Tools for peeling gelcoat/laminate.

[Steve W]

Im looking for recomendations for an appropriate gelcoat peeler.We really do virtually no blister repair so havnt needed a tool. However,i have a personal sailboat which i bought off E bay a few years ago and am about the turn my attention to it and it has bottom issues. Heres the deal,when i sanded off the bottom paint i discovered that at some point in its life it had had blisters which had been ground out and filled with VC watertite,these have held up quite well but some were missed and they didnt apply any barrier coat at all. the interesting thing is that there is no moisture involved,none,i can get no meter readings anywhere,its bone dry, BUT,the gelcoat is terrible,too hard and looks like a parched desert scene from the pages of national geographics,i can get my utility knife tip under gelcoat flaps and flick them off,this extends like this into the wide bootstripe and into the topside gelcoat only toward the stern,obviously this needs to be removed,the skincoat also has a lot of white glass,poorly wet out during layup i believe so it looks like i will need to remo
ve all the gelcoat and skincoat to the top of the bootstripe so im thinking of purchasing a hand held tool,it seems that i have the choice of a gelcoat shaver which is a converted angle grinder or a gelcoat planer which i have ruled out due to cost.so o o o,the choice is between the marine shaver or i was wondering if anyone has used the similar tool made by Metabo as the price is a lot better (although the marine shaver is not too bad either) I would like to hear from anyone with experience with either tool or any other one i may not have heard. BTW,there are also a handfull of blisters halfway up the topsides on both side amidships,also dry.
Thanks in advance,Steve.

[Eric Sponberg]

The professional boatyards that I have dealt with in the past use the Gelplane and speak very highly of it. It is made in the UK and is available in Michigan in the US. Here is their website:

http://www.gelplane.co.uk/

Eric

[gonzo]

I sandblast hulls. It is very fast. Last time I did an old 38' Chris Craft with a lot of layers of bottom paint in about four hours.

[Steve W]

Eric,thanks for the recomendation,i had looked at the Gelplane but had ruled it out after doing a cost/benefit analysis,ie, we just dont get to do enough osmosis work to justify the price tag which i think was a couple of grand but it is good to hear that it does the job well.
Gonzo,we also sandblast when do get an osmosis job ,the last one being a 2 year old 43ft Silverton powerboat(ugly,ugly boat) but its very messy and requires a lot of settup covering from the boat to the ground to contain it, picking up the blast media,cleaning up and disposal afterwards and picking up and returning the large compressor and blasting equipment from the rental company so its not as fast as it would appear,it does do a good job though.
I like the idea of being able to hook a tool to a vacuum and contain the mess.The 2 tools i have zeroed in on are the Marine Shaver which is made for this purpose as well as paint removal on houses and the other is the Metabo LF724s paint remover which appears to be a very similar tool although not marketed for this purpose.The marine shaver sells for about $700 and the Metabo at about half that. My problem is that this tool will be used only on my own boat in the immediate future so it may sit on the shelf for a while after im done with it.Also,i hate buying rather expensive tools that i cant try before i buy which is why im hoping to hear from someone who actually uses one of the tools i have mentioned or can recomend some other that im unaware of.The video of the Marine shaver in action on their website certainly looks good.
Steve.

[gonzo]

It is basically a planer. If you dig enough to take all the blister off, you cut into the laminate.

[Fanie]

I like the sandblast idea too. It will auto prep the surface for painting. A bit dusty initially...

[gonzo]

If you put a skirt around the boat, the dust is kept in a small area

[Herman]

How about trying to hire a gelplane, or buy one (secondhand or new) and sell it off afterwards?

[keith66]

A friend had a Swan 43 peeled some years ago, he used a company called Gelstrip uk fast & efficent, no point in buying the tool for a one off job.

[Steve W]

Keith,im a boatbuilder by trade,its my own boat,its a 4ksb,im not going to spend thousands of dollars to have someone else do it.The sole point of my post is simply to see if there are any other pros here that have used the specific tools that i have asked about and can give an informed opinion based on actual experience with said tools.
Herman,your suggestion to try renting a tool is a good one and i looked on the Marine shaver site and they do indeed offer a rental,you actually have to buy it but you can return it when you are done and they will charge you $50 a day not including shipping time and refund the balance so this may be the way to go.My guess is that if it is as good as they claim i would probably keep it as with a lot of specialty tools once you use it you keep finding uses for it.
Steve.