steel protection.

[mickshep]

My new boat is built of 4mm steel below the waterline, after some 6 years laid up out of the water she is showing small areas of light surface rusting, Due to her location blasting with sand/grit is out of the question. On my previous boat the keel was of badly rusted iron, which I ground back to bright metal before giving about 8 coats of VC Tar applied directly to the bare metal. after 3 years there is no sign of further deterioration, I am thinking of treating my new boat in the same way, Any thoughts? ie, should I use a primer this time, Also I have noted that V.C Tar is now V.C Tar 2, Has it changed through improvement? or just more enviromentally friendly, in which case is it as good? Perehaps it has been superceded by a much better product. Thanks in advance. Mike

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[AndrewB]

Mild steel isn't quite as easily dealt with as cast iron, rust seems to penetrate more and come back quite quickly if it isn't completely removed. (Depends a bit on the grade of steel). Definitely best would be to gritblast, and I'd seriously consider moving to do so if you possibly can. Angle-grinding followed by heavy-duty wirebrushing will work on localised areas, but don't attempt it if you are close in with GRP yachts as the hot sparks fly.

I notice the new VCR-Tar2 is epoxy and not bitumous at all. Would also be interested in hearing reports. I generally use Blake's quick-dry epoxy primer as a base coat, though this season I'm trying a bitumous based epoxy primer in my bilges. The snag is it takes a week to go off , and I'm a bit concerned about overcoating while its sticky.

 

[Reap]

May be worth a visit here:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yacht-links.net>http://www.yacht-links.net