs. They work well in cleaning off sikka.
The best plan is to avoid getting the stuff where you don't want it so use masking tape on abutting surfaces.
The only way I know to stop the left over going off in the tube is to cling film the spout and put the tube in the freezer.
Best tell the missus, though, before she tries to ice the birthday cake.

 

[pvb]

Easiest clean-up...

The easiest clean-up for uncured Sikaflex is meths and kitchen paper.

 

[marcusgillies]

Duno what all the fuss is about. But if your sticking wood to painted f/glass forget it you will have to get rid of the paint first. And another good point above, its not such a good idea to use it on hatches and windows as one day you may have to remove them. there are quite a few different grades of sika flex. these have different curing times, strenths and agents. look at http://www.sika.co.uk/

 

[yerffoeg]

Worse thing about Sika is that the whole cartridge tends to solidify despite sealing it after use - this problem is worse in colder weather in my experience. So it is easy to waste a lot if you dont use the cartridge in one go.