What's the best roller to use ?

Ian_Edwards

Ian_Edwards

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I'm planning to antifoul my Southerly 46 next week with International micron 350.
What's the best roller to use to get a good even cover? It's going on over a lightly sanded epoxy barrier coat.
 
A 4" fluffy roller ..it holds more paint than a short hair one and it's nice and light.
A 9" roller just gets very heavy loaded with paint and kills your wrist
I tried a 5" masonary Roller from b&q which was really good but an odd size so not so easy to get hold of.
You can use a 9" with a pole enabling the use of both arms but unless your super fit/stamina it soon gets tiresome
Don't use foam roller as the they to disintegrate
 
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One that does not dissolve on contact with A/F leaving a hairy finish.
Something designed to use with gloss paint.
 
Ian_Edwards said:
I'm planning to antifoul my Southerly 46 next week with International micron 350.
What's the best roller to use to get a good even cover? It's going on over a lightly sanded epoxy barrier coat.
Click to expand...
Somebody else’s!

I realised a few years back that the cost of paying somebody to do the antifoul was very minor in terms of costs of sailing (and even the costs of the antifoul paint) and haven’t done this since. Many other less messy and tiring jobs that I would DIY ahead of antifouling.
 
Rappey said:
A 4" fluffy roller ..it holds more paint than a short hair one and it's nice and light.
A 9" roller just gets very heavy loaded with paint and kills your wrist
I tried a 5" masonary Roller from b&q which was really good but an odd size so not so easy to get hold of.
You can use a 9" with a pole enabling the use of both arms but unless your super fit/stamina it soon gets tiresome
Don't use foam roller as the they to disintegrate
Click to expand...
I am a 10-stone weakling of uncertain age, but I can use a 9" roller on a pole with little trouble. I can even put two coats on my 34 in one day without getting totally knackered. Two hands means that you can apply pressure evenly over a wide area and reach the underside with little bending. An additional benefit is that my face doesn't get sprayed with paint, and I can also pick up paint from a tray placed on the ground easily. Being strongly right-handed, painting without a pole makes my right arm do all the work, though I might take the brush off the pole to run along the masked waterline. I agree that a fluffy roller is best.

With a 9" roller you cover a much larger area, meaning fewer stops to refill, a quicker job, and less wastage from having to deal with adjacent areas.
 
Did mine yesterday. 9 inch fluffy roller on an extension pole to spare my back. Have spare rollers to hand, replace as soon as you see the first piece of fluff stick to the boat.
 
Thanks for the input, a fluffy roller it is then.
It's a Southerly 46RS.
The keel is up and she's sitting on two sets of three sleepers. There's very little room under the hull.
I've been using a sun lounger, to make lying on my back easier as I've sanded the hull.

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I don't think that I'll need a pole, but I'll buy both 9" and 6" rollers.
 
I use 4” foam rollers as they give a more even coating and never leave fluff in the antifoul. Wickes do a big pack of them cheaply and although the foam comes unstuck after half a boat it still works out cheaper. They also don’t suck up as much expensive antifoul
 
There clearly isn’t a single best way to do it that suits everyone and I think that we should try to avoid laying down the law to those who may be new to the game. I have tried the different permutations and now stick to what works best for me. If people want to use toytown rollers, that’s up to them. :ROFLMAO:
 
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