non slip additive

have been looking around at what to put in my flowcoat/topcoat to make it non slip for the decks.

what would you use?

i used to use kiln dried sand which worked well but im now looking for something that will give a grippy finish but still look smoothish if you know what i mean.

any ideas/pointers much appreciated.

 

You can buy sand of different grits. Probably a 240 grit will do what you are looking for.

 

Sand would be my last choice, use polyurethane pellets, which can be had in different grits (fine to coarse). These particulates are generally softer than sand or other materials, such as walnut shells.

 

I'm not keen on sand too much. Ripped a couple of wetsuits on it on dinghy floors. The granules that Hempel sell as additive to varnish/paint works well, check it out as it may say on the can what it actually is. Gives a quite smart satin finish with enough shoe grip on the surface without being too vicous. I'd say it is more like around 4 or 500 grit finish.

You can buy pumice which should work from jewellry wholesalers - not too easy to find. Try these guys, Walsh's in Hatton Garden (London) if you can't get it more locally. No reason why that should not work well. It is available in 500 grit, colour is off white/light beige but would be almost invisible in the greys you are using. The pumice powder is used as an abrasive for polishing certain jewellry items. These suppliers also sell carborundum grits which are good when you want to resurface your wood plane(s)...

 

i normally use kiln dried sand but its normally a mixed sizes of sand so you do get a few bits of bigger sand grit when applied.

i have thought about shot blasting grit but never used it.

i may buy a sieve to sort out the sand if i go down that route again.

 

The problem with sand is it's rough and if you have to make a repair, it's the devil to pay to get it up.

Any real paint supply store will have various manufacture's texture grit. Some use odd materials, such as ground up automotive tires, but a quick look at the label will reveal all. Trust me, go for the polyurethane stuff. It's simply waste polyurethane (lawn furniture, old resealable kitchen containers, etc.), ground up to a specific particulate size.

 

if i go for that then will it mix in to flowcoat ok?

i like to mix my non slip all in one go where as some people like to sprinkle it on and then use a roller on top.

 

Hello Gary
take a look here http://www.llewellyn-ryland.co.uk/gelcoatsandflocoats.html
Could be what you are looking for
Steve.

 

thanks for the link mate.

have bought from them in the past.

they only show white or clear non slip flowcoat.

my non slip will be done in dark grey.

i will email them to see if they can do a dark grey non slip flowcoat.

 

If they can't supply mixed in your chosen colour just by it in clear and add your own pigment any colour you wish.
Steve

 

didn't think of that lol.

will email them for a price.

 

I have seen fine sand, ground walnut shells, and ground rubber used. Not sure I would want to use walnut shells for anything exposed to moisture. the rubber makes a good pliable surface, it is mixed into the paint. PAR's idea of polyeurethane particles seems like a good one, but it may not stick to all types of paint, so a good test might be in order first.

One solution that I really like is to glue heavy weave fabric down to the deck and put several coats of paint over it. It leaves a nice non slip texture that is also smooth and easy on bare feet. They used to use cotton or linen canvas but there are now rot resistant synthetic fabric specially used for this kind of application.

 

There are lots of ways to get texture, one is simply to wait until your last resin coat begins to "go off" then take a roller to it. This is a tried and true method, predictable results that become part of the laminate.

I've used polyurethane grit, from several vendors and they do work with any paint that I've used (acrylic urethane, LPU's, alkyds, etc.). The last batch I used was an AwlGrip product, likely re-badged.

I dislike canvas duck under paint. It tends to rot, so I use 'glass, Dynel or Xynol, which looks about the same, but doesn't rot and becomes part of the laminate too.

 

I would think that you don't want the nonskid to cover the entire deck, which in my mind rules out mixing it into any type of flow coat. As typically you tape off race ways around deck hardware & such, & no nonskid is applied in their vicinity. Also, by flow coating, are you meaning both horizontal AND vertical surfaces?

If you do go with sand, make sure that it's pure silica. Which is a way of making sure that there's ZERO iron content in it. Because if there is, once the boat gets wet, the iron will start to leach out in rust streaks.

Also, a lot of the determining factor as to how "rough" your decks are is determined as much by how much nonskid per unit of area you apply, as it is by how course of an additive you use (within reason). You can mix/blend two different coarsenesses in any given area. Or taylor how much traction a surface has, based upon it's use.
Like keeping it light in the cockpit, but sticky on the bow/foredeck.

This isn't meant as a slam, but don't go with 400 grit. That's about as sticky as your kitchen floor (if that). You do want something with some tooth to it.
On a sailboat at least, or anything which moves remotely as much, even 200 grit can be pretty mild, especially with a couple of coats of paint on top of it. And such is a way of me putting things mildly, & politely.

Just think of doing an end for end jibe on a J-24, downwind, close quarters, in Force 6. And yeah, that mean's the only thing you're holding onto is a pole loosely connected to a wire near the masthead. So it's only you & your Nike's keeping you on the boat as it bucks all over the place. And you have to manage to catch a bobbing & weaving (in mid-air) 1/4" line, with an end fixture on the pole that has an opening no bigger than a nickel. Followed by then attaching the pole to a small diameter ring on the mast, using the same sized opening which you just captured the line with. Ya don't really want mild nonskid then, that's for certain.

On a different note. I don't know a thing about it, but this stuff seems to be a rather popular item of late. http://kiwigrip.com/

BTW, not to hijack things, but does anyone know what the clear (see through, virtually invisible) plastic beads which you can brush into varnish are called/where to find them. Some folks just gotta' have traditional teak floorboards, so I figure to add a bit of common sense into the mix (if possible).

 

The usual way to do that is to use sugar or rock salt, then wash it out after the topcoat cures, leaving the texture.