Does anyone have a way of smoothing out wavy gel coat? I have a 7" section of gel coat that is not smooth. I'd rather not sand it down and regel but I will if that's my only option.

Thanks

That's about your only option. Next time, don't put on so much. Wavy epoxy is nearly always caused by applying too much.

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I would try and re-coat with another layer or two, before I did the whole sanding thing. This time I would apply in a horizontal motion, hit it with some heat and then leave it alone. Also, make sure your room temp. is 75 or above. That might fix it. If not, then go the other route. Just my 2 cents.

Jeff

When you re-coat bump up the r.p.m.'s on your drying device to avoid repetition of your wavy finish.

Adding finish on top of waves will generally just give you bigger waves. If you try thatwait a few minutes and take a playing card and lightly hold it against the finish as the rod turns. It will remove excess and HELP to level what's left providing the finish is gelled enough to hold the shape. Not sure what the speeding up does. I get the best results hand turning for an hour and then using a 3 rpm motor.

Here is what I do and it works great for me. Level the blank so that the centerline of the blank is level. Just apply the finish while handturning and when it's covered, stop turning and wait for the sags to hang from the bottom. Remove the sags and rotate 180 degrees and let sag and remove again. Do this ubtil their are no longer any sags and then you can turn on the dryer if you use one. You will get a perfect finish everytime. Resist messing with it once it's on.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!